Certainty & Uncertainty (& self-sabotaging behavior)

Certainty & Uncertainty (& self-sabotaging behavior)

There are really two states of being, certainty & uncertainty, and the latter is frightening so the tendency is to resolve an issue to (re)gain certainty. The problem is that reliance on other people for something that’s needed for resolution exacerbates uncertainty and so tendency is to think of contingency plans or whatever that may seem helpful. The rumination then will cause frustration. What’s important about that though is that humans have been known to do things entirely out of character. I remember an article or video that covered that phenomenon & one of the anecdotes was about a highly intelligent man who gambled his savings & property away. The phenomenon accounts for other self-sabotaging behavior people do too. Humans won’t do anything that isn’t beneficial for them, which doesn’t seem to always apply, but will if considering that the benefit is derived from a person’s own perspective. There’s also the phrase “instant gratification” which is sort of insulting if a person is in difficult circumstances and is just wanting relief. There is relation there though to the desire to restore certainty. Being complimented can create uncertainty since implication is future performance will need to be equivalent or better.