How the desire for certainty affects human behavior, for better or worse. PDF

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In her chapter, Shoshana Zuboff makes an impassioned plea for our “right to the future tense.”
At the heart of her discussion is an acknowledgment that, as Hannah Arendt put it, “the future’s
main characteristic is its basic uncertainty.” Though this uncertainty can, and sometimes do...

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Expository Writing Prof. ….. November 3, 2021 Final Draft Analytic Essay 3 How the desire for certainty affects human behavior, for better or worse. Uncertainty and ambiguity are extremely unappealing to the human mind; we tend to react to uncertainty or unclarity by intuitively constructing convincing answers almost immediately. When faced with ambiguity or a lack of clarity, we instinctively generate possible explanations. As Shoshana Zuboff discusses her research on surveillance capitalism and its origination and problems it has caused or might cause in the future in her book ”The age of surveillance capitalism” she doesn’t fail to mention how uncertainty is a medium through which humans can make promises and it’s also how there isn’t freedom without uncertainty. In Daniel Gilbert’s “Immune to Reality” Daniel Gilbert, analyzes and performs studies that demonstrate that individuals are unaware of how certain things affect them in reality, as opposed to how they imagine it will affect them. Our desire for certainty might be considered a form of survival mechanism. It represents how much risk we're willing to tolerate in life when we don't know what might happen. The more an individual demands certainty, the less emotional risk one will be willing to take. Although understanding the beauty of uncertainty is crucial, for the sake of variation the people who solely depend on the uncertainty of a situation will be unafraid to take risks and will not avoid new situations or people. These people tend to switch up their lives frequently, or they take unwarranted risks to get the adrenaline rush they seek. This could shape our actions for better or for worse depending on the situation this context is applied in. Uncertainty is a

fundamental and unavoidable aspect of our lives. Our actions have an impact on our uncertainty about things, and our uncertainty has an impact on our actions. Trying to guess or figure out what the uncertainties are leads to the actions we do in response to them, but it doesn't always make us feel better about ourselves. It also doesn't affect what others think of us or how their uncertainty about us influences their actions. Getting the adrenaline rush most people seek from uncertainty takes away the confinements surrounding them as they are free, they don’t have any expectations so results achieved afterward are unregrettable, it is for better or for worse, Zuboff discusses how there is no freedom with the presence of uncertainty to“most simply put, there is no freedom without uncertainty; it is the medium in which human will is expressed in promises” ( Zuboff 333). What Zuboff means by this is that if you’re not willing to step into the unknown, then you’re a slave to your acclaimed knowledge, as this is a limiting factor. The human will is usually to turn a blind eye to unfavorable situations as a way of avoiding them but Zuboff sees it as a way the human will is conveyed. Therefore, instead of rejecting uncertainty, we might as well learn to accept it, especially self-acceptance, which is a surprising key to happiness. Accepting life as it is and going ahead from there is what uncertainty is all about. Uncertainty frees us to move on rather than being imprisoned by the fear, or conflict of being in the known because it helps us to perceive the truth of the situation in the current moment. To let the desire for certainty shape our actions, we must let go of any preconceived ideas and let life take its course. This can even help avoid complicated situations, as well as our actions about it. As we know, life is uncertain, and attempting to exert too much control over results can only lead to disappointment. The desire for certainty enables us to believe that we have control over outcomes and occurrences, which can be beneficial or detrimental depending on the circumstances. At times when we are uncertain about a situation the action we are prompted to

take is to get rid of the uncertainty by finding information to feed to it when in reality we have no idea what we might be digging into. Gilbert explained that sometimes “Most of us will pay a premium today for the opportunity to change our minds tomorrow, and sometimes it makes sense to do so.” (Gilbert 151). What Gilbert expressed in this sentence is that sometimes even though we might know what we want we intentionally leave room for ambiguity, he claimed that most of us would rather pay more just to have a chance to change things in the future, though this may not necessarily be a bad thing as it is in our nature to explore and dig into things. So when things don't go as planned—which happens almost all the time—those with an inclined demand for control struggle the most. Since the desire for certainty makes us think we can control situations, when this desire to control interferes, our happiness tends to decrease because whenever you want something deeply enough, you're more inclined to compromise other good things that will help you or make you happy. Uncertainty is something we despise as humans. Negative certainty, or the knowledge that something will go wrong, is sometimes preferable to not knowing what will happen. When the future seems bleak, as it does right now, we react by filling in the gaps with negative certainty. Potential disasters and what-if situations We have convinced ourselves that the future is doomed. As strange as it may seem, the certainty of a disastrous future seems to be more manageable than not knowing what would happen. We might also remind ourselves that the truth is that we don't know what the future holds right now. It is so limited we could be sure of, which can lead to a lot of anxiety. After all, our brain is wired to recognize and respond negatively to uncertainty. In evolutionary terms, the more knowledge we have at our disposal, the safer we feel, particularly when it comes to details relating to a threat to our well-being. Usually people frequently take advantage of the utility of certainty to profit from others. This can be accomplished in two ways: the value of assurance is overtly exploited, or the desire

for certainty is exploited. Using a car firm as an example, Zuboff writes on how, rather than trusting customers to make their due payments on time, technology will frequently be utilized to deactivate a car with non-payment, in a true uncontract way. As a result, transactions are cleaner since they are “eliminating the messy, unpredictable, untrustworthy eruptions of human will” (Zuboff 336). Zuboff uses the term uncontract which can be interpreted as the loss of human flexibility and compassion, that is people are unpredictable. So to ensure that no money is lost throughout the transaction The uncontract is often consulted to completely eradicate all uncertainty connected with an individual's will, with the distinct ultimate aim being a financial advantage for the car company. According to Gilbert, another approach utilized by car firms would be to take full advantage of the customer's desire for certainty in a transaction. Gilbert discusses how car companies will only allow individuals to seek reimbursement on their cars after they have purchased them if they pay an additional fee. He demonstrates how, in most circumstances, the car a person chooses is appropriate and suitable to their needs. Whatever the case may be, according to Gilbert, "most of us will pay a premium today for the opportunity to change our minds tomorrow" (Gilbert 151). This can be a potential form of risk such a customer is taking because, even though a customer will choose the car he believes is best, he will not be confident whether the car is the greatest decision right away. Paying this premium alleviates the tension that comes with uncertainty, which is why people pay it to take advantage of certainty. A lot of customers fall into a trap established by businesses that understand how to profit from the utility of certainty in a variety of ways. Car firms will be able to fulfill their objectives more easily this way, but it will be at the expense of individuals. In conclusion, the desire for certainty can help us become more conscious of the experiences we will have, but it comes at the cost of a lot of freedom. This is an example of how

uncertainty influences human behavior. Furthermore, we often tend to regard made-up solutions as having true value in and of themselves, which is one of the ways the demand for certainty drives human activities, for better or worse. We frequently find it difficult to let things go once we have them. The desire for certainty enables us to believe that we have control over outcomes and occurrences, which can be beneficial or detrimental depending on the circumstances. Most times when the future appears dreary, we frequently fill in the blanks with pessimistic confidence, imagining what might happen next. This is due to our predisposition to believe that the future is already bad. It's also because we believe that the best way to avoid disaster is to plan for the worst-case situation. It’s been said that the more uncertainty there is, or the stronger the sense of danger, the more a section of the brain lights up. We are living in a period of immense uncertainty, both culturally and socially, as well as in terms of our health. Humans are frequently drawn to extremes by uncertainty, where definitive solutions await, even if they turn out to be incorrect in the long term.

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