New Book Tackles Modern Anxiety: “How to Live with Not Knowing”

Journalist Simone Stolzoff explores why uncertainty is harder to handle today — and how people can learn to accept it. Stolzoff calls himself “naturally an uncertain person,” often caught in rumination and self-doubt. While this trait helps him as a journalist, he says it can be a double-edged sword in daily life. In a new book, he recounts a personal example: faced with choosing between a job at a magazine in New York and a role at a design firm in San Francisco, he felt “tortured” by the decision. Looking back, he laughs at how difficult it felt to pick between two attractive career paths. The book examines how modern life amplifies the discomfort of not knowing, and offers strategies to build tolerance for ambiguity.