How to begin living more rationally

If you read Clearer Thinking, you may already have a sense of the benefits that living more rationally can bring to life. From deciding what to do next week, to making important career choices, to figuring out how to most effectively help others, having a clearer perspective of reality (and how to navigate it) can help you get more of what you value in life.

However, figuring out where to start in a journey towards improving rational thinking can be overwhelming.

There are dozens of cognitive biases you could learn about, there are many argumentative fallacies, and numerous critical thinking concepts. Our goal in this article is to help you cut through the noise by giving you 4 concepts that we think are among the most fundamental and that may have a big impact on your thinking as you begin trying to live more rationally.

At the end, we’ll also give you a handy practice you can try to help lock-in the benefits of these techniques.

If you can practice just these 4 ways of thinking, it can help you become a clearer and more careful thinker than the vast majority of people. 

1. Scout Mindset 

(Caring about the truth more than being right)

Unlike the "soldier mindset," which is all about defending your existing beliefs from perceived attacks and winning arguments, the scout mindset (named after military scouts, not the Boy Scouts) emphasizes a desire to find out what’s true. It prioritizes open-mindedness, curiosity, and a commitment to seeing things as they really are. Here’s what Julia Galef (who coined the term) has to say about it, in the opening remarks of her book The Scout Mindset:

When you think of someone with excellent judgment, what traits come to mind? Maybe you think of things like intelligence, cleverness, courage, or patience. Those are all admirable virtues, but there’s one that belongs at the top of the list that is so overlooked, it doesn’t even have an official name.

So I’ve given it one. I call it scout mindset: the motivation to see things as they are, not as you wish they were.

Scout mindset is what allows you to recognize when you are wrong, to seek out your blindspots, to test your assumptions and change course. It’s what prompts you to honestly ask yourself questions like “Was I at fault in that argument?” or “Is this risk worth it?” or “How would I react if someone from the other political party did the same thing?” As the late physicist Richard Feynman once said, “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool.”

There are lots of things that go into scout mindset, which are useful to explore (and you can do so by reading Julia’s book!), but if you’re looking for a few simple takeaways to start you on your path towards clearer thinking, we suggest starting with the broad strokes of scout mindset, which are as follows:

• Try to notice when you experience defensiveness at being disagreed with, constructively criticized, or corrected, and adjust your priorities so that you prioritize accuracy over ego - seeking truth even when it’s uncomfortable.

• Seek out alternative perspectives and be willing to update your beliefs based on new evidence. 

• Strive for intellectual honesty by acknowledging when you might be wrong.

• Try to take scout mindset on as part of your identity, rather than simply something you think you should do. Being a scout is something to be proud of, and it's something that the people around you are likely to appreciate as well.

2. Nuanced Thinking 

(Rejecting false dichotomies)

Binary thinking occurs when we view the world in an oversimplified, either-or manner, ignoring the subtleties that are almost always present. There are a few common ways this occurs:

• The truth binary: treating complex topics that have significant uncertainty as though you know they are either definitely "true" or definitely "false" 

• The goodness binary: making black-and-white value judgments on complex topics (e.g., that something is entirely good or bad, positive or negative, moral or immoral)

• The identification binary: the tendency to divide complex phenomena into rigid, either-or categories.

It’s easy to imagine why this is so prevalent: simplifying the world into binaries can give us the illusion of simplicity, confidence, and understanding, offering comfort in complex situations or on sensitive topics (e.g., those that are heated, emotional, or related to one’s identity). But part of being more rational and thinking clearer is not seeking the illusory comfort of inaccurate thinking. 

A key step on any journey to clearer thinking is to reject these false binaries and embrace nuance.

• Try to notice when you encounter claims that exhibit any of these forms of binary thinking. When you do so, ask whether there are nuances that are being ignored.

For help with learning this skill, you can also try our free, interactive tool for cultivating nuanced thinking.

3. Falsification

(Seeking to disprove your beliefs, rather than just to confirm them)

When deciding whether to believe something, search for evidence that would prove it false, rather than only seeking evidence that would confirm it is true.

We human beings are naturally prone to confirmation bias, where we favor information that supports our existing beliefs and dismiss information that contradicts them. Actively seeking disconfirming evidence helps counteract this bias, leading to a more reliable evaluation of beliefs.

This way of looking for evidence was most famously advocated by the philosopher of science Karl Popper. He argued that the thing that differentiated science from pseudoscience was that scientific hypotheses could make predictions that could be falsified, whereas pseudoscientific ones could not.

But falsification isn’t just relevant to beliefs in science. It can be applied in almost any life domain. For example, imagine you're insecure about how much someone you’re dating likes you. You worry that they don’t like you as much as you want them to. Falsification teaches us that, instead of looking just for evidence that you can interpret as showing that you're right (such as interpreting neutral behavior as disinterest), you should also search for reasons that you're wrong (such as recalling specific instances where they showed interest or affection) and try to update your beliefs based on all the evidence. A one-sided search for the evidence leads to a distorted viewpoint - it's critical to seek evidence on both sides.

A fun illustration of the power of falsification-oriented thinking is the 2,4,6 game. It goes like this: you are offered a series of three numbers (2,4,6) and told there is a hidden rule behind the series of numbers. You must figure out that rule. Now, the series of three numbers you’ve been given is not the only series that satisfies the rule. You are allowed to offer other strings of three numbers, and the person administering the game will tell you whether the strings you offer also conform to the rule. Once you think you have figured out the rule, you say what it is, and the person administering the game will tell you whether you're right or wrong. 

What do you think the rule is? What string of three numbers would you guess first? 

People who only look for evidence that confirms their guesses will play the game by coming up with a potential rule (such as the numbers must go up by two each time) and offer a string of numbers that conforms to that rule (such as 8,10,12). A lot of people play the game this way - and once they get a few "yes" responses, they often become convinced that they have the right rule, even when they don't.

On the other hand, people who look for evidence that disproves their guesses play the game differently; they come up with a potential rule (such as the numbers must be even) and then seek to disprove it (such as with the string 11,15,27).

It turns out that people who only look for evidence that confirms their hypotheses take longer to guess the rule and get the rule wrong more often than those who look for disconfirming evidence. A real testament to the power of falsificationism! You can play this game against a computer here.

4. Charitable Thinking

(Looking for the most charitable interpretation of people's actions)

The idea of charitable thinking is to, when in a disagreement, to interpret people’s words, actions, and arguments in the most generous way that is reasonable. Instead of looking for ways that they might be stupid or wrong, start by looking for the strongest interpretation of their views (without misrepresenting them), and then engage with that. This will:

• make it easier to have productive discussions with people (exposing you to more ideas), where the person you're disagreeing with has a better, more positive interaction too, and 

• help you learn the most from the ideas you encounter.

In his book, Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking, philosopher Daniel Dennett offers the following guide to charitably engaging with other people’s views:

1. You should attempt to re-express your target's position so clearly, vividly, and fairly that your target says, “Thanks, I wish I'd thought of putting it that way.”

2. You should list any points of agreement (especially if they are not matters of general or widespread agreement).

3. You should mention anything you have learned from your target.

4. Only then are you permitted to say so much as a word of rebuttal or criticism.

This is closely related to the concept of steel manning an argument (the opposite of straw manning), which is when you try to find the strongest interpretation of an argument in order to argue against that. Steel manning is a form of charitable thinking. Other forms include assuming good intentions, Hanlon's Razor (i.e., never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity), and more.

But there’s no need to get too bogged down in details: the most important thing to learn at the start of your journey towards thinking more carefully is simply to do your best to interpret people’s words, actions, and arguments as generously as is reasonable. If you can do that, you’ll find you encounter better ideas and learn more from the people around you.

Of course, that's not to say that unsavory people with bad motivations and bad ideas don't exist. It would be naive to think they aren't out there. But charitable thinking can benefit your own thinking - and, of course, if a person's actions prove over time that they aren't willing to act in good faith, you can drop the charitability then.

How to Practice these Principles

Thinking in these ways is not always easy. It’s something we can benefit from practicing, and as we do so, these skills become easier and more automatic. If you want to start practicing some of this thinking today, you could try choosing one or more of the following exercises to do each day for a few days.

You can also, if you like, use our free Habit Creation System to help build your custom routine that includes one of these practices. 

Practice 1 - Scout Mindset Check-In

Take a moment to reflect on a belief or opinion you hold strongly. Ask yourself whether you are open to contrary evidence and willing to change your mind, if it turns out the evidence points in the opposite direction. Write down any instances where you felt defensive and consider how you might approach the situation differently with a scout mindset.

Practice 2 - Nuanced Thinking Practice

Identify a topic where you tend to think in binary terms - e.g., you're convinced something is definitely true or false (whereas others aren't so sure), or you think something is all bad that many others think is good. Consider referring back to this article (or our Nuanced Thinking tool) to remind yourself of more ways that binary thinking can occur. Spend a few minutes considering the opposite side from your perspective. If you're certain something is true whereas lots of others disagree, consider some evidence as to why it may not be true. If many others see something as good that you see as bad, see if you can list some good things about it. 

Practice 3 - Falsification Habit

Choose one belief or assumption you hold. Actively seek out information or evidence that could disprove it. This could be as simple as reading an article with an opposing viewpoint (written by someone whose intelligence you respect) or discussing your belief with someone who disagrees. Reflect on how this exercise changes your understanding or confidence in your belief.

Practice 4 - Charitable Thinking Exercise

During an in-person disagreement or while reading an argument, consciously practice interpreting the other person's words in the most generous way possible. Summarize their argument in your own words to show you understand, highlighting the strongest points. Check, if possible, that it accurately reflects their view. Notice how this affects the quality of your interactions.

Conclusion

By incorporating practices like these for clearer thinking into your life, it's likely you'll start to see improvements in your critical thinking skills and in the quality of your discussions. The goal is not to be right all the time (which isn't possible), but to be open, honest, and rational in your pursuit of truth, which leads to the truth more reliably. 

Start today with these four foundational principles:

• adopt a scout mindset, 

• embrace nuanced thinking, 

• practice falsification, and 

• engage in charitable thinking. 

Want to maintain consistency? We recommend using our free Habit Creation System to choose, apply, and schedule not only these practices but any others you want to make a habit. 

Together, these practices will set you on a path to living more rationally and making better decisions.

And if you want to get a sense of where you might be on your journey, why not try our rationality test:

Launch the Rationality Test