Episode 06: The Seduction of Certainty - Curiosity, Complexity and the Unknown

psychophobia* podcast · May 26, 2026 · 1h 25m · transcript

“I mean Negative Capability, that is when man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact & reason.” -- John Keats

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Certainty is seductive. It simplifies a noisy world, ends evaluation, and offers the relief of a settled answer. But the moment we feel certain, something else quietly closes down: curiosity, and with it, the capacity to perceive what is actually in front of us. In this follow-up to her first appearance, Emma Orfield returns to the conversation after Michael’s visit to Orfield Laboratories, and what began as a discussion…