Image adapted from Joshua Earle/Unsplash & Danielle Levis Pelusi/Unsplash

Psychological distress in the face of uncertainty is no accident—we have evolved to be nervous around feelings of threat. Yet science shows that because technology now lets us reduce uncertainty—by, for example, getting peer reviews of pretty much anything before we try it, or by having the ability to glance at what the temperature will be this afternoon, no matter where we will be—we now have an even higher intolerance of uncertainty.

But Yael Schonbrun and Barry Schwartz have an antidote. "Instead of anxiously awaiting clearer rules for uncertainty to diminish, we can look back. Way back, to the Greek philosopher Aristotle.

"In our environment of competing priorities and rampant uncertainties, we can turn to a particular kind of judgment that Aristotle explored in his classic Nicomachean Ethics. This kind of judgment, called “practical wisdom,” means knowing how to balance conflicting aims and principles. This kind of wisdom acknowledges that uncertain risk cannot be eliminated, but guides us in becoming wiser about how we manage it. As we confront terrifying and uncertain trade-offs, we can learn how to wisely judge competing goods. Practical wisdom can help us balance priorities, like physical health, financial security, protection for medical professionals, teachers, and other frontline workers, and the academic, social, and psychological health of our children."

Article: How Practical Wisdom Helps Us Cope with Radical Uncertainty