The Scout Mindset

Critics Review

• Julia Galef doesn’t simply harangue us for not thinking clearly; she diagnoses why we do it, and suggests concrete ways to improve our rationality. This is a book that will make a real difference in how you think

  Sean Carroll, author of Something Deeply Hidden

• Julia Galef is an intellectual leader of the rationalist community, and in The Scout Mindset you will find an engaging, clearly written distillation of her very important accumulated wisdom on these topics

  Tyler Cowen, author of Big Business and The Great Stagnation

• Drawing on her extensive knowledge of the scientific literature and of popular culture, Julia Galef explores the remarkable human capacity for self-deception – and shows us how we can catch ourselves in the act of fooling ourselves

  Philip Tetlock, author of Superforecasting

• The Scout Mindset offers an insightful, entertaining and genuinely useful guide to thinking more clearly

  Don Moore, author of Perfectly Confident

• An engaging and enlightening account from which we all can benefit

  Wall Street Journal

• Highly recommended. It’s not easy to become (more of) a scout, but it’s hard not to be inspired by this book

  Rutger Bregman, bestselling author of Humankind and Utopia for Realists

• We know a lot about how flawed human reasoning is, but surprisingly little about how to repair it in our daily lives. Thankfully, Julia Galef is here to change that. With insights that are both sharp and actionable, her book picks up where Predictably Irrational left off. Reading it will teach you to think more clearly, see yourself more accurately, and be wrong a little less often

  Adam Grant, author of Originals and Give and Take, host of WorkLife podcast

• Julia understands human thinking with incredible clarity and she’s a master at communicating that clarity to others through her writing and metaphors. I haven’t stopped thinking about the scout mindset ever since I first heard Julia explain it

  Tim Urban, writer and creator of Wait But Why

• Julia Galef is one of the smartest, most exciting voices not just in American rationalism, but in American writing period. She is consistently fascinating

  Johann Hari, international bestselling author of Stolen Focus and Lost Connections

• Julia Galef, one of our foremost experts on identifying the problem of motivated reasoning and cognitive biases, has produced the best work to date on what to do about it, both personally to improve our lives and socially to make the world a more rational and reasonable place for all. A must-read for all who have trouble saying “I was wrong” and “I change my mind”, which is all of us

  Michael Shermer, writer, founder of Skeptic, and New York Times bestselling author of The Moral Arc

• The Scout Mindset is essential reading for understanding how the stories we tell ourselves sacrifice better decision-making in the long-term for a short-term boost to our egos . . . A must-read for anyone looking be more rational in their choices

  Annie Duke, author of Thinking in Bets

• Most books tell you what to think. This is something rarer, and more valuable: A book about how to think and how to learn, without the fear or favour that so often holds us back from inching closer to the truth. The beauty of The Scout Mindset demonstration is it is, itself, an example of the ethos it teaches. The delight it takes in questioning its own premises, and understanding the alternative arguments, will make you want to be a scout, too

  Ezra Klein, cofounder of Vox, author of Why We Are Polarized, and host of The Ezra Klein Show podcast

• I’ve learned more about how to think and reason well from Julia Galef than from almost anyone

  Dylan Matthews, senior correspondent at Vox