How to Act In the Face of Uncertainty: Both “Doubt” and “Faith” Can Be Rational

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In every action there is an element of uncertainty. This is because we never know exactly how the future is going to play out.

We can gain knowledge and experience, and have a “good guess” on how something may work out, but we can’t know anything as 100% certain.

Our uncertainty is therefore a necessary byproduct of our lives as human beings, who never have perfect knowledge or perception.

While some view this uncertainty as crippling, others find ways to move past their uncertainty and take action in light of it.

There are two main ways we can respond to our uncertainty to help guide our lives rather than keep us stuck.



Rational doubt

Sometimes uncertainty tells us that we lack enough knowledge to properly guide our decisions, so we should therefore try to educate ourselves more.

For example, when you first start looking at colleges or choosing a study, you’re naturally going to feel a little uncertain about what the right course of action is.

And that’s a good thing – because you shouldn’t make important decisions in your life if you haven’t given them any real thought or done any research.

A person who has spent time reading about different colleges, visiting them, and talking to others who have attended that college, will gradually become more certain about what a good choice is vs. a bad choice.

In this case, uncertainty creates a feeling of doubt that allows us to step back, re-evaluate our actions, and seek new knowledge if it’s necessary and appropriate.



Rational faith

No matter how much information you get regarding a decision in your life, you’ll never have a complete picture.

When we over-think things we fall into analysis paralysis, a state where our uncertainty has us chasing an endless amount of knowledge but never taking action on any of it.

In every action, you need to take some leap of faith in the face of your uncertainty. This is because in every decision you have to accept that you are limited by:

Imperfect knowledge: We can never know all the information going into a situation, so we have to be comfortable acting on imperfect knowledge.

Time constraints: If you wait too long to make a decision then you might miss it forever. Sometimes you have to take action simply because you don’t have any more time to think about it.

The downward spiral of inaction: You can’t get all your knowledge from books, videos, or other people – sometimes you need to just take action to learn and grow, even if things don’t work out the way you planned.

With these things in mind, it’s clear that working with some degree of uncertainty is an embedded part of everyday life.



Uncertainty is a sign to either “step back” or “move forward”

Doubt and faith are both rational responses to our uncertainty.

When we have doubt, we believe we should “step back” and halt a course of action until we know a bit more. And when we have faith, we believe we should “move forward” and pursue a course of action even though we don’t have all the facts.

Both are important functions of the human mind that need to be exercised. And when you learn to balance both accordingly, you become a master of your uncertainty.



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