Despite the exponential progress of the last few centuries, the desire for certainty still runs deep in modern-day culture. As David Deutsch explains in The Beginning of Infinity, ours is not a perfectly dynamic society. It is a transitional period between stable, static societies consisting of anti-rational memes and a stable dynamic society consisting of rational memes¹. Many ideas propagating in our cultural memeosphere are thwarting progress and fostering sameness. One such idea is career paths.

Traditionally viewed, a career path is a predetermined trajectory, a ladder to climb, encompassing ways of earning money and living at different stages of life. This linear concept presupposes a static world where personal interests and external circumstances remain unchanged.

Similarly, the search for a singular life “purpose” or passion is often fraught with misconceptions. It’s a pursuit anchored in the fallacy that once found, it provides a lifelong source of fulfillment and direction.

Both the idea of a career path and that of a singular life purpose not only limit our potential but also fail to recognize that our interests and goals are conjectural and subject to change as we create new knowledge.

It is impossible to predict the outcome of a phenomenon whose course will be significantly affected by the creation of new knowledge. This fact makes the future fundamentally unknowable. We cannot foresee the problems we will face further down in our own lives, let alone predict how ideas in the minds of those around us will evolve.

A problem-free state is not as desirable as it seems. It equates to stagnation. Without problems, there is no growth, creativity, or progress. Solving problems should not be seen as a means to an end but rather as a process that leads to the discovery of new, more interesting problems.

Ironically, the very thing we’re told will set us up for life—if we obediently follow every step along the way—is actually the least likely to equip us to handle whatever life may throw at us. The illusion of certainty is pervasive. But we must learn to live with uncertainty. We must understand that creativity and error-correction are the only way forward.