Sometimes not knowing is the key to a problem
Not knowing or not finding is sometimes the best finding because it stops people from constantly chasing answers and expectations that may never be fulfilled. That chase often leads to stress, anxiety, overthinking, and disappointment.
Humans were never meant to know everything or make meaning out of every single scenario or circumstance. Even psychologically, humans naturally seek certainty because the brain is built to look for patterns, predict outcomes, and create meaning from situations and uncertainty?it creates discomfort because our brains often perceive the unknown as something that needs to be solved, even when there is literally nothing to solve.
The more information a person takes in, the more their brain has to process. And with social media and how easily accessible information and communication have become, there is an overload of information being thrown at us constantly. Our brains are constantly consuming, comparing, analysing, and storing information at a speed that we never really adapted for.
This can be seen in relationships as well. Sometimes a partner replies late or acts differently for a day and instead of accepting uncertainty, people start searching for explanations like “Did I do something wrong?”, “Are they losing feelings?”, “Are they talking to someone else?”. Hours of overanalysing texts, stalking their social media or trying to find hidden meanings often creates more anxiety than the situation itself.
The same happens at work or in our academic lives. Someone receives a short message from their boss saying, “We need to talk tomorrow,” and suddenly the brain creates ten different scenarios. Or someone spends hours trying to make the ‘perfect’ decision because they believe more research or more information will finally make them certain. Instead of helping, the search itself becomes exhausting.
An individual can only take so much before cognitive overload starts to happen, where too much information makes decision-making harder rather than easier. Instead of creating some sort of clarity, excessive searching can create analysis paralysis, where a person becomes stuck thinking instead of understanding.
Sometimes trying to delve too deep into things that do not need to be understood creates more confusion than clarity. We keep searching because we think finding something will make us feel better but it usually provides only temporary relief before the brain searches for the next unanswered question.
Maybe the finding is not the answer itself. Maybe the finding is realising that there is nothing TO find.
