A scout is trustworthy, loyal, etc

After reading the transcript of a TED talk by Julia Galeef, "Why you think you're right, even when you're wrong" I named myself a "scout."

...scouts are curious.They're more likely to say they feel pleasure when they learn new information or an itch to solve a puzzle.They're more likely to feel intrigued when they encounter something that contradicts their expectations.Scouts also have different values. They're more likely to say they think it's virtuous to test your own beliefs, and they're less likely to say that someone who changes his mind seems weak. And above all, scouts are grounded, which means their self-worth as a person isn't tied to how right or wrong they are about any particular topic. So they can believe that capital punishment works. If studies come out showing that it doesn't, they can say, "Huh. Looks like I might be wrong.

I used to be a Cub Scout, then a Boy Scout, but that's not what she's talking about. It's about testing your own beliefs and sampling new ideas.

Back when I was a boy scout, I was a dilettante. I made rank only because of Boy Scout camp. My parents sent me for two weeks at Camp Wauwepex, in Wading River, New York. The first year I moved up from Tenderfoot to Second Class. The second year, I made First Class. Yay. I don't think I ever earned a single merit bath.

I do remember the Scout Law:

"A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent." That's from memory. And full speed.

And the Scout Oath:
"On my honor, I will do my duty to God and my country, to help other people at all times, something something something morally straight."

With help from the Internet

"On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight."

So how am I doing in obeying the Scout Law (never mind the Oath.)

I am moderately trustworthy, but less trustworthy than I once believed I was. (see Brave, below).

I am fairly loyal.

I try to help, but only when asked, and typically until I lose interest. I usually don't offer unsolicited help. And I don't join organizations of helpers.

I try to be friendly, and courteous.

I don't believe I am kind. I don't like the whole idea of kindness. When I do something that people consider to be nice, and they accuse me of kindness, I'm slightly offended. I don't do things because I am mind.

I am not obedient. If I follow rules or directions -- which I do sometimes -- it's for pragmatic reasons, and not out of obedience. Indeed I am quite likely to be disobedient.

I've cultivated cheerfulness and I've managed fairly well.

What appears to be thrift is the result of my general contentment with my circumstances.

I am hardly brave at all. I have always wished I was, but some of my unhappy memories of childhood are memories of what I think of as cowardice. I'd like to be the guy who dies a horrible death under the hands of a torturer rather than give up secrets or betray comrades, but I've long since reconciled myself to the idea that I'd give up pretty quickly.

That's physical bravery. Intellectually I think I am fairly brave.

I'm reasonably clean.

Reverent? If I am reverent, then it's not in the usual way. Mainly I'm irreverent. I consider it a virtue.