Thinking like a scientist does not mean you need to own a telescope or a microscope, but that you favor humility over pride and curiosity over conviction: You know what you don’t know, and you’re eager to discover new things. You don’t let your ideas become your identity. You look for rea...

• One barrier is what psychologists call “cognitive entrenchment,” which is when you have so much knowledge in an area that you start to take for granted assumptions that need to be questioned.
• A second barrier is motivation: "I don’t want to...

This means that when you form an opinion, you make a list of conditions that would change your mind.

An attitude of wisdom as acting on the best information you have while doubting what you know. And for that you need humility.

The whole point of rethinking is to change your mind in the face of better logic or stronger evidence—not to just roll the dice and say, I’m going to pick a random new opinion today.