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The Certainty Trap
Why our need for certainty can deepen tribalism, polarisation and conflict
When a Story Becomes an Identity
“That’s just the kind of person I am”, sounds like a simple observation. Perhaps even an honest one. I’m an anxious person. I’m a worrier. I’m not good with change. I’ve never been particularly confident. We use statements like these every day to describe ourselves, and often they are perfectly reasonable shorthand. But sometimes these descriptions quietly turn into conclusions. Something we have experienced or repeatedly done becomes something we believe we are.
This is a phenomenon I’ve become increasingly interested in and read about across areas of social psychology, politics, and the nature of the self. I’ve also noticed it in myself. The more I think I understand why I react a certain way, or why someone else behaves the way they do, the easier it becomes to stop questioning the story I have constructed.
We are constantly developing ideas about who we are, shaped by our experiences, relationships, strengths, weaknesses and habits. These narratives give our lives continuity and help us make sense of ourselves. But this inevitably gives rise to a dilemma: the more convincing our understanding of ourselves becomes, the easier it is to mistake it for…
