Can Uncertainty Be a Gift?

Pushkin. Hey, everyone. Today we're sharing my conversation with journalist and author Simone Stolzhoff about how we can learn to embrace uncertainty and try to extract opportunities from it. Simone and I have each been exploring this topic for years, and we shared what we've learned along the way. He brought ideas from his book, How to Not Know, The Value of Uncertainty in a World that Demands Answers. And I brought ideas from my book, The Other Side of Change, Who We Become When Life Makes Other Plans. If you enjoy this episode, you can hear more like it on the podcast, TED Talks Daily. Okay, here's my conversation with Simone.

You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. We're taught that success means having a plan, knowing where we're headed and how to get there. But what happens when life throws us into the unknown?

Even, you know, the term embrace uncertainty can feel... sort of like gaslighting sometimes. It's like, you know, I'm feeling incredibly scared and uncomfortable and you're telling me to embrace it. Like, no, screw you. Like, I don't want to embrace

that.

But I think there's something about understanding that uncertainty doesn't necessarily mean a threat. Even though that's the way that our biology is wired, uncertainty can also be that birthplace of possibility.

That's journalist and author Simone Stoltzoff in a recent conversation with cognitive scientist Maya Shankar, who hosts the popular podcast, A Slight Change of Plans. The two have spent years thinking about uncertainty and change from different angles, and they're honest enough to admit that sitting with the unknown is still hard, even when you know the science. In this conversation, they draw from their new books, Simone's How to Not Know and Maya's The Other Side of Change, to explore why our discomfort with not having the answers might actually be holding us back and what we might find if we stopped running from it. Because what if uncertainty and life's unpredictable moments aren't the obstacles, but the door to resilience, growth, and a world of new possibilities? That conversation is coming right up after a short break.

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