Simone Stolzhoff

You pair that with a more modern phenomenon, the decrease in our tolerance of uncertainty.

With the rise of the internet, we have this increasing expectation that answers should be readily available and an increasing discomfort with not knowing.

There are two things going on.

The first is that uncertainty has actually ticked up in the last few years.

So there's this great study that has tracked global uncertainty over time since the 80s.

And it's found that the five highest measurements since the study began have all occurred in the last five years.

So you think about

COVID, wars overseas, shifting tariff policies, the world is incredibly uncertain right now.

But you pair that with a more modern phenomenon, which is the decrease in our tolerance of uncertainty.

With the rise of the internet and mobile phones, we have this increasing expectation that answers should be readily available and an increasing discomfort with not knowing.

So I think phones do sort of two things.

One is they rob us of the practice of sitting with what we don't know.

And two, they bring all of the uncertainties around us into our pockets.

So the world is more uncertain than ever.

Our tolerance for uncertainty is in decline.

And that's what leaves so many people feeling anxious and unmoored.

Yeah, I think we can all feel that on a personal level.

Even on a more trivial example, whereas 10 years ago, I might have been okay not knowing the name of a given actor.

Now I feel an almost involuntary need to reach into my pocket.

We're just not as comfortable with sitting with what we don't know as we used to be.