Hello Monday with Jessi Hempel How to Live With Uncertainty: Asking Better Questions About Work and Life
Dec 22, 2025
Join journalist and behavioral scientist Elizabeth Weingarten, author of How to Fall in Love with Questions, as she dissects the growing intolerance for uncertainty in our lives. She explores how smartphone culture limits our ability to sit with the unknown and challenges the pitfalls of binary thinking. Elizabeth introduces a unique framework of question types to guide decision-making and discusses how reframing questions can open new possibilities. Tune in for insights on combating burnout through meaningful inquiry and nurturing curiosity in uncertain times.
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Instant Answers Shrink Our Uncertainty Muscle
- Smartphone access to instant answers has atrophied our tolerance for uncertainty.
- Elizabeth Weingarten says we lost everyday practice of sitting with not knowing, shrinking our uncertainty 'muscle'.
Personal Crossroads During The Pandemic
- Elizabeth described asking herself during the pandemic whether she should get a divorce and what to do with her failing creative project.
- Those overlapping crises made her confront questions about identity, work, and meaning.
Stop Asking Binary Yes/No Life Questions
- Avoid framing big life choices as binary yes/no questions that force false certainty.
- Reframe questions to open possibilities rather than demand immediate answers, says Elizabeth Weingarten.