Today I came across this sentence: We have to live with uncertainty and we also have to be far more adaptable than previous generations. There are limitations for humans' adaptability to changes but not limitation for changes. So it seems full adaptability is impossible. Uncertain means: not clearly known or understood not feeling sure about what to do, whether something is true, etc not knowing what to do or believe, or not able to decide about something not able to be accurately known or predicted lacking or indicating lack of confidence or assurance There are different factors for making one individual happy but let's focus on certainty and uncertainty for this thread. Why is one person happy when he/she is certain and unhappy when uncertain? Your certain responses would make me happy.
when you are certain you know what to expect and what is coming. you can plan for it and predict the outcome. when you are uncertain you do not know what is going to happen, which means you have no control over it. this can never go well.
Because as animals, we are programmed to survive. Uncertainty / no predictable situation implies more risk and danger. This is into our DNA, so it's hard to overcome.
Our two half brains work differently (as you all know) One half likes (is) control (left), the other half surrender (right). Music is a right brain thing. The technical aspect of playing an instrument is left brain. Being a musician is a juggling act in that respect. You can only be happy when you surrender. Being in control is not happy but feeling powerful and is in the end an illusion.
I think the assumption in your question is bogus. You are saying.. "We are unhappy when uncertain" and then you ask why? I reject the idea that 'we are unhappy when uncertain', unless you are referring to someone with a very insecure psychology. Staying alive versus engaging in culture (are you chimp or human?) For staying alive I agree with Oly's answer about what we inherit as a species. For the primitive essential task of 'staying alive' we do want predictability in our lives and we generate an (illusory) sense of control as part of achieving that predictability. We can't easily switch those traits off, nor would we want to. For engaging in culture Our species is no longer a total prisoner to our evolutionary heritage; we don't spend all day just trying to survive. We are cultural explorers. Authentically exploring the unknown via science, art, music, etc, etc, etc, is not about seeking certainty. Authentic explorers, in every aspect of our cultural lives, recognise that we live in a world where our ignorance will always be infinitely larger than our knowledge, and that makes it a thrilling world to contemplate - with very little (if any) certainty. It would be a boring world if the opposite were true. Regrettably, some of our species are so insecure that they crave certainty in everything, and will invent or subscribe to endless bogus certainties as comfort blankets. These people desperately shrink the awesome infinite unknown world into their own personal tiny cartoon known world. It's a pathetic way to look at the world. In practical day-to-day matters, yes, we will all carry on seeking the reassurance that comes from predictability. But in our cultural lives, if uncertainty makes you feel uncomfortable or unhappy, you haven't woken up yet, and maybe never will.
I'm not sure I agree with this assumption. Personally I like NOT knowing what is laid out in the future. I've had the most amazing memorable experiences purely by not committing to something that is "certain" and set in concrete.
Certainty is not all it's cracked up to be. Think of it this way. The only thing you can be certain in life is, you die!
Your brain is designed to make you survive and procreate, not to make you happy. Uncertainty has a chance of threat or death and therefor your brains instincts send the message "Uncertainty = pain, discomfort etc." However, someone who conditioned to love the uncertainty, by experiencing it all the time and figuring it means a lot of pleasure, rather welcomes change and new things and becomes exciting...but most people are what they are so they hate changing their bad habbits.
I believe we need a balance of both, certainty and uncertainty. Take the learning of a skill, like learning a musical instrument or a second language, for example. For a brain to learn, it needs patterns that provide certainty in the form of repetitive tasks or drills that give you immediate accomplishment and reward, but the brain also needs a challenge for that skill to solidify, which could be a more open-ended or creative task that gives you some uncertainty. I don't think uncertainty is a bad thing. It is the thought that an uncertain situation won't result in a successful outcome that drives people crazy. It is hope what gets you through uncertain situations. Call it faith in the divine or lots of self-confidence, but I think having a goal keeps uncertainty at bay.
Certainty as well as Uncertainty are both basic human needs. Uncertainty is just a bad word for "variety" People watch the same movie twice because at 1st, they are uncertain what happens and by watching it twice, they are certain what comes, but already forgot a lot from the movie and have a feeling of uncertainty again. If you do the same things over and over again, you keep creating the results that you alraedy have right now. So if you wanna have different results, you need to change and this requires action towards the uncertain. Growth = Happyness and therefor moving towards the uncertain is a must! Otherwhise we would produce music in stone caves today.
Why do we not like uncertainty? well, it's because we don't know what's happening, innit?. but there are times when we don't like certainty either. for instance, when the judge delivers that verdict upon us and we know we're going down. (the clue is the two big blokes in uniform standing each side of us rattling the bunch of keys). I don't claim it's a philosophical answer, but it's accurate.
Uncertainty yes, CAN make us unhappy but everyday life is mostly uncertain in many respects, e.g. you are never 100% certain that when you get on the plane, train, bus, get in a car, that you will not have an accident. Since there are many types and levels of danger that produce feelings of uncertainty, I don't think we could produce a very good discussion, unless many types of uncertainty, or at least the level of danger causing the uncertainty is clearly established. Please consider that uncertainty can lead to worry (or unhapiness), which can lead to fear which can lead to anxiety/panic attacks. Now we are in potentially, seriously dangerous waters concerning uncertainty. Anxiety is a modern mental health problem of epidemic proportions. Money being the modern man-created god to fear, produces a lot of uncertainty > fear > anxiety. Money is all about survival now due to the evil credit system of get it now and pay later..... "What if I can't pay my rent/mortgage, what if I can't pay my loan repayments, what if ...." We are always now worrying about the future. The 'future' doesn't, never did and never will exist outside of our imaginations. The same for the 'past'. There is only one time - NOW. Billions of now moments being experienced. Anxiety is always worry about the future. Our thoughts create all these fears of uncertainty that lead to anxiety that the body responds to these thoughts and gets us ready to deal with a dangerous situation - just from thoughts. It's the same as being told you're fired or that a close relative has died, those thoughts manifest in the physical body as shaking nervously, screeming, crying, real fear and unhapiness, just from thoughts. The key to beating anxiety is this and I promise you it works: when you start to feel anxious have a conversation with your body: "Body, I lovingly and compassionately appreciate this feeling you have given me. I am facing this feeling with you and I understand it (don't push away or try to run away from the anxious feeling. Experience it for a bit and understand what it is. It is a panic signal sent to your body). There is nothing wrong and nothing bad is going to happen so I don't need this feeling right now." I speak from experience as I have had to deal with anxiety in the past and the above works, at least for me, and if you have problems with anxiety please try it with a sincere heart. Namaste.
Why do we not like uncertainty? Because certainty is boring, although we have no free will and it just seems that we do. I'm certain. Last edited by a moderator: Jan 31, 2020
This is pretty much what I think. As animals who are not (brain evolution wise) very different from cavemen and we don't like uncertainty. Nowadays uncertainty isn't that dangerous, but we're still used to habits. People who can handle uncertainty they certainly have an edge over the rest. Related and about happiness this time, that's why people, especially young generations love the sentence "magic only happens outside your comfort zone". Probably because I'm an old fuck I have to say I can do without riding unicorns. Last edited: Jan 31, 2020
than previous generations..lmao...no they wasnt adaptable at all -- fckng nwo brainwash sentence is this...for the ppl who cant and dont want search for truth no we have not to live with uncertainty...and noone should... wtf Last edited: Jan 31, 2020
