Maggie Jackson: Being Uncertain as a Form of Wakefulness

Sounds True: Insights at the Edge

Tami Simon

Religion, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 12 August 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this thought-provoking episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon sits down with Maggie Jackson, acclaimed journalist and author of "Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure." Together, they delve into the emerging science of uncertainty, discussing how our discomfort with not knowing can actually be a source of growth, creativity, and resilience. Maggie shares practical strategies for cultivating a healthy tolerance for uncertainty, explains the difference between fear and uncertainty, and highlights the power of curiosity, mindfulness, and adaptive expertise in navigating today’s unpredictable world. Whether you struggle with anxiety about the unknown or want to harness uncertainty as a tool for personal and professional development, this conversation offers wisdom and actionable insights for embracing life’s many mysteries.

Note: This interview originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Sounds True Podcast Network.
0:07.5	I feel as though to be in the suspense of uncertainty together is one of the greatest
0:13.1	gifts we can give each other.
0:16.3	And when I was really sick a few years ago, I desperately wanted that from people. I didn't want
0:22.7	them to tell me which doctor, which treatment, which something to do. I wanted them to,
0:29.2	as wonderful as their suggestions might be, to just be with me and let something evolve.
0:38.3	In this episode of Insights at the Edge, my guest is Maggie Jackson.
0:43.5	Maggie is an award-winning author, journalist, and a sought-after speaker known for her
0:49.6	prescient writings on social trends, particularly technology's impact on humanity.
0:57.1	Her most recent book is called Uncertain, The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure.
1:05.1	And that's what we're going to talk about.
1:07.6	Friends, stay with us maggie welcome thank you so much it's great to be with you
1:18.5	i learned from uncertain that there is now a new science related to being uncertain and uncertainty. And I thought this would be a good
1:29.8	place for us to start. For people who are like, what? There's a new science of being uncertain.
1:35.9	Can you give us the lay of the land? Yes, and it is very exciting. That's exactly what
1:42.3	pulled me in and partly inspired this book, as a matter of fact.
1:46.0	Basically, to put it fairly simply, but accurately, many different disciplines from psychology to many of the social sciences to to anthropology, to education, to business,
2:01.8	have either not studied uncertainty full-on, you know, psychological uncertainty in a sort of
2:10.1	full-on way, or a lot of disciplines have just treated uncertainty as something to, you know,
2:20.7	mathematicize out of existence.
2:23.3	So the aim has been for hundreds of years in our kind of efficiency-oriented rationalist
2:29.0	world to get rid of uncertainty foremost.
	...

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