Will you get the job?
asserted
you → get → job
What will the medical test results show?
asserted
results → show → What
And what’s with that ominously vague email your boss sent?
asserted
boss → ’ → email
Uncertainty and change have always been challenging to handle, for some people more than others, said Michel Dugas, a psychology professor at the University of Québec in Outaouais.
asserted
Dugas → handle → Outaouais
We can all benefit from becoming more comfortable with not knowing, he said.
asserted
he → benefit → ?
“Uncertainty is a fundamental part of life, whether it’s our relationships, our health, our finances,” Dugas said.
asserted
Dugas → ’ → life
“Learning to be able to deal with not knowing is a fundamental skill for quality of life.
asserted
Learning → learn → life
With effort, uncertainty can be not just tolerated, but embraced.
asserted
uncertainty → tolerate → effort
“Wouldn’t that be kind of boring if you always knew what would happen?” he said.
asserted
he → know → ?
Why uncertainty bothers us
asserted
uncertainty → bother → us
Discomfort with uncertainty exists on a continuum and changes with circumstances, said Nick Carleton, a psychology professor at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada.
asserted
Carleton → exist → Saskatchewan
An unopened box may look exciting when it is surrounded by balloons, friends and the smell of cake.
uncertain
it → look → cake
Unattended in a subway station, a box feels very different.
asserted
box → feel → station
A degree of caution makes evolutionary sense.
asserted
degree → make → sense
“The people who absolutely loved uncertainty probably went into caves that they shouldn’t have and didn’t get to reproduce,” he said.
asserted
he → love → that
“On the other hand, you also can’t be too scared of uncertainty, because the people who never left their safe space probably starved to death.”
asserted
who → leave → death
Phones enable our desire to know everything right away
Jeroen van Baar, a psychiatric epidemiology researcher at the Boston University School of Public Health, and his colleagues examined 137 studies that have used the same scale to measure “intolerance of uncertainty” among college students since the 1990s.
asserted
that → enable → 1990s
The term describes people whose reaction to not knowing is far more intense than the situation warrants.
asserted
situation → describe → people
They found that average scores had risen substantially.
asserted
scores → find → ?
One theory is that smartphones have made the problem worse by removing many everyday opportunities to practice not knowing.
asserted
problem → make → opportunities
You might never get lost anymore.
uncertain
You → get → ?
You can alert someone if you’re running late, and you can settle any bar debate about trivial facts immediately.
asserted
you → alert → facts
“The fact that we have mobile phones in our pockets allows us to know almost everything in an instant,” van Baar said.
asserted
Baar → allow → instant
That may have “given us less opportunity to become comfortable with not knowing, and to experience that we are OK when we don’t know what’s going to happen.
uncertain
what → give → opportunity
”
Practice living without an answer
When the line between general unease with not knowing crosses into anxiety that interferes with daily life, people should seek professional help, said Dugas.
asserted
Dugas → practice → help
Treatments can include behavioral experiments that safely expose people to uncertainty.
asserted
that → include → uncertainty
One of Dugas’ patients who worried intensely about grades was asked to wait 48 hours before checking a test result that had been posted online.
asserted
that → worry → result
The patient’s distress was intense at first, Dugas said, but diminished considerably by the second day.
asserted
Dugas → say → day
“New learning can only really happen when you experience what you’re afraid of,” he said.
asserted
he → happen → what
Smaller experiments might include briefly leaving the phone at home, or making a low-stakes decision without asking others for reassurance.
uncertain
experiments → include → reassurance
When a genuine problem arises, said Ryan Jane Jacoby, a clinical psychologist and researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital, resist the urge to eliminate every unknown.
asserted
Jacoby → arise → unknown
When plans for a trip are disrupted, for example, ask whether the problem is within your control and can be solved.
asserted
problem → disrupt → control
If it can, narrow the possibilities to three or four reasonable options, weigh their advantages and disadvantages, and make a decision.
asserted
it → narrow → decision
“There probably is no perfect choice,” she said.
asserted
she → say → ?
When nothing can be done, Jacoby recommends shifting from problem-solving to acceptance.
asserted
Jacoby → do → acceptance
Mindfulness or an absorbing activity can redirect attention from repetitive thoughts to the present.
asserted
Mindfulness → absorb → present
Think like a kid and be open to the opportunities in surprises
Embracing uncertainty does not mean ignoring danger, suppressing disappointment or insisting that every setback is positive.
asserted
setback → think → disappointment
In her book “Comfortable with Uncertainty,” prominent American Buddhist Pema Chodron writes that practitioners are warriors of nonaggression who accept that they can never know what will happen next.
asserted
what → write → nonaggression
“We can never avoid uncertainty,” she writes.
asserted
she → avoid → uncertainty
“This not-knowing is part of the adventure.”
asserted
knowing → know → adventure
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
