Spencer Greenberg

speaker

1,056 appearances 1 recordings 1 series first heard Jul 2026 last heard 28 Jul

Spencer Greenberg’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

Trend

recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 1.

Appearances

newest first · ▶ plays the moment

80,000 Hours Podcast · #249 – Spencer Greenberg on staying sane while trying to save the world · 28 Jul 2026 podcast

Basically, the idea is that when we're going into studying a topic or having a conversation about a topic, we could be in a scout mindset where we're just trying to understand reality as it is, say, what is really true?

Or we can be in a soldier mindset where we're trying to win.

We're trying to prove our side right, trying to win the debate or find the facts that support our viewpoint.

And what I find really helpful to think about is when you're dialoguing with someone who disagrees,

First ask, am I in a scout mindset?

If you're not, then well, you're not doing, you may not be doing what you think you're doing.

And also they're probably not gonna be open to listening to you if you're coming in with a soldier mindset.

And second, if I'm in a scout mindset, is the other person.

Because if they're not, then the priority in order to have this be a helpful dialogue

is to help them get into a Scout mindset, right?

To get them in a place where they're not just trying to defend their beliefs, but they're trying to really have a dialogue and listen.

So step one, am I in a Scout mindset?

If yes, step two, are they in a Scout mindset?

And then once you're both in a Scout mindset, now you can proceed and have a much more productive dialogue.

So I have a particular approach to this, which is my life philosophy, which I call valuism.

And valuism is very simple, but there's a lot of complexity hidden underneath.

So the first question is, how do you even figure out what you value?

And this is actually a trickier question than it seems, because...

We're quite good at figuring out what we value.

And by that, I mean things that we assign value to, like states of the world.

Showing 701–720 of 1,056 · page 36 of 53