A Flexible or Certain Approach to Facing the Unknown

While browsing social media yesterday, I read a statement about our current predicament. It can be summed up as follows:

“I don’t care if three million people die in the US, I just want to get on with it. Social distancing kills the economy.”

People who make such statements often start sentences with things like:

• “They should just…”
• “I have never….”
• “I always said…”
• “It is so easy to see why….”
• “They just overcomplicate things by….”
• “Mark my words, this is just because…”

Strong statements often appeal to us when we don’t know what to do.

Strong statements allow us to cover up our feelings of vulnerability.

Strong statements no matter their cause can lead to war, murder, and even genocide.

When we feel a ball of uncertainty coming toward us, it can feel comforting, short term at least, to bat that ball away from us hard and fast with strong statements and easy-to-grasp solutions.

The trouble is that when we hit uncertainty away with our attempted one-sided explanations, the next ball of fear and worry will be thrown at us soon enough. And each time, we…