When beliefs become identities, truth-seeking becomes hard

Today, we cover a section of Julia Galef's book "The Scout Mindset". She warns against treating your beliefs as part of your identity because they will interfere with truth-seeking: you will seek to protect your beliefs and engage in wars of ideas, adopting what she calls a "soldier mindset" rather than choosing to keep or discard your beliefs based on the facts you encounter (the "scout mindset"). She identifies two ways in which beliefs become identities: feeling embattled and feeling proud. Finally, she suggests "holding your identity lightly" and adopting a truth-seeker identity.

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[Scrogan]

The realisation that insulting people won’t convince them is an important one.

[ductuslupus]

Ah yes, the three biggest political parties in America: Democrat, Republican and Vegan.

[erictaylor]

"If reality contradicts what I believe, reality is wrong" This I think is a huge problem for a great many people.

[Towelietowel]

So much about what's wrong with modern political discourse, especially online, is put into words here. Great job.

[NelsonGuedes]

Yes. But the trouble is when people GIVE you an identity and treat you in a negative way due to that identity. Another issue is social structures that favors certain groups of people over others, in which case you have reason to identify with that group identity. How do we deal with those problems?

[ioratv]

Scout mindset? Soldier mindset?
I have the demoman mindset
KABLOIEE

[samrasmussen]

I needed to hear this today. Been trapped in this cycle lately. Thank you.

[diegocassola]

The problem is that people can claim the "scout identity" as a way to dismiss others by saying "I'm the TRUE truth seeker, unlike you", and never listen to anything outside their own head.

[cardthrow]

As somebody who identifies with the belief that being a person who identifies with their beliefs is good, I find this video offensive and absurd!

No I’m kidding, this is really fantastic! Thanks for the valuable and entertaining content 😃

[evelienheerens]

The real niggle here is that when some other person's beliefs are an actual attack on your actual identity. For instance, when you belong to a minority and the other person holds some belief that your minority should be exterminated by all means available. It's hard to approach ideas with a scout mindset when they actually threaten your existence. There are some identities that are forced on us by society, rather than chosen. Like gender identity or race. And yes, I understand that you can technically choose a different gender identity, but I would argue that in most cases, a) this is not so much a choice as it is a driving imperative b) society can still force a different gender identity upon you, through misgendering, deadnaming and other abuses.
This is exactly why those things are as harmful as they are and the need to transition is so great. We have a need to pass, to make sure society stops forcing the wrong identity on us.

With these identities that we cannot choose, a belief that is an actual threat to them is not an idea in a debate, it's a bullet shot at our heads, and I for one, refuse to tell anyone to be reasonable about that.

If you're a nazi, and people attack nazis, you can escape harm by abandoning your nazi beliefs and ceasing to be a nazi. If you're disabled and they round up disabled people to put in the concentration camps, you do not have this luxury.

Now, when it comes to the identities we choose, lifestyle marketing is harmful. This thing where we take the things we like to be and make them our identity, isn't just this funny thing that just happens. Marketing is designed to cause it to happen. It's an unmitigated harm that we must fight, and when it comes to these things, I agree 100% with the video. But it still deserves to be noted that there is a trillion-dollar decentralized (partially grassroots even) propaganda machine working for capitalism working on us from the moment we're born until the moment we die, to incentivize and teach us to make everything we buy, or believe, our identity. Overcoming this, I think necessitates a level of awareness of this fact.

[ShermanLeungpointofgravity]

So I'm kind of confused - if you let your identity become that of "the scout mindset" so much that it's a belief, and therefore feel superior because you're thinking "I'm not a soldier, I'm a scout" all the time, isn't it a bit paradoxical?

[sheepherald]

If this channel doesnt explode in popularity at some point im going to lose a lot of faith in youtube. Quality and watchability this high should be Algorithmically rewared.

[no_special_person]

Thank you, bump for the algorithm

How honored I am to be an og subscriber to this channel

[zero-hn]

This video should be mandatory viewing for all social media users.

[rolledoats]

Awesome video. I can't believe I found you guys while you're still this small. This channel is destined for great things and I will be watching eagerly!

[DavidSiegelVision]

Very happy to see this, thanks for making it. My worry is around the word "consensus, " for as we know the consensus of scientists tends to change over time, and "facts" we knew and trusted tend to recede into the dustbin of forgotten fads. But it takes time. It's hard to see in real time. Therefore, as Feynman did, don't worry what other people think. Look at the evidence, learn new things, and keep reshaping your model of the world as you go. Nothing to do with consensus, which is for politicians.

[DUDERMANx]

The algorithm finally shows me some great NEW content. This channel is destined to grow

[sirnikkel]

If there exist the Scout mindset and the Soldier Mindset...
Mixing them gives you...
*The Sigma Grindset?*

Edit: Now that I think about it, those mindsets implies the existence of the Pyro, Demoman, Heavy, Engineer, Medic, Sniper and Spy mindset

[zyfigamer]

Be a scout? Then I’m gonna need a dispenser here!

[htidtricky]

Survival of the self vs survival of the group. If I only value consensus, I never search for anything new. If I only know my own observation, I can't form a consensus. Balance both in a way that minimises maximum harm.