LEARNING TO LIVE IN A RADICALLY UNCERTAIN WORLD

Abstract

The past few years have been fraught with uncertainty. In this essay, I review and reflect on Mervyn King and John Kay’s topical book Radical Uncertainty (2020). In the book, King and Kay defend the usefulness of viewing some types of uncertainty as unquantifiable. In what follows, I will argue that this is a plausible characterisation of uncertainty, and I reflect on the extent to which it has helped me frame both my own personal experience of uncertainty and the uncertainty we have all faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.