Since you mentiones being a nerd above, I’ll allow my own nerdiness to come out:

Psychologically, uncertainty itself can’t make us anxious—but the way we interpret it and try to make sense of it can.

As a therapist, I’ve noticed an increasingly strong trend in my clients with anxiety—especially younger ones—of being extremely intolerant and terrified of uncertainty. It’s as if increasingly uncertainty=bad in our cultural consciousness.

The result is an increased attempt to control or alleviate uncertainty (usually via worry and rumination). Which of course doesn’t work since uncertainty is inevitable.

I think “over-parenting” is a big contributor here. When you 1) place huge expectations for success on your kids, and then 2) never allow them to fail or stumble on their own, they become profoundly afraid of any situation that doesn’t have a cookie cutter path forward or someone immediately at hand to walk them through it.

Anyway, I think the intersection of uncertainty and anxiety is really interesting an important, so I’m glad you highlighted it.

Great work, as alway, Charles!