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In the Epilogue to Think Again, Grant questions the very concept of conclusions because of their finality. Important topics should remain open-ended, he believes, always subject to rethinking. While he is tempted to end on a blank page to symbolize openness, he decides, instead, to show some of his rethinking as a writer. He shares his tracked changes of the draft of the book in the reader’s hands, including deletions and insertions. Even as the book goes to press, Grant rethinks his position on preaching, prosecuting, and politicking, asking whether these methods of communicating are sometimes more persuasive than taking a scientific approach. Against the backdrop of the pandemic, he wonders whether preaching and prosecuting create a sense of security in times of crisis. He then recalls that, during the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, then-governor of New York, delivered a speech that recommended “bold, persistent experimentation.” Grant takes this example as confirmation that the scientific approach can be effective even in times of national crisis. Grant ends by wondering whether he has convinced his audience that the world would be a better place if everyone put on their scientist goggles more often. If not, he wonders what evidence would change their minds.

Read more about the relationship between thinking like a scientist and rethinking (Main Idea #4).

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