Soldier or scout?
Am I or are you a soldier or a scout? This is the question the writer and co-founder of the Center for Applied Rationality, Julia Galef, addresses in her Ted Talk, “Why you think your right – even if you are wrong” (posted June 2016).
She states the difference between the two roles is:
· A soldier: “Your adrenaline is elevated, and your actions are stemming from these deeply ingrained reflexes, reflexes rooted in a need to protect yourself and your side and to defeat the enemy.”
· A scout: “The scout's job is not to attack or defend. The scout's job is to understand. The scout is the one going out, mapping the terrain, identifying potential obstacles. And the scout may hope to learn that, say, there's a bridge in a convenient location across a river. But above all, the scout wants to know what's really there, as accurately as possible.”
Ms. Galef maintains that very often we humans are the soldier. We engage is what she says scientists are now calling ‘motivated reason.” She states: “It's this phenomenon in which our unconscious motivations, our desires and fears, shape the way we interpret information. Some information, some ideas, feel like our allies. We want them to win. We want to defend them. And other information or ideas are the enemy, and we want to shoot them down. So this is why I call motivated reasoning, "soldier mindset."’
Personally I would like to think of myself as a scout unlike all “those others,” particularly such individuals as the political candidates who look for information to further substantiate the view they are attempting to sell. Even in debates they seem unable to adopt an open mind and learn from or with each other. Yet, as I begin to stand back and examine my own behavior, I can easily see that much of the time I am a solder and not a scout. The evidence is clear. Some examples just from the past day or so will suffice. To wit:
· As I hear or read something a particular presidential candidate said or is saying, the tape in my head begins to play. For example one candidate was talking about what he considers the terrible trade agreements and the United States outsourcing jobs overseas. Immediately I begin to call up the list in my head of the products which carry his name and the various countries in which they are made. He talks about the establishment and I immediately begin to think about the money he has made as a member of those who make money at the expense of the others.
· Yesterday I was at the public library where I wanted to check out books and read some of my favorite magazines. Both the choice of magazines and the articles I read are based on my preconceived opinion about issues such as gun control, violence and the role of the United States in foreign conflicts. My role as a health care professional also influenced my decisions.
· I looked for a book and got on the waiting list to check it out. I want to read the book so that I can more cogently discuss and, if I am honest, debate a particular point of view.
Obviously, I am well aware of some “facts”:
· Despite having graduate degrees I have a very limited store of knowledge.
· There are many shades of gray with every issue I can think of.
· I have a set of “core beliefs” which I really want to maintain and pass on to others.
· Some of my self-esteem/self-worth is attached to being right even though I pride myself on not being attached to being right – on being open to learning.
I am very uncomfortable being honest about these facts. I would like to think that I have matured well beyond these “facts.” Yet, often my openness is limited to admitting to myself and others that I am not nearly as open as I would like to think I am.
Theoretically, I would like to be more of a scout. Yet, there hardly seems time to be a scout when soldiering takes up so much of one’s time. After all, I tell myself, there are serious issues which “need’ to be addressed now if we are going to prevent less informed and educated people from making dumb decisions about certain issues. Surely we must do something about:
· Protecting the rights of women in the United States and other countries - the right to equal pay, quality health care, access to a safe abortion, etc.
· Stopping the insane production and sale of weapons in this country.
· Stepping up our effort to have more respectful relationships with Mother Earth.
· Reducing the exploitation of children and adults in all parts of the world.
· Insuring quality health care for all people regardless of income.
· Insuring that health care, including pharmaceutical products, is affordable and not based on a profit motive.
· Continuing the movement to reduce prejudice and oppression.
· Insuring access to quality food and water to all people.
The list of important issues about which there can be no disagreement by “rational people” could over many pages.
If I read what I have just typed it is obvious that I am 99% in the soldier mode. Despite hours spent reading, listening to such programs as Ted Talks, talking and emailing numerous friends and colleagues, most of my energy is deliberately dedicated to the soldier role as opposed to the scout role.
Yuk! Once again, I am not, upon close examination, the person I say that I want to me. Once again, I am reminded of my cognitive awareness that, as is true for those working a 12-step program to recovery from active addiction to alcohol, other drugs, sex, power, food or other things or substances, I must work a version of the 12-step program which includes a daily attempt to be more honest with myself, to list the ways I have deceived myself and, thus, hurt myself and others or another person, to make amends (to myself and others) to continue to make a searching moral inventory, and to practice these principles in all my affairs.
It all begins with this very difficult process of being honest with myself in order to identify the specifics of my mindset which keeps me in the soldier role.
As Ms. Galef states, at the same time, I must realize that both the soldier and the scout are necessary. The actions of the soldier must, however, be:
· Adjusted constantly based on what the scout is learning.
· Underpinned with humility, empathy and a readiness to retreat when new information from the scout dictates it.
· Accomplished with a constant re-examination of the basis for self-esteem/self-worth. In other words, I must constantly ask what it might mean to be the best human I can be today in light of the fact that the very essence of being human is being limited in knowing what is “right or moral” behavior.
· That the term “applied rationality” might itself be an oxymoron.
Written June 30, 2016
Am I or are you a soldier or a scout? This is the question the writer and co-founder of the Center for Applied Rationality, Julia Galef, addresses in her Ted Talk, “Why you think your right – even if you are wrong” (posted June 2016).
She states the difference between the two roles is:
· A soldier: “Your adrenaline is elevated, and your actions are stemming from these deeply ingrained reflexes, reflexes rooted in a need to protect yourself and your side and to defeat the enemy.”
· A scout: “The scout's job is not to attack or defend. The scout's job is to understand. The scout is the one going out, mapping the terrain, identifying potential obstacles. And the scout may hope to learn that, say, there's a bridge in a convenient location across a river. But above all, the scout wants to know what's really there, as accurately as possible.”
Ms. Galef maintains that very often we humans are the soldier. We engage is what she says scientists are now calling ‘motivated reason.” She states: “It's this phenomenon in which our unconscious motivations, our desires and fears, shape the way we interpret information. Some information, some ideas, feel like our allies. We want them to win. We want to defend them. And other information or ideas are the enemy, and we want to shoot them down. So this is why I call motivated reasoning, "soldier mindset."’
Personally I would like to think of myself as a scout unlike all “those others,” particularly such individuals as the political candidates who look for information to further substantiate the view they are attempting to sell. Even in debates they seem unable to adopt an open mind and learn from or with each other. Yet, as I begin to stand back and examine my own behavior, I can easily see that much of the time I am a solder and not a scout. The evidence is clear. Some examples just from the past day or so will suffice. To wit:
· As I hear or read something a particular presidential candidate said or is saying, the tape in my head begins to play. For example one candidate was talking about what he considers the terrible trade agreements and the United States outsourcing jobs overseas. Immediately I begin to call up the list in my head of the products which carry his name and the various countries in which they are made. He talks about the establishment and I immediately begin to think about the money he has made as a member of those who make money at the expense of the others.
· Yesterday I was at the public library where I wanted to check out books and read some of my favorite magazines. Both the choice of magazines and the articles I read are based on my preconceived opinion about issues such as gun control, violence and the role of the United States in foreign conflicts. My role as a health care professional also influenced my decisions.
· I looked for a book and got on the waiting list to check it out. I want to read the book so that I can more cogently discuss and, if I am honest, debate a particular point of view.
Obviously, I am well aware of some “facts”:
· Despite having graduate degrees I have a very limited store of knowledge.
· There are many shades of gray with every issue I can think of.
· I have a set of “core beliefs” which I really want to maintain and pass on to others.
· Some of my self-esteem/self-worth is attached to being right even though I pride myself on not being attached to being right – on being open to learning.
I am very uncomfortable being honest about these facts. I would like to think that I have matured well beyond these “facts.” Yet, often my openness is limited to admitting to myself and others that I am not nearly as open as I would like to think I am.
Theoretically, I would like to be more of a scout. Yet, there hardly seems time to be a scout when soldiering takes up so much of one’s time. After all, I tell myself, there are serious issues which “need’ to be addressed now if we are going to prevent less informed and educated people from making dumb decisions about certain issues. Surely we must do something about:
· Protecting the rights of women in the United States and other countries - the right to equal pay, quality health care, access to a safe abortion, etc.
· Stopping the insane production and sale of weapons in this country.
· Stepping up our effort to have more respectful relationships with Mother Earth.
· Reducing the exploitation of children and adults in all parts of the world.
· Insuring quality health care for all people regardless of income.
· Insuring that health care, including pharmaceutical products, is affordable and not based on a profit motive.
· Continuing the movement to reduce prejudice and oppression.
· Insuring access to quality food and water to all people.
The list of important issues about which there can be no disagreement by “rational people” could over many pages.
If I read what I have just typed it is obvious that I am 99% in the soldier mode. Despite hours spent reading, listening to such programs as Ted Talks, talking and emailing numerous friends and colleagues, most of my energy is deliberately dedicated to the soldier role as opposed to the scout role.
Yuk! Once again, I am not, upon close examination, the person I say that I want to me. Once again, I am reminded of my cognitive awareness that, as is true for those working a 12-step program to recovery from active addiction to alcohol, other drugs, sex, power, food or other things or substances, I must work a version of the 12-step program which includes a daily attempt to be more honest with myself, to list the ways I have deceived myself and, thus, hurt myself and others or another person, to make amends (to myself and others) to continue to make a searching moral inventory, and to practice these principles in all my affairs.
It all begins with this very difficult process of being honest with myself in order to identify the specifics of my mindset which keeps me in the soldier role.
As Ms. Galef states, at the same time, I must realize that both the soldier and the scout are necessary. The actions of the soldier must, however, be:
· Adjusted constantly based on what the scout is learning.
· Underpinned with humility, empathy and a readiness to retreat when new information from the scout dictates it.
· Accomplished with a constant re-examination of the basis for self-esteem/self-worth. In other words, I must constantly ask what it might mean to be the best human I can be today in light of the fact that the very essence of being human is being limited in knowing what is “right or moral” behavior.
· That the term “applied rationality” might itself be an oxymoron.
Written June 30, 2016
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