The Argument for Rational Irrationality in Human Behavior

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Sally Kohn: I spend a lot of time thinking about potential, like reasons people disagree with me or potential objections to my thesis. And the label for this objection is rational irrationality. The idea that humans are rationally irrational refers to the claim that we form beliefs in two different senses. She says it's premised on the idea that our minds would have evolved to be good at choosing the right combination of scout and soldier mindset.Kohn: We're already aware of a number of ways in which the human mind is not optimized for making good decisions,. At least not in the modern world.

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What are "scout" and "soldier" mindsets? How can we have productive disagreements even when one person isn't in scout mindset? Is knowing about good rationality habits sufficient to reason well? When do we naturally tend to be in scout mindset or soldier mindset? When is each mindset beneficial or harmful? Are humans "rationally irrational"? What are the two different types of confidence? What are some practical strategies for shifting our mindset in the moment from soldier to scout?

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