Simone Stolzhoff

And so part of my goal is to help people get more comfortable with uncertainty, to not look for false senses of certainty that so many pundits and people on social media and people on the television are peddling today, and be okay staying in that state of not knowing until clarity or truth emerges.

Very much so.

I think when we are certain, it closes our minds.

You think about it from the perspective of polarization and politics, or from the perspective of

career, professional uncertainty.

If we think we know exactly how the world is going to look in five years or exactly who someone is based on who they voted for in the last election, it closes our minds.

Whereas if we are uncertain, if we're able to be patient enough to wait, it allows us to see truth as it emerges.

There's this great parable that I love that is illustrative of this phenomenon, which is called the Chinese farmer parable.

And how it goes is there's a farmer whose horse runs away from his small village.

The next day, his neighbors come to his door and they say, we're so sorry to hear about your horse.

And the farmer says, you know, maybe yes, maybe no.

The next day, the horse comes back, and there are seven other wild horses that have followed it in tow.

And the neighbors come to the door, and they say, you are so lucky.

What great fortune.

And the farmer says, maybe yes, maybe no.

The following day, the farmer's son is riding one of the wild horses and falls off and breaks his leg.

And again, the neighbors return, and they say, what a tragedy.

We're so sorry to hear about your son.

And the farmer says, maybe yes, maybe no.

And the day after that, generals from the military come to the small village to draft people into the war.