What do you think?
Rate this book
How to Not Know: The Value of Uncertainty in a World that Demands Answers
A guide to dealing with uncertainty at a time when our lives have never felt less certain.
From our careers to our politics to our personal lives, the future is unknown. And yet, our capacity to tolerate this uncertainty is in decline. How to Not Know will help you prepare for—and even appreciate—the uncertainty that surrounds us.
Through gripping stories of people grappling with big problems without easy answers—from an economist trying to predict the next market crash to an island nation reckoning with the existential impact of climate change—acclaimed journalist Simone Stolzoff shows how to develop comfort with ambiguity and build tolerance for the unknown.
Blending engrossing storytelling, research, and practical insights, How to Not Know is an essential guide to navigating uncertainty with courage and clarity.
From our careers to our politics to our personal lives, the future is unknown. And yet, our capacity to tolerate this uncertainty is in decline. How to Not Know will help you prepare for—and even appreciate—the uncertainty that surrounds us.
Through gripping stories of people grappling with big problems without easy answers—from an economist trying to predict the next market crash to an island nation reckoning with the existential impact of climate change—acclaimed journalist Simone Stolzoff shows how to develop comfort with ambiguity and build tolerance for the unknown.
Blending engrossing storytelling, research, and practical insights, How to Not Know is an essential guide to navigating uncertainty with courage and clarity.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published May 12, 2026
About the author
Simone Stolzoff
5 books100 followersSimone Stolzoff is an author and designer from San Francisco. A former design lead at the global innovation firm IDEO, his work has been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and on the TED Stage. He is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of Pennsylvania.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
May 12, 2026
I had high expectations for "How to Not Know," and yet Simone Stolzoff managed to exceed them. What stayed with me most is how deeply human this book is. It’s the storytelling that makes it such a moving and impactful read.
Each chapter is anchored in a story—from an individual struggling with OCD to a community facing climate uncertainty. Through these stories, we learn how others have navigated the discomfort of not knowing. And through the lens of their experiences, we begin to recognize something both unsettling and freeing: uncertainty isn’t a "problem to be solved."
Perhaps my favorite sections were those that centered on control and decision-making. Two passages I keep coming back to: "A life that is fully optimized misses out on the serendipity and delight that live outside of our comfort zone," and "Whether we suffer from OCD or not, our brains play masterful tricks to help us avoid undesirable emotions. Decision-making is hard because before we make a choice, every option is available to us. Making a choice requires forgoing other opportunities, which can feel like loss. Rather than accept the consequences of commitment, our brains can convince us to perpetually stay in a place of indecision." I haven't stopped thinking about that second one.
Stolzoff so artfully blends research with reporting to examine our modern obsession with "the right answer." He doesn’t try to lecture us or simply cite studies. Instead, he brings us into the lives of others and lets us watch them grapple with uncertainty. As readers, we observe these situations with curiosity, recognize the familiarity of these struggles, and feel our own understanding begin to shift.
One of the things I appreciated most is that this isn’t a book that romanticizes uncertainty. As Stolzoff writes: "The goal of this book is not to direct you to always seek out uncertainty. Both certainty and uncertainty are important components of a fulfilling life. The problem occurs, however, when we search for certainty where there is none to be found." Stolzoff doesn’t try to tell us how we should live. More powerfully, he helps us shift how we relate to the unknown through the people whose lives he gives us a glimpse into.
Each chapter is anchored in a story—from an individual struggling with OCD to a community facing climate uncertainty. Through these stories, we learn how others have navigated the discomfort of not knowing. And through the lens of their experiences, we begin to recognize something both unsettling and freeing: uncertainty isn’t a "problem to be solved."
Perhaps my favorite sections were those that centered on control and decision-making. Two passages I keep coming back to: "A life that is fully optimized misses out on the serendipity and delight that live outside of our comfort zone," and "Whether we suffer from OCD or not, our brains play masterful tricks to help us avoid undesirable emotions. Decision-making is hard because before we make a choice, every option is available to us. Making a choice requires forgoing other opportunities, which can feel like loss. Rather than accept the consequences of commitment, our brains can convince us to perpetually stay in a place of indecision." I haven't stopped thinking about that second one.
Stolzoff so artfully blends research with reporting to examine our modern obsession with "the right answer." He doesn’t try to lecture us or simply cite studies. Instead, he brings us into the lives of others and lets us watch them grapple with uncertainty. As readers, we observe these situations with curiosity, recognize the familiarity of these struggles, and feel our own understanding begin to shift.
One of the things I appreciated most is that this isn’t a book that romanticizes uncertainty. As Stolzoff writes: "The goal of this book is not to direct you to always seek out uncertainty. Both certainty and uncertainty are important components of a fulfilling life. The problem occurs, however, when we search for certainty where there is none to be found." Stolzoff doesn’t try to tell us how we should live. More powerfully, he helps us shift how we relate to the unknown through the people whose lives he gives us a glimpse into.
May 11, 2026
The stories and research that Simon Stolzoff weaves together in this wholly approachable consideration of living with uncertainty is a book I’ll return to again just like his first book, The Good Enough Job. Would be a great book club read, rife with options for meaty discussion regardless of creed or differing values.
May 12, 2026
I finally got around to reading this book and it felt incredibly relevant to the world we are living in today. In a time where everything is constantly changing and uncertainty feels unavoidable, this book offers a refreshing and thoughtful perspective on work, odentity, and how we navigate modern life. What I loved most were the personal stories and practical insights in the book. I genuinely think this is a book everyone should read, especially if you've ever felt overwhelmed by the pressure to 'have it all figured out'. Highly recommended!
May 16, 2026
4.5 rounded up to 5.
Review of advance copy
Thank you to Norton for providing me with an ARC of this release.
Once upon a time, I voraciously read self-help books. By the end of that stint, I concluded that most rested on a highly individualist framing of suffering, which rarely addresses deeper issues of social stratification that are even further from our control, yet slip from our knowledge and awareness due to these very forces bent on imposing apathy and complacency through obligatory overwork and the subsequent lack of fulfillment one feels because of that drudgery.
Hot Not to Know by Simone Stolzoff mostly rides that same current, but approaches a more collective view, albeit conservatively. The chapter on economists refusing to own up to their false predictions invokes an image of working class peoples dangling from the strings of the wealthy and powerful; their hubris is particularly ludicrous, and it's this reality of powerlessness that underscores uncertainty intolerance--something that wasn't touched on meaningfully by drawing on criticism of neoliberalism and globalization which further alienate the individual from the collective.
Furthermore, the book suffers from colorblindness; the reader is assumed to be economically privileged and/or white, as egregious as the example of the white software engineer who makes it a point to go out of his comfort zone in the most materialistic manner--signing up for classes, venturing to restaurants he'd never visit otherwise, all speaking to his access and privilege. The chapter even insists that he is a well-intentioned white man, as if predicting the raised eyebrows. Consumerism drives uncertainty intolerance as well--"I buy, therefore I am,"--the temporary or imagined relief from that anxiety through buying an experience or product or culture becomes all the more irresistible, and I think this chapter exemplified this all too well.
Speaking more on the colorblindness: it's always expected of nonwhite peoples to be resilient and full of forbearance, and their anger is always misplaced, misdirected, or a waste of energy. The example of Tuvalu's varied responses to climate change did speak to the power of community resilience, but it was disheartening that they must be a "model" for others to follow, and anger or indignation at the reality of enduring imperialism and colonialism is mere complaining. There is a lot to be said about virtue signalling on the internet in particular, but the consequences of colonialism are not petty concerns, either.
The apolitical approach simply doesn't work when another reason that the threshold for uncertainty intolerance is so low is because in our current times, social stratification is getting even wider and starker, tyranny all the more blatant, and it's never been more obvious that "justice" and "law" do not exist if they do not serve the powerful and wealthy.
Barrier of access is also a pertinent issue raised by the chapter on false positives and the necessity of replication studies, in addition to the profit motive guiding research. Why isn't the takeaway that academia, to reiterate a previous point, is frightfully gatekept by the wealthy, titled, and influential, and that issues affecting marginalized groups are going to be sidelined if they are inconvenient to the former's interests?
The chapter on having faith also rang a discordant note; contextually, it's impossible for a "secular" definition of faith, as it cannot be divorced from its religious connotation. As a consequence, the chapter came off a bit preachy, pun intended. Perhaps it would have succeeded on its secular mission for the practice of "faith" if the author hadn't focused on an actual ordained minister within the chapter.
At the same time, the themes in the book did bring me to acknowledge my feelings about certain events in my life in the past year. The book itself is too shallow, though; it was more a springboard to bring up these issues with a therapist, or even with a discussion group, but with a lot more supplementary material. Speaking of shallowness, the chapter discussing OCD only scratched the surface, and it went too predictably in the direction of the option of psychedelics to treat mental illness--meanwhile addicts are maligned for using the same drugs in the "wrong" way. Thankfully, it doesn't purport that they are a cure for OCD or other mental illnesses, but the chapter came off as exploitative regardless.
Overall, the book suffers from a tension between the usual individualist framing of suffering that pop psychologists assure can be addressed by going to therapy or "practicing self-care", and acknowledging that, despite one's efforts, many factors are simply out of their control. These factors, however, aren't explored with the depth they deserve, and it's clearly a pamphlet to make better working cogs in the machine rather than expose social stratification and institutional oppression which makes the quest for the "right" choice even more tantalizing and imperative, all to avoid confronting the loss of agency and liberty in modern society.
Once upon a time, I voraciously read self-help books. By the end of that stint, I concluded that most rested on a highly individualist framing of suffering, which rarely addresses deeper issues of social stratification that are even further from our control, yet slip from our knowledge and awareness due to these very forces bent on imposing apathy and complacency through obligatory overwork and the subsequent lack of fulfillment one feels because of that drudgery.
Hot Not to Know by Simone Stolzoff mostly rides that same current, but approaches a more collective view, albeit conservatively. The chapter on economists refusing to own up to their false predictions invokes an image of working class peoples dangling from the strings of the wealthy and powerful; their hubris is particularly ludicrous, and it's this reality of powerlessness that underscores uncertainty intolerance--something that wasn't touched on meaningfully by drawing on criticism of neoliberalism and globalization which further alienate the individual from the collective.
Furthermore, the book suffers from colorblindness; the reader is assumed to be economically privileged and/or white, as egregious as the example of the white software engineer who makes it a point to go out of his comfort zone in the most materialistic manner--signing up for classes, venturing to restaurants he'd never visit otherwise, all speaking to his access and privilege. The chapter even insists that he is a well-intentioned white man, as if predicting the raised eyebrows. Consumerism drives uncertainty intolerance as well--"I buy, therefore I am,"--the temporary or imagined relief from that anxiety through buying an experience or product or culture becomes all the more irresistible, and I think this chapter exemplified this all too well.
Speaking more on the colorblindness: it's always expected of nonwhite peoples to be resilient and full of forbearance, and their anger is always misplaced, misdirected, or a waste of energy. The example of Tuvalu's varied responses to climate change did speak to the power of community resilience, but it was disheartening that they must be a "model" for others to follow, and anger or indignation at the reality of enduring imperialism and colonialism is mere complaining. There is a lot to be said about virtue signalling on the internet in particular, but the consequences of colonialism are not petty concerns, either.
The apolitical approach simply doesn't work when another reason that the threshold for uncertainty intolerance is so low is because in our current times, social stratification is getting even wider and starker, tyranny all the more blatant, and it's never been more obvious that "justice" and "law" do not exist if they do not serve the powerful and wealthy.
Barrier of access is also a pertinent issue raised by the chapter on false positives and the necessity of replication studies, in addition to the profit motive guiding research. Why isn't the takeaway that academia, to reiterate a previous point, is frightfully gatekept by the wealthy, titled, and influential, and that issues affecting marginalized groups are going to be sidelined if they are inconvenient to the former's interests?
The chapter on having faith also rang a discordant note; contextually, it's impossible for a "secular" definition of faith, as it cannot be divorced from its religious connotation. As a consequence, the chapter came off a bit preachy, pun intended. Perhaps it would have succeeded on its secular mission for the practice of "faith" if the author hadn't focused on an actual ordained minister within the chapter.
At the same time, the themes in the book did bring me to acknowledge my feelings about certain events in my life in the past year. The book itself is too shallow, though; it was more a springboard to bring up these issues with a therapist, or even with a discussion group, but with a lot more supplementary material. Speaking of shallowness, the chapter discussing OCD only scratched the surface, and it went too predictably in the direction of the option of psychedelics to treat mental illness--meanwhile addicts are maligned for using the same drugs in the "wrong" way. Thankfully, it doesn't purport that they are a cure for OCD or other mental illnesses, but the chapter came off as exploitative regardless.
Overall, the book suffers from a tension between the usual individualist framing of suffering that pop psychologists assure can be addressed by going to therapy or "practicing self-care", and acknowledging that, despite one's efforts, many factors are simply out of their control. These factors, however, aren't explored with the depth they deserve, and it's clearly a pamphlet to make better working cogs in the machine rather than expose social stratification and institutional oppression which makes the quest for the "right" choice even more tantalizing and imperative, all to avoid confronting the loss of agency and liberty in modern society.
Review of advance copy received from Author
As a leadership and grief coach, I spend much of my time sitting with people in the in-between e.g. career transitions, identity shifts, anticipatory grief, profound loss. In those liminal spaces, certainty is scarce. That’s why Simone Stolzoff’s new book (out May 2026) "How to Not Know: The Value of Uncertainty in a World That Demands Answers" feels not only timely, but essential.
Simone beautifully normalizes what so many of us experience as personal failure: discomfort with the unknown. He writes, “When we experience uncertainty, it activates two parts of our brain simultaneously, the amygdala, which is responsible for alerting the brain to potential threats, and the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for analytical and deliberate thinking…Increasing our uncertainty tolerance allows us to slow down our decision-making process.”
So much of my work with leaders is exactly this: slowing down. When the amygdala is triggered, we default to fight, flight, or freeze. Decisions become reactive. Teams feel the turbulence. From a neuroscience perspective, grounding practices like breathing, orienting, naming what we feel, help regulate the threat response so the prefrontal cortex can reengage. Simone names something I see daily: uncertainty isn’t only fear, it’s anxiety. And the antidote is not control, but emotional intelligence. Trust and curiosity become the way through. When leaders can say, “I don’t know—yet,” and stay open, they cultivate psychological safety and deeper dialogue.
One gem that stood out to me: “What does this choice say about me?” That question invites us to tether decisions to values and identity. As Simone notes, “When our decisions are rooted in our values and identity, we are more likely to stand by them regardless of the outcome.” In seasons of transition, whether stepping into a new executive role or navigating the loss of a loved one, clarity of identity becomes an anchor when outcomes are unknowable.
Simone’s reflections on control resonated deeply with me, especially after losing my mother. He writes that when we live “in an unpredictable and chaotic world, we try to find a sense of security and predictability by seeking to control the uncontrollable.” Grief shatters the illusion of control. What remains is integration: the evolving version of ourselves shaped by loss. Creativity, curiosity, and leadership requires trust in what cannot yet be seen.
Between Simone’s work and others exploring uncertainty, I am reminded more than ever that none of us are meant to navigate these transitions alone. Having a leadership or grief coach to sit with you in the unknown, to regulate the amygdala’s alarm, to reconnect you to your values and your future self is not a luxury. It is an investment in becoming more fully human in uncertain times.
Simone beautifully normalizes what so many of us experience as personal failure: discomfort with the unknown. He writes, “When we experience uncertainty, it activates two parts of our brain simultaneously, the amygdala, which is responsible for alerting the brain to potential threats, and the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for analytical and deliberate thinking…Increasing our uncertainty tolerance allows us to slow down our decision-making process.”
So much of my work with leaders is exactly this: slowing down. When the amygdala is triggered, we default to fight, flight, or freeze. Decisions become reactive. Teams feel the turbulence. From a neuroscience perspective, grounding practices like breathing, orienting, naming what we feel, help regulate the threat response so the prefrontal cortex can reengage. Simone names something I see daily: uncertainty isn’t only fear, it’s anxiety. And the antidote is not control, but emotional intelligence. Trust and curiosity become the way through. When leaders can say, “I don’t know—yet,” and stay open, they cultivate psychological safety and deeper dialogue.
One gem that stood out to me: “What does this choice say about me?” That question invites us to tether decisions to values and identity. As Simone notes, “When our decisions are rooted in our values and identity, we are more likely to stand by them regardless of the outcome.” In seasons of transition, whether stepping into a new executive role or navigating the loss of a loved one, clarity of identity becomes an anchor when outcomes are unknowable.
Simone’s reflections on control resonated deeply with me, especially after losing my mother. He writes that when we live “in an unpredictable and chaotic world, we try to find a sense of security and predictability by seeking to control the uncontrollable.” Grief shatters the illusion of control. What remains is integration: the evolving version of ourselves shaped by loss. Creativity, curiosity, and leadership requires trust in what cannot yet be seen.
Between Simone’s work and others exploring uncertainty, I am reminded more than ever that none of us are meant to navigate these transitions alone. Having a leadership or grief coach to sit with you in the unknown, to regulate the amygdala’s alarm, to reconnect you to your values and your future self is not a luxury. It is an investment in becoming more fully human in uncertain times.
Review of advance copy received from Author
A lot of authors surf the zeitgeist, ride the wave of a trend and ultimately leave you with very little at the shore line. Simone Stolzoff is a really rare talent. His books interrogate the anxieties of our times and give readers a real sense of perspective (and strategies) for navigating the challenges that vex us most.
How To Not Know deconstructs one of the more incessant pressures society thrusts on us: Having an answer for everything. Every day, we're confronted by a demand for absolute certitude. Despite what our chatbots and our bosses might have us believe, there aren't always clear answers, and that's okay.
We live in deeply, mind-swirlingly ambiguous times. Things are rather unsettled. More than that, it would be better for our thinking and our society if we could learn to value uncertainty more. Not knowing and being comfortable with ambiguity is healthier and more sustainable approach.
Stolzoff's first book, The Good Enough Job, was similarly lithe in its ability to breakdown our collective mania about the ratrace of work and getting ahead. Like this book, it deconstructed the "why" of the problem — how we got here — before swiftly showing another, better way.
That's a real service to readers and, in another author's hands, that might be enough. Stolzoff's work stands out, though, for its humanity, interesting stories and an empathy for how we got here. Reading this is like having a wise and cool friend show you the way to happier place.
How To Not Know deconstructs one of the more incessant pressures society thrusts on us: Having an answer for everything. Every day, we're confronted by a demand for absolute certitude. Despite what our chatbots and our bosses might have us believe, there aren't always clear answers, and that's okay.
We live in deeply, mind-swirlingly ambiguous times. Things are rather unsettled. More than that, it would be better for our thinking and our society if we could learn to value uncertainty more. Not knowing and being comfortable with ambiguity is healthier and more sustainable approach.
Stolzoff's first book, The Good Enough Job, was similarly lithe in its ability to breakdown our collective mania about the ratrace of work and getting ahead. Like this book, it deconstructed the "why" of the problem — how we got here — before swiftly showing another, better way.
That's a real service to readers and, in another author's hands, that might be enough. Stolzoff's work stands out, though, for its humanity, interesting stories and an empathy for how we got here. Reading this is like having a wise and cool friend show you the way to happier place.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I loved Stolzoff’s first book The Good Enough Job, and I loved How To Not Know as well. I was grateful to receive an advance copy during a time of uncertainty in my own life. I appreciated the variety of examples he used to illustrate how others have navigated uncertainty in their life and work. Readers who demand quick answers and final certainty may find themselves frustrated... and they would be kinda missing the point.
This book is a lovely meditation on uncertainty, and the different ways to navigate the liminal state of being suspended between two or more options. If the playlist of life has you ‘stuck in the middle’ and finding that ‘the waiting is the hardest part,’ pick this book up. It will comfort you in your own uncertainty, relieve some of the pressure around there being one right answer, and help you rest your weary mind by giving it a chance to take a break and focus on how others in a variety of other uncertain situations have navigated this universal human experience too.
This book is a lovely meditation on uncertainty, and the different ways to navigate the liminal state of being suspended between two or more options. If the playlist of life has you ‘stuck in the middle’ and finding that ‘the waiting is the hardest part,’ pick this book up. It will comfort you in your own uncertainty, relieve some of the pressure around there being one right answer, and help you rest your weary mind by giving it a chance to take a break and focus on how others in a variety of other uncertain situations have navigated this universal human experience too.
May 15, 2026
Simone Stolzoff is building something important through his books. In The Good Enough Job, he pushes back on the central tenet of American life that work should be center of a meaningful life. In How To Not Know, he pushes back on the expectation that we should always have an answer, no matter the question.
People experiencing a big work-life transition, whether starting a new job, losing a job, navigating what’s next, are all operating in conditions of genuine uncertainty. People experiencing such work-live transitions are the core of my coaching practice, and I see again and again that they’ve been rewarded for projecting the cool confidence that comes with knowing. They’ve rarely been recognized for tolerating ambiguity, nor do they often even know how to navigate uncertainty.
This book is for those moments, helping all of us learn how to meet uncertainty with courage, curiosity, and clarity. Stolzoff combines deft storytelling with rigorous research to make a genuinely practical guide to being with not knowing. Definitely worth your time.
People experiencing a big work-life transition, whether starting a new job, losing a job, navigating what’s next, are all operating in conditions of genuine uncertainty. People experiencing such work-live transitions are the core of my coaching practice, and I see again and again that they’ve been rewarded for projecting the cool confidence that comes with knowing. They’ve rarely been recognized for tolerating ambiguity, nor do they often even know how to navigate uncertainty.
This book is for those moments, helping all of us learn how to meet uncertainty with courage, curiosity, and clarity. Stolzoff combines deft storytelling with rigorous research to make a genuinely practical guide to being with not knowing. Definitely worth your time.
May 12, 2026
If you're someone who sometimes struggles with uncertainty or indecision, I’d really recommend this book.
Do I want to have children? Is my partner the right person for me? Where should we live? What kind of work do I want to do? Is this job right for me? What actually makes me happy, and makes life meaningful? These doubts are so familiar.
Simone Stolzoff tackles uncertainty through stories about grappling with doubts like these. His subjects aren’t celebrities, thank goodness: they’re real people with all the peculiarity of real people, whose stories he’s woven into a thoughtful, wise book. And then at the end he draws out several lessons. I won’t steal his thunder except to quote a sentence that stopped me in my tracks (and which is, in turn, a quote I didn’t know from the psychologist Rollo May): “Commitment is healthiest when it is not without doubt, but in spite of doubt.”
A wonderful, thoughtful book about indecision and uncertainty.
Do I want to have children? Is my partner the right person for me? Where should we live? What kind of work do I want to do? Is this job right for me? What actually makes me happy, and makes life meaningful? These doubts are so familiar.
Simone Stolzoff tackles uncertainty through stories about grappling with doubts like these. His subjects aren’t celebrities, thank goodness: they’re real people with all the peculiarity of real people, whose stories he’s woven into a thoughtful, wise book. And then at the end he draws out several lessons. I won’t steal his thunder except to quote a sentence that stopped me in my tracks (and which is, in turn, a quote I didn’t know from the psychologist Rollo May): “Commitment is healthiest when it is not without doubt, but in spite of doubt.”
A wonderful, thoughtful book about indecision and uncertainty.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Another lovely exploration by Simone Stolzoff into the toxic mindsets plaguing so many these days! Like his previous book, The Good Enough Job, this book follows a new character in each chapter to explore variations upon the central theme: here, uncertainty. Deeply reported, it’s clear Stolzoff spent a lot of time with his sources, as well as synthesizing their experiences with the latest findings from academia. He is an excellent translator of academic research and seamlessly weaves psychological studies, philosophy, and his personal observations into his overall arguments. Highly readable, engaging, and educational—I devoured it in a few days!
Review of advance copy received from Author
As someone in my 20s, when uncertainty permeates most corners of my life - career, relationships, politics, the future - this book felt like a quiet reassurance that not knowing is okay. What I loved most about How to Not Know is its structure: it doesn’t lecture you into accepting uncertainty, it guides you there through stories. Each chapter weaves together real people facing complex, unanswerable problems, and together they show (rather than tell) the book’s core message. Thoughtful, grounding, and genuinely comforting without being cliché. Highly recommend and will be returning again to this book!
May 20, 2026
I really wanted to love this book in the way I absolutely loved Stolzoff's The Good Enough Job. That book was a solid 5 for me. The story telling in How to Not Know is fabulous, but I found myself asking multiple times, How does this story truly connect to the topic? Perhaps the author's intention just didn't fit my needs as a reader at this moment in time. I'm still left wanting more. I still don't know how to not know. However, based on reading other reviews, many people got a lot out of this book. What did I miss?
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Feeling your anxiety skyrocketing - lately?
This book strikes right at the core of my daily anxiety as I doom scroll, play out threatening scenarios while awake, and dream about them in my sleep. If you ever have those types of thoughts, instead of self-medicating try thinking differently.
I'm not expecting a cure, but the relief I found reading this is greatly appreciated. It's also concisely written, so it's a fast read even for non-readers.
This book strikes right at the core of my daily anxiety as I doom scroll, play out threatening scenarios while awake, and dream about them in my sleep. If you ever have those types of thoughts, instead of self-medicating try thinking differently.
I'm not expecting a cure, but the relief I found reading this is greatly appreciated. It's also concisely written, so it's a fast read even for non-readers.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Modern society cannot tolerate uncertainty. This book encourages you to do just that. Each chapter addresses uncertainty in different fields: science, business, relationships, and there's also a chapter on faith. Curiosity and openness are helpful techniques to cope with the scary unknown and ultimately prepare us for when the unknown and change happens.
May 13, 2026
Simone has a unique gift at blending thorough research and journalism with a deeply human empathy, relatability, and practicality. I loved his first book, The Good Enough Job, and this strikes a similar chord for me. Makes me stop, reflect on my own life, jot down some notes to carry with me, and repeat. This topic in particular could not have come at a better time. Highly recommend.
May 15, 2026
This book did a great job putting into words the ways we can think about uncertainty -- and I found the stories and perspective sharing to be really thought provoking. It gave me words that I didn't have to describe my own experience with uncertainty, and what I've observed in my own avoidance of uncertainty as well. A great jumping off point to think more deeply on the subject.
May 19, 2026
I like the way Stolzoff oscillates between the personal and the universal. The book's style ranges from in-depth storytelling about individual people to interviews with experts that shed light on broader societal themes. Anyone reading this book will come away with reflections on their own life and how they deal with uncertainty. Highly recommend!
May 15, 2026
I read this on a plane and found myself staring out the window between chapters, appreciating the vast world out there with all its rivers and roads! I loved how each case study came to life through the detail about how individuals considered their values and options and found a path forward.
Review of advance copy received from Author
A great read for anyone wrestling with the illusion of control, reflecting on what it means to know (or otherwise) or weighing a big decision.
May 12, 2026
In times like these, we need to know how to not know more than ever.
May 12, 2026
Great exploration of something more and more present in my life! Uncertainty is everywhere, and I loved the perspective shared through personal and interesting real life examples.
May 13, 2026
Simone uses his journalistic craft to explore one of the topics of our time! So many inspiring stories and insights. Bravo!
May 19, 2026
To know Simone means you know he’s a good writer. How to Not Know tackles something I deal with on the daily and he so eloquently puts it into words. Looking forward to his next great read.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews