Evolutionarily, the brain dislikes uncertainty, regarding it as a type of pain. The brain therefore tries to avoid uncertainty, and in its place creates story upon story to explain it away. The brain is so powerful it causes people to vividly imagine a way to closure.
But Dr. Robert Burton, former chief of neurology at the University of California at San Francisco-Mt. Zion Hospital says, “Only in the absence of certainty can we have open-mindedness, mental flexibility, and willingness to contemplate alternative ideas.”
The quest for certainty is a survival instinct
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Originally published on Quartz : Original article