What if Uncertainty Isn’t Such a Bad Thing?

The Next Big Idea

Next Big Idea Club

Science, Social Sciences, Society & Culture, Education

4.4 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2026

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

You can run from uncertainty, but you can’t hide. The thing to do, says Simone Stolzoff, to develop comfort with ambiguity and build tolerance for the unknown. His new book is How to Not Know: The Value of Uncertainty in a World that Demands Answers. Granola ➡️ If meetings are eating up your day, Granola is a no-brainer. You can try it totally free for three months. Just head to granola.ai/idea Incogni ➡️ Protect your personal information online and get an exclusive 60% off an annual plan at incogni.com/nbi Quince ➡️ Refresh your spring wardrobe and get free shipping and 365-day returns at quince.com/nbi Shopify ➡️ Launch your business for just $1/month. Start selling today at shopify.com/nbi

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Caleb Bissinger and I'm Rufus Griscom
0:02.6	and this is the next big idea.
0:05.1	Today, making friends with uncertainty. We are living in an era of upheaval.
0:35.8	Political, technological.
0:38.5	What are you supposed to do when the future is opaque?
0:41.7	When, to borrow a phrase, all that is solid feels like it's melting into air?
0:46.5	The answer, according to Simone Stols-off, is to make peace with the uncertainty that surrounds us.
0:53.3	In his new book, How to Not Know, Simone shows us how accepting ambiguity and learning to love
0:59.8	the unknown are more valuable skills now than ever. After the break, Simone and I talk about
1:05.7	why global measures of uncertainty are rising, while at the same time our tolerance for it
1:10.7	is in decline.
1:12.2	How embracing uncertainty led one entrepreneur to a $27 billion idea.
1:17.9	Why one of the world's most powerful organizations has a department of doubt,
1:22.6	and what it means to live comfortably in a state of unknowing.
1:26.8	That's all coming up after these ads.
1:28.3	Today's episode of the next big idea is sponsored by Granola, Incogni, Quince, and Shopify.
1:48.5	Granola is an AI-powered notepad built for the way real people actually meet.
1:53.6	Try it totally free for three months. Just head to granola.a.com slash idea.
2:03.8	Incogni is the best way to protect your personal information online. To get an exclusive 60% off an annual incogny plan, go to incogni.com slash nbi.
2:06.5	Quince has all the wardrobe staples you need for spring.
2:11.2	Head to quince.com slash NBI for free shipping and 365-day returns.
2:15.1	Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world.
	...

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