Uncertainty - Individual Problems and Public Solutions
ISBN
9780197752753
Type
book
Date Issued
2024-09-17
Author(s)
Abstract
Uncertainty is essential for furthering excitement, creativity, and entertainment, but it is mostly something that actors shun. This book analyses ways in which actors try to increase, deal with, but above all reduce, uncertainty. Uncertainty is an issue facing an individual or an organization, and to decrease their uncertainty, ways to gain more certainty are used. Increased certainty is often the result of knowing more, and scientific production has generated a large systematic body of knowledge that can be put to use. Though each individual faces his or her problems, this book focuses on public solutions that reduce uncertainty for many. How can public means of uncertainty reduction be created, and how can they be used? Concrete solutions to the problem of uncertainty involve informal institutions, for example norms, and formal institutions, for example laws, as well as standards. Much of the uncertainty relates to values, and through markets, competitions, valuations, and contests, it is possible to settle these uncertainties so that knowledge can be used by many to facilitate coordination and action. Organizations, individually or with others, can actively change their environment to reduce their uncertainties rather than merely adapting to them. The publicly available knowledge that is produced is central to building a society that allows communication based on shared ideas and understanding, rather than bubbles, echo chambers, or private truths.
Language
English
Keywords
Ambiguity
Risk
Power
Conflict
Value
Management
HSG Classification
contribution to practical use / society
Book title
Uncertainty - Individual Problems and Public Solutions
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Publisher place
New York, USA
Pages
233
Subject(s)
Division(s)