Uncertainty
What it is telling youYou cannot see the whole road. You can still see the next few steps.
How He Sees It.
At eighteen, headed to community college while friends left for four-year schools, Eric was asked the questions everyone is asked: what will you study, what will you do. His answer was that it is okay not to know.
He borrowed an image from his conversation with Isaac Mashman in episode 5: driving through fog. You cannot see the destination, but you can see the next stretch of road, and north is a broad enough direction to keep you moving.
On Uncertainty, Word for Word.
Each line links to the moment it was said or written.
“It is okay to not know.”
“Have a north star, a general direction that leads you a certain way to a destination that you can be proud of.”
“The truth is, I think most mistakes are only realized in retrospect.”
What He Does With It.
Looks about seven steps ahead, enough to be sure the path does not run off a cliff, and no further.
Episode 6: Social Pressure, Receiving Advice, and My Biggest FearsActs on the knowledge he has, then alters course as soon as he learns more, the way the podcast changed episode by episode.
Episode 27: How Do I Bring Value to Others? A ReflectionMakes the best decision he can, then works to make the decision right rather than agonizing over whether it was.
Episode 66: How to Make Decisions (Return of the Podcast)