Our success as a species is due to our brains being incredible pattern-recognition machines. Irrespective of its inaccuracy and risks, we rely on speedy pattern recognition because it is incredibly efficient.
Imagine life without this remarkable cognitive gift. Every day would be a confusing jumble of disconnected events, each devoid of context or predictability. The constellations overhead would remain enigmatic dots, empty of the stories woven into human culture for millennia. Faces would be shape-shifting mysteries. Words, formless and alien. City streets, a chaotic maze where every step is an uncertain leap into the unknown. Without pattern recognition, routines would be impossible to establish, and even the simplest tasks would demand herculean effort. It is the gift of pattern recognition that makes the world comprehensible and has allowed our species to shape its destiny.
Often, what we call uncertainty is simply one of two puzzles perplexing our extraordinary brains.
One reason why uncertainty challenges us is the elusive absence of a recognizable pattern, with reality resisting our attempts to make it comprehensible. It’s not that the world around us is flawed. Each human mind is a weave of its unique experiences. Where one mind perceives chaos, another might glimpse order. Unimaginative observers see the stars as arbitrary flickers in the night sky. The poets look at the same sky and hear celestial songs. And scientists see the keys to unlocking the mysteries of the universe. Uncertainty, then, is both the truth and a subjective filter through which we view the world.
The other reason uncertainty is so demanding is that there are multiple, tantalizingly similar patterns competing for supremacy. Imagine a grand masquerade ball where masks swirl and twirl, inviting us to dance. The problem is not a lack of patterns but rather excess. With so many similar options, the mind becomes paralyzed, unable to decide which path to take.
Trying to decipher elusive patterns or choose from too many options is like walking through a dense, ever-shifting fog, each step requiring immense effort. Long walks in the haze of uncertainty are exceptionally tiring.
There is, however, a two-step solution to this problem:
- Zoom out and see the landscape from a vantage point high enough to let us distinguish between things that we can change and things we can’t.
- Zoom in and focus almost exclusively on the aspects of the situation that we can change and set about changing them.
It’s all easier said than done, but practicing this is the only way to reduce the fog and emotional toll of sustained uncertainty.
