The Uncertainty Mindset 2019-2020

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knowability

Vaughn Tan3rd January 2021 at 8:02pm

The degree to which something can be known, which is not the same as the degree to which something happens to currently be known. True uncertainty results from things not being knowable. Risk is often mistaken for uncertainty when a situation which is unknown is treated as being knowable when it actually isn't—coronavirus was and continues to be (as of the end of December 2020) just one of many examples of this application of the risk mindset where the uncertainty mindset would be much more appropriate.

See also: ambient uncertainty, causality, delusion, negative capability, not-knowing, precautionary principle, preference uncertainty, resource with no predefined form, uncertain futures, uncertainty.