Theory: humans like to maintain uncertainty at a constant level. If reality gets too predictable we tell more plausible make-believe stories. If it gets less predictable we tell fewer stories. If a coin always comes up heads, we tell stories of a world where it always comes up tails.

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not-knowing ✹ 🍕-fan ✹ productive discomfort + idk ✹ Marseille / Singapore / Auvergne ✹ The Uncertainty Mindset (2020) ✹ now: vaughntan.org/now-ish

Hm not sure this nuance is something humans are sensitive to at the unconscious level I think my hypothesis applies. Your categories are good but strike me as constituting an acquired discipline. Almost a protocol for uncertainty.

I recall that uncertainty vs ambiguity paper you shared years ago which I cite a lot.

is it uncertainty (a very broad category) that humans seek or ambiguity (a particular type of not-knowing where there are multiple possible readings, some of which might be more favourable than current perceived reality)?

Set point theory but for FUD? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_point_theory

Dostoevsky wrote about this in Notes from Underground (excerpt below). The inherent desire for entropy is definitely under-explored.  I wonder if it’s evolutionary. https://i.imgur.com/d0j0QvX.jpg

Uncertainty, like death, gives life meaning.

100% also that's how the flow state works, if you remove the "skill" part

We are explorers. We chase the thrill of the unknown.

We also seek hope.

Put another way, if things seen too certain, humans think they are missing something, and look for the flaw. If things are too uncertain, humans think they are missing, and look for the fix.

People tend to see what they expect to see.

Since it's uncertain thing, it's hard to maintain it at a constant level. Or we try to make ourselves believe, it's constant and things are under control.