Also: why can't humans handle uncertainty already?

We’re replaying No Stupid Questions, starting here with the very first episode, from May 17, 2020.

How can you learn to love uncertainty? Is it better to cultivate acceptance or strive for change? And, after 223 episodes, what is the meaning of life?

• SOURCES:
  • Jessica Alquist, professor of psychology at Texas Tech University.
  • Roy Baumeister, professor of psychology at The University of Queensland.
  • Raymond Carver, 20th-century American short story writer and poet.
  • Stephen Colbert, comedian and late-night TV host.
  • Matt Damon, actor and film producer.
  • Viktor Frankl, 20th-century Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, philosopher.
  • Steve Heine, professor of psychology at University of British Columbia.
  • Charles Krauthammer, journalist.
  • Reinhold Niebuhr, 20th-century American theologian.
  • Keanu Reeves, actor.
  • Elisabeth Sifton, author, editor, and book publisher.

• RESOURCES:
  • Start Making Sense: How Existential Psychology Can Help Us Build Meaningful Lives in Absurd Times, by Steve Heine (2025).
  • "Learning to Love Uncertainty," by Jessica L. Alquist and Roy F. Baumeister (Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2024).
  • "Confused or Curious? Openness/Intellect Predicts More Positive Interest-Confusion Relations," by Kirill Fayn, Paul J. Silvia, Egon Dejonckheere, Stijn Verdonck, and Peter Kuppens (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2019).
  • "A Note to Readers," by Charles Krauthammer (The Washington Post, 2018).
  • "Interest — The Curious Emotion," by Paul J. Silvia (Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2008).
  • The Serenity Prayer: Faith and Politics in Times of Peace and War, by Elisabeth Sifton (2003).
  • "Late Fragment," by Raymond Carver (A New Path to the Waterfall, 1989).
  • Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl (1946).

• EXTRAS:
  • "What Makes an Idea Interesting?" by No Stupid Questions (2024).
  • "Should You Get Out of Your Comfort Zone?" by No Stupid Questions (2024).
  • "Do You Need Closure?" by No Stupid Questions (2024).
  • "Secret o’ Life," by James Taylor (JT, 1977).

What do Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and Malcolm Gladwell have in common? Are interesting theories more significant than true ones? And what has been keeping Angela up at night? Plus: an important announcement about the show.

• SOURCES:
  • Charles Darwin, 19th-century naturalist and biologist.
  • Murray Davis, cultural sociologist.
  • Malcolm Gladwell, journalist and author.
  • Adam Grant, professor of management and psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.
  • B. F. Skinner, 20th-century American psychologist.

• RESOURCES:
  • Small Fry, by Lisa Brennan-Jobs (2018).
  • Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, by Angela Duckworth (2016).
  • "Why Malcolm Gladwell’s Ideas Are So Interesting, Whether or Not They’re True," by Adam Grant (Quartz, 2015).
  • David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell (2013).
  • Curious?: Discover the Missing Ingredient to a Fulfilling Life, by Todd Kashdan (2009).
  • "Interest — The Curious Emotion," by Paul J. Silvia (2008).
  • Exploring the Psychology of Interest, by Paul J. Silvia (2006).
  • "The Ketchup Conundrum," by Malcolm Gladwell (The New Yorker, 2004).
  • "That's Interesting!: Towards a Phenomenology of Sociology and a Sociology of Phenomenology," by Murray S. Davis (Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 1971).
  • The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, by Charles Darwin (1872).

• EXTRAS:
  • "How Do You Identify a Narcissist?" by No Stupid Questions (2024).
  • "Is Screen Time as Poisonous as We Think?" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
  • "Abortion and Crime, Revisited (Update)," by Freakonomics Radio (2024).