
The Scout Mindset
Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't
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Narrated by:
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Julia Galef
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By:
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Julia Galef
About this listen
"...an engaging and enlightening account from which we all can benefit." (The Wall Street Journal)
A better way to combat knee-jerk biases and make smarter decisions, from Julia Galef, the acclaimed expert on rational decision-making.
When it comes to what we believe, humans see what they want to see. In other words, we have what Julia Galef calls a "soldier" mindset. From tribalism and wishful thinking, to rationalizing in our personal lives and everything in between, we are driven to defend the ideas we most want to believe - and shoot down those we don't.
But if we want to get things right more often, argues Galef, we should train ourselves to have a "scout" mindset. Unlike the soldier, a scout's goal isn't to defend one side over the other. It's to go out, survey the territory, and come back with as accurate a map as possible. Regardless of what they hope to be the case, above all, the scout wants to know what's actually true.
In The Scout Mindset, Galef shows that what makes scouts better at getting things right isn't that they're smarter or more knowledgeable than everyone else. It's a handful of emotional skills, habits, and ways of looking at the world - which anyone can learn. With fascinating examples ranging from how to survive being stranded in the middle of the ocean, to how Jeff Bezos avoids overconfidence, to how superforecasters outperform CIA operatives, to Reddit threads and modern partisan politics, Galef explores why our brains deceive us and what we can do to change the way we think.
©2020 Julia Galef (P)2020 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"...an engaging and enlightening account from which we all can benefit." (The Wall Street Journal)
"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 favor 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, editor-at-large and cofounder of Vox, best-selling author of Why We’re Polarized)
“I find myself quoting Julia in my writing again and again, because no one explains thinking and rationality better than she does. The ideas in The Scout Mindset have been stuck in my head ever since I watched her TED Talk. The Scout Mindset is a lens, and once you're looking through it, the world makes a lot more sense.” (Tim Urban, co-founder of “Wait But Why”)
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-
Story
In the 21st century, humanity is reaching new heights of scientific understanding - and at the same time appears to be losing its mind. How can a species that developed vaccines for COVID-19 in less than a year produce so much fake news, medical quackery, and conspiracy theorizing? Pinker rejects the cynical cliché that humans are an irrational species - cavemen out of time saddled with biases, fallacies, and illusions.
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Steven Pinker's Frozen Worldview from the 90s
- By Ryan Booth on 11-12-21
By: Steven Pinker
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Indistractable
- How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life
- By: Nir Eyal, Julie Li
- Narrated by: Nir Eyal
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In Indistractable, Eyal reveals the hidden psychology driving us to distraction. He describes why solving the problem is not as simple as swearing off our devices: Abstinence is impractical and often makes us want more. Eyal lays bare the secret of finally doing what you say you will do with a four-step, research-backed model. Indistractable reveals the key to getting the best out of technology, without letting it get the best of us.
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Nothing new...
- By Erica on 12-24-19
By: Nir Eyal, and others
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The Score Takes Care of Itself
- My Philosophy of Leadership
- By: Bill Walsh, Craig Walsh, Steve Jamison
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawn from a series of deeply revealing conversations with coauthor Steve Jamison, The Score Takes Care of Itself offers Walsh's best leadership principles illustrated by anecdotes from his entire career. Additional insights and perspective are provided by his son Craig Walsh. The book will delight football fans and guide the vast business audience eager to learn how Bill Walsh motivated individuals and crafted winning teams.
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Thank you Bill Walsh
- By Jason Comely on 01-31-13
By: Bill Walsh, and others
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Principles
- Life and Work
- By: Ray Dalio
- Narrated by: Ray Dalio, Jeremy Bobb
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Ray Dalio, one of the world's most successful investors and entrepreneurs, shares the unconventional principles that he's developed, refined, and used over the past 40 years to create unique results in both life and business - and which any person or organization can adopt to help achieve their goals.
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Idea-meritocracy/Principles Reference
- By P Eberle on 06-30-18
By: Ray Dalio
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Algorithms to Live By
- The Computer Science of Human Decisions
- By: Brian Christian, Tom Griffiths
- Narrated by: Brian Christian
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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From finding a spouse to finding a parking spot, from organizing one's inbox to understanding the workings of human memory, Algorithms to Live By transforms the wisdom of computer science into strategies for human living.
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Great listen, just don't expect tips!
- By Adam Hosman on 08-07-17
By: Brian Christian, and others
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The Infinite Game
- By: Simon Sinek
- Narrated by: Simon Sinek
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Finite games, like football or chess, have known players, fixed rules, and a clear endpoint. The winners and losers are easily identified. Infinite games, games with no finish line, like business or politics, or life itself, have players who come and go. The rules of an infinite game are changeable, while infinite games have no defined endpoint. There are no winners or losers - only ahead and behind. The question is, how do we play to succeed in the game we’re in? In this revelatory new audiobook, Simon Sinek offers a framework for leading with an infinite mindset.
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I love Sinek but...
- By Amazon Customer on 11-11-19
By: Simon Sinek
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The Righteous Mind
- Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
- By: Jonathan Haidt
- Narrated by: Jonathan Haidt
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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In The Righteous Mind, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explores the origins of our divisions and points the way forward to mutual understanding. His starting point is moral intuition - the nearly instantaneous perceptions we all have about other people and the things they do. These intuitions feel like self-evident truths, making us righteously certain that those who see things differently are wrong. Haidt shows us how these intuitions differ across cultures, including the cultures of the political left and right.
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Why Good People Are Divided - Good for whom?
- By K. Cunningham on 09-21-12
By: Jonathan Haidt
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Poor Charlie’s Almanack
- The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger
- By: Charles T. Munger
- Narrated by: Grover Gardener
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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"Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up," Charles T. Munger advises in Poor Charlie’s Almanack. Originally published in 2005, this compendium of 11 talks, delivered by the legendary Berkshire Hathaway vice-chairman between 1986 and 2007, has become a touchstone for a generation of investors and entrepreneurs seeking to absorb the enduring wit and wisdom of one of the great minds of the 20th and 21st centuries.
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Wisdom from grandpa Charlie
- By J R Cavanaugh on 08-18-24
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Thinking in Systems
- A Primer
- By: Donella H. Meadows
- Narrated by: Tia Rider Sorensen
- Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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In the years following her role as the lead author of the international best seller, Limits to Growth - the first book to show the consequences of unchecked growth on a finite planet - Donella Meadows remained a pioneer of environmental and social analysis until her untimely death in 2001. Thinking in Systems is a concise and crucial book offering insight for problem-solving on scales ranging from the personal to the global. Edited by the Sustainability Institute's Diana Wright, this essential primer brings systems thinking out of the realm of computers and equations and into the tangible world....
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Skip to the Middle
- By John Chambers on 06-20-20
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Think Again
- The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know
- By: Adam Grant
- Narrated by: Adam Grant
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Intelligence is usually seen as the ability to think and learn, but in a rapidly changing world, there's another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to rethink and unlearn. In our daily lives, too many of us favor the comfort of conviction over the discomfort of doubt. We listen to opinions that make us feel good, instead of ideas that make us think hard. We see disagreement as a threat to our egos, rather than an opportunity to learn.
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Only Good if you've never questioned anything.
- By Victor Alvia on 02-10-21
By: Adam Grant
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Deep Work
- Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
- By: Cal Newport
- Narrated by: Jeff Bottoms
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Master one of our economy’s most rare skills and achieve groundbreaking results with this “exciting” audiobook (Daniel H. Pink) from an “exceptional” author (New York Times Book Review). Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep Work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship.
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Blocking off time each day to work without distractions will make you more productive
- By M.J. on 11-17-16
By: Cal Newport
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The Fourth Turning
- What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America's Next Rendezvous with Destiny
- By: William Strauss, Neil Howe
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 19 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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First comes a High, a period of confident expansion. Next comes an Awakening, a time of spiritual exploration and rebellion. Then comes an Unraveling, in which individualism triumphs over crumbling institutions. Last comes a Crisis—the Fourth Turning—when society passes through a great and perilous gate in history. William Strauss and Neil Howe will change the way you see the world—and your place in it. With blazing originality, The Fourth Turning illuminates the past, explains the present, and reimagines the future.
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Repetitive
- By Ben on 12-29-23
By: William Strauss, and others
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Same as Ever
- A Guide to What Never Changes
- By: Morgan Housel
- Narrated by: Chris Hill
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Every investment plan under the sun is, at best, an informed speculation of what may happen in the future, based on a systematic extrapolation from the known past. Same as Ever reverses the process, inviting us to identify the many things that never, ever change. With his usual elan, Morgan Housel presents a master class on optimizing risk, seizing opportunity, and living your best life. Through a sequence of engaging stories and pithy examples, he shows how we can use our newfound grasp of the unchanging to see around corners.
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Beautifully Succinct Summary of Others Original Ideas
- By Mitch on 11-09-23
By: Morgan Housel
What listeners say about The Scout Mindset
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- OrionDeHunter
- 04-22-21
Best Book Ever, wait um probably.
I've been a Scout for 2 years and I'm so excited to finally read a book about people like me and how to improve as a Scout. Thank you, Julia Galef!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Micseydel
- 05-31-21
Looking forward to listening again!
Julia did an amazing job with writing and then reading this book. My next book? This one again!
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- Neil Wiiliams
- 06-02-21
A great read, well-read
Very enjoyable. Julia narrated her own book, and her years of podcasting paid off. The book itself is upbeat, to the point and I found it very inspirational.
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-24-21
Book of the Year
This is the best book I have read in a long time. It had a profound impact on me, and has made me yearn to see the world clearly instead of through the lenses of tribalism and bias. Wonderful narration, thoughtfully curated arguments, and humble and rational claims make this book a masterclass in honest persuasion.
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-29-21
A very practical book on how to be less wrong
A very practical book on how to be less wrong and more right. Highly recommended
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- TheBear!
- 04-30-21
excellent advice
This book is an excellent explanation of how to reorient your thinking away from defending opinions and towards examining the world for what it really is.
It contains techniques for recognizing and accepting that you could be wrong so as to better understand what is really going on around you.
How to be willing to change your mind in light of new evidence.
I just finished this book yesterday and I've already recommended it to wo people.
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- Cynthia Crusan-noble
- 06-24-23
What an eye opener
This book is so good and really has helped me with my communication skills greatly. I think it is an absolute must read for anybody who’s trying to make a point and trying to get to the truth of the situation as best they can.
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- Rob
- 06-05-23
Insightful
I would like to think that this is the mindset I’ve been ascribed to for some time, even then, there were some excellent points in this book I hadn’t considered.
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- Kindle Customer
- 05-24-23
Straightforward
- Scout mindset = Analogy for an attitude concerned with understanding and navigating what is real
- Soldier Mindset= Analogy for an attitude concerned with defending and validating what is psychosocial
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2 people found this helpful
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- Paul Vanover
- 07-26-21
Scout Midset 5 Stars
I just finished listening to this incredible audio book for the second time. it is insightful, inspiring intelligent and delivered in a manner that is easy to follow and understand. The author has a speaking voice that is pleasant and clear. I highly recommend.
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