Building Tolerance for Not Knowing Yet
Launch library · evergreen read
Not every developing situation online has a clear answer available immediately after it happens, and building tolerance for that uncertainty, resisting the urge to settle on a firm conclusion before enough information genuinely exists, is its own useful skill worth deliberately developing over time. Sitting with that gap is uncomfortable, which is exactly why so many people rush to close it too quickly.
The discomfort of simply not knowing often pushes people toward whatever explanation arrives first, regardless of how well supported it actually is, simply because having any answer at all feels better than sitting with an open question a little longer than feels comfortable. That rush toward closure rarely serves accuracy, even though it reliably serves the discomfort of simply not knowing yet.
Practising patience with unresolved situations, checking back later rather than committing early to an unverified account of events, tends to produce a more accurate picture over time than rushing toward the first available explanation that happens to arrive first. A later, better supported answer is generally worth more than an earlier, shakier one arrived at too fast.