Scott Alexander reviews 'The Scout Mindset' by Julia Galef, a book on rationality that emphasizes seeking truth over defending beliefs and addresses both intellectual and emotional aspects of clear thinking. Longer summary

Scott Alexander reviews Julia Galef's book 'The Scout Mindset', which aims to teach people how to think more clearly and rationally. The book distinguishes between 'soldier mindset' (defending one's beliefs) and 'scout mindset' (seeking truth). It provides techniques for adopting a scout mindset, including probabilistic thinking and thought experiments. The book also addresses the emotional challenges of changing one's mind and uses examples of admirable people who have done so to normalize the practice. Scott notes that the book goes beyond just teaching rationality techniques and touches on personal growth and becoming a better person. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander shares and comments on highlights from Philip Tetlock's 'Superforecasting', discussing forecasting, cognitive biases, and organizational effectiveness. Longer summary

This post is a collection of highlights and commentary on Philip Tetlock's book 'Superforecasting'. Scott Alexander shares quotes from the book and provides his own analysis on topics such as evidence-based medicine, cognitive biases in forecasting, the importance of probabilistic thinking, and organizational effectiveness. He also reflects on the implications of these ideas for fields like intelligence analysis, politics, and rationality. Shorter summary