Yearning for Certainty with Maggie Jackson (Part 1 of 2 )

Beauty At Work

Maggie Jackson is an award-winning author and journalist with a global reach. Her new book, Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure, explores why we should seek not-knowing in this era of angst and flux. Nominated for a National Book Award and named to multiple “Best Books of 2023” lists, Uncertain is an official selection of the Next Big Idea Club curated by Malcolm Gladwell, Dan Pink, Adam Grant, and Susan Cain. Lauded as “incisive and timely” (Dan Pink), “surprising and practical” (Gretchen Rubin), and “remarkable and persuasive” (Library Journal), Uncertain was named a Top 10 Summer Reading pick by Nautilus magazine.

Jackson’s previous book, Distracted, sparked a global conversation on the steep costs of fragmenting our attention. A former longtime columnist for the Boston Globe, Jackson has written for The New York Times and major publications worldwide. Her work has been translated into numerous languages and is widely covered by the press. She lives in New York and Rhode Island and seeks a daily dose of uncertainty by swimming in the sea nearly every day, year-round.

In this first part of our conversation, we talk about:

• The value of embracing uncertainty as a superpower
• The distinction between aleatory and epistemic uncertainty
• The cultural and psychological effects of our aversion to uncertainty
• The role of adaptive expertise in leadership and problem-solving
• The relationship between humility and uncertainty

To learn more about Maggie Jackson, you can find her at: https://www.maggie-jackson.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maggiehjackson/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maggiejackson/
Website: https://www.maggie-jackson.com/
Books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Maggie-Jackson/author/B001JP8IEA

This episode is sponsored by:
John Templeton Foundation (https://www.templeton.org/)
Templeton Religion Trust (https://templetonreligiontrust.org/)

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