Embracing Uncertainty

"As we move through life, we're not only encouraged to learn but also rewarded for knowing. Knowledge is closely tied to growth and progress. Over the centuries, reasoning, scientific data collection, and experimentation have helped us develop increasingly accurate models of the world. There's no doubt that our society is built around the value of knowledge. As a scientist I contribute to this model of reality every day."

"As much as we love knowing, we have great difficulties with tolerating uncertainty. A study from University College London found that uncertainty can cause more stress than a painful stimulus. The researchers showed that knowing there's a chance of receiving an electric shock causes significantly more stress than knowing for sure that you'll receive the same shock. According to the authors, this seems to apply to many life situations."

Society rewards knowledge and ties understanding to growth, progress, and accurate models produced by reasoning, data collection, and experimentation. Knowledge underpins social structures and professional practice. Many people experience high distress when facing uncertainty; experiments found that anticipating a possible electric shock produced more stress than a certain shock. Everyday incidents like train delays or new romantic uncertainty illustrate this effect. Avoiding uncertainty can mislead decision-making, while actively exploring the unknown can reveal new possibilities. Embracing lack of knowledge can become a productive mode of learning and a way to flourish.

Read at Psychology Today