Embracing Uncertainty, Part 3

There is a reason why the idea of embracing uncertainty makes us uncomfortable. Modern brain science reveals that our brains are hard-wired to hate uncertainty:

Neuroscience research is revealing that the state of not being certain is an extremely uncomfortable place for our brains to live: The greater the uncertainty, the worse the discomfort.

What this tells us is that the brain doesn’t merely prefer certainty over ambiguity—it craves it. Our need to be right is actually a need to “feel” right.

Neurologist Robert Burton coined the term “certainty bias” to describe this feeling and how it skews our thinking.

The truth for us all is that when we feel right about a decision or a belief—whether big or small—our brains are happy. Since our brains like being happy, we like feeling right.2