Interview: Julia Galef
If the Rationalist movement can be said to have a leader, I would argue that it is Julia Galef. She hosts the podcast Rationally Speaking, and is the founder of the Center for Applied Rationality, which tries to train people to eliminate cognitive bias. And now she has written a book! It’s called The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't, and you can buy it on Amazon here.
In the interview that follows, I talk to Julia about different concepts of rationality, about the purpose of the “scout mindset”, about whether rationality will win in the marketplace of ideas, and more!
N.S.: So I hear you have a new book! It's called "The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't". I'm going to read it, but why don't you give me a preview of what it's about!
J.G.: I do! It's about, unsurprisingly, the scout mindset -- which is my term for the motivation to see things as they are, not as you wish they were. In other words, trying to be intellectually honest, objective, and curious about what's actually true.
