Nature, as Aristotle said, abhors (hates) a vacuum. A vacuum, once formed, would be filled by the dense material surrounding it.
When there is a vacuum of understanding—when we are operating in the land of unknowns and uncertainty—myths and the stories whoosh in to fill the gap. We can’t live in a state of perpetual doubt, so we make up the best story possible and will leave as if this story were true.
Stories provide the perfect remedy for our fear of uncertainty. They feel the gaps in our understanding. They create order out of chaos, clarity out of complexity, and a cause-and-effect relationship out of coincidence.
When we prefer the seeming stability of the stories to the messy reality of uncertainty, facts become dispensable and misinformation thrives.
from “Think Like a Rocket Scientist” by Ozan Varol
I just started reading this book. And I love the insights and vantage point in which Ozan Varol describes the uncertainty and why misinformation spreads 10x faster.