Uncertainty is an Opportunity

We have a tendency to feel the same about risk as we do about uncertainty… but in fact, the two are starkly different. Risk can be expressed with mathematics as the probability of something bad happening; those calculations are the foundation of all insurance. Uncertainty doesn’t involve probabilities because it simply means not knowing: a future of either good, bad, or some unknown mix of the two. Given these definitions, risk is essentially an equation, while uncertainty might better be understood as a space. Taking that another step, we don’t need to feel foreboding in the space of uncertainty but can instead appreciate it as generative. 

In fact, it is the space of uncertainty that creates context for our efforts and possibility for our dreams. If the future were certain (as we often claim to want) efforts wouldn’t matter. I’m increasingly hopeful about uncertainty because it represents the space in which we can contribute to a better future. Today -- the gift we appropriately call the present -- is our opportunity to join the flow of history and influence that future with all the goodness we can give.