A masterclass in living more thoughtfully through rationality. The past few years I've had a keen interest in humility, cognitive biases, and nuance, and this read was like a handbook that addressed all of it. I think there's been a bit of a renaissance in listening and changing minds since 2016. Clearly the typical approaches to debate and reason haven't been working, and we're not as unbiased and rational as we all thought either. Information has become more complex, with polarization rising simultaneously. Our biological threat response is sensitive when it comes to our strongly held beliefs. But we're terrible at differentiating between physical and emotional threats, so even discussing these beliefs can feel like an attack. The Scout Mindset tackles all of this in a superb way.

Each chapter covers actionable practices to function more like a scout—basically, to check your current perception of reality, rather than only giving credence to things that confirm your established identity and worldview. Even more basically, to become less reactive to your surroundings. Think of the mindfulness practice of noticing yourself in the 3rd person and saying out loud: "I'm upset right now. Why?" The scout mindset asks: How do you react to personal criticism? Do you ever prove yourself wrong? If other people no longer held this view, would you still hold it? If the evidence supported the other side, how credible would you judge it to be? Followed by thought experiments to really get to know yourself in this manner.

You'll not only resolve conflicts within your own thoughts and feelings, but you'll be so much more effective in communicating with and understanding others. [b:Non Violent Communication A Language of Life|3601593|Non Violent Communication A Language of Life|Marshall B. Rosenberg|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1627550325l/3601593.SX50.jpg|2766138] comes to mind, where the main component is identifying and specifying each other's underlying needs. Similarly, the scout mindset suggests: "When their behavior confuses you, lean in to that confusion. Treat it as a clue".

How to be wrong, seeing yourself as constantly updating, embracing uncertainty and failure, motivated reasoning, keeping your identity small, judgment, learning from disagreements, changing someone's mind, and understanding without the desire to change are some more of the topics covered.