How much do we reply upon certainty? And, how does the way we deal with uncertainty impact our future and our lives?Uncertainty is one of the defining issues of our time. The stability we once had is disappearing, and fast. Vast changes in society are shifting our realities- extraordinary numbers of immigrants and refugees are upsetting the demographic, and the cultural and religious foundations of nations. Changing attitudes and approaches to employment, with an increase in freelance and temporary work undermines people's ability to plan for the future. And, there is an ever decreasing sense of trust in what once hallowed- the government, the media, in education, religion, in medicine. Instead, the internet provides us with a wave of conflicting advice. When we can no longer make sense of the world together, insecurity takes over. We develop anxiety and confusion about our purpose, and in searching for certainty find it in autocratic leaders and populism. Democracy begins to fade as our uncertainty grows. If we are aware of our need for certainty, and understand why we behave instinctively in the way that we do, we can better understand how stress and pressure affects our decisions. We can shed light not only on historical trends but understand how we change those trends for the future.

Arie W. Kruglanski is an award-winning Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park recognised as a worldwide leading expert and authority on human motivation.
Famed for his interest and studies in domains of human judgement and decision-making, the motivation-cognition interface, group and intergroup processes, and the psychology of human goals, his work has been published in over 400 articles, chapters and books and his papers have appeared in major psychological journals. He has published opinion pieces in the Guardian, Huffington Post, National Interest, Conversation and The Washington Post. His background has enabled him to be a founding co-PI of START (National Center for the Study of Terrorism and the Response to Terrorism). He is currently a PI on the psychological study of Syrian refugees in Europe and the Middle East.