Julia Galef, cofounder of the Center for Applied Rationality, offers up a clarifying metaphor in the form of a beautiful question. Galef suggests we ask ourselves this question: Am I a soldier or a scout?17 She explains that there is a very different mindset for a soldier as opposed to a scout. A soldier’s job is to protect and defend against the e

Carl Sagan told the interviewer Charlie Rose: “If we are not able to ask skeptical questions15 … to interrogate those who tell us something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority … then we are up for grabs for the next charlatan, political or religious, who comes ambling along.”

The path to better decision-making begins by questioning one’s own beliefs, biases, and assumptions. It’s something people rarely do—and it’s certainly not easy to do. (There are some biases that are likely to remain invisible to us no matter how hard we search for them.) It may be more difficult than ever in these “echo chamber” times.

Would I rather be right or would I rather understand?

ASK THESE FOUR QUESTIONS TO CHECK YOUR BIASES AND BELIEFS What am I inclined to believe on this particular issue? Start by trying to articulate your beliefs/biases. Why do I believe what I believe? The “jugular question,” per Nobel Prize–winning physicist Arno Penzias, forces you to consider the basis of those beliefs. What would I like to be true?

Is this someone who would rather be right or would rather be successful?

The late founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, was one of the busiest people on the planet, yet he made a conscious effort to regularly ask fundamental “Why?” questions while making the rounds of his company’s various departments. At each stop, whether in the marketing area or accounting, “I always asked why we’re doing things the way we’re doing them,” Jo

To ask a question is an admission that 1) you don’t know, and 2) you do care—doubly uncool.

QUESTIONS TO TEST YOUR “INTELLECTUAL HUMILITY” Do I tend to think more like a soldier or a scout? A soldier’s job is to defend, while a scout’s purpose is to explore and discover. Would I rather be right, or would I rather understand? If you place too much importance on being right, it can put you in “defense” mode and close off learning and unders