(Un)certain — Chinese edition: “Slow Answers: A Cognitive Upgrade Guide for Decision-Makers, Innovators and Brave Rule-Breakers”
Author: Arie Kruglanski
Translator: Zhichao Wei
Original title: (Un)certain
Publisher: Zhejiang Science and Technology Publishing House
Produced by: Cheers Publishing
Published: 2026-10
Price: 129.90 yuan
Binding: Paperback
ISBN: 9787573925077
About the book
This book takes apart a core dilemma of modern life: in an age when stability is overturned and trust is eroding, why are we so hungry for certainty, and how can we live with that hunger? Drawing on more than 40 years of research, Arie Kruglanski shows how one psychological mechanism — the “need for cognitive closure” — shapes the way we cope with uncertainty: some people rush to a definite answer and close their minds, while others embrace the unknown and gain from it.
Through a scientific self-assessment scale, the book helps readers see their own instinctive stance toward uncertainty, and traces its social roots — from a global pandemic upending daily life, to job anxiety triggered by upheavals in work, to the collapse of trust in traditional authorities and the cognitive chaos of contradictory information online.
It shows the price of fleeing uncertainty (hasty decisions, group polarization, extremism), and lays out a practical way forward: by cultivating a growth mindset, building psychological resilience and reshaping positive emotions, we can turn anxiety into a drive to explore. Just as Viktor Frankl found meaning in a concentration camp, anyone can find an anchor in the turbulence of uncertainty, make clear-headed choices that fear doesn’t dictate, and ultimately reshape the future of both themselves and society.
Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman said the book goes “to the heart of the human predicament,” and Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology, called it “a guide to finding a path of growth in waves of the unknown.”
About the author
Arie Kruglanski Distinguished University Professor of Psychology at the University of Maryland and one of the most influential social psychologists working today. He has served as an associate editor of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JPSP). In 2025 he received both the William James Fellow Award from the Association for Psychological Science (APS) and the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association (APA); his other honours include the Humboldt Research Award and the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology.
His theory of the “need for cognitive closure” explains why people rush to get definite answers, and why, once they’ve formed a judgment, they find it so hard to change their minds. The theory has shaped research on social cognition, judgment and decision-making, political psychology, group polarization and extremism.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword 1 Keeping a clear mind amid uncertainty (Peng Kaiping)
Foreword 2 Leaving room to think amid uncertainty (Ma Zhaoyuan)
Foreword 3 How do you build a creative team? (Kang Zhijun)
Translator’s preface Waiting for a “slow” answer in an age when everyone rushes to answer (Zhichao Wei)
Preface to the Chinese edition Settling into the unknown, moving slowly through impermanence
Introduction How we face uncertainty
Part One The cost of rushing to certainty
Chapter 1 Measuring your inner tempo
Chapter 2 The cost of jumping to conclusions
Chapter 3 Where the craving for certainty comes from
Chapter 4 Slow wisdom in intimate relationships
Chapter 5 What the world you live in has taught you
Chapter 6 Who is shaping your choices
Part Two When the mind closes too fast
Chapter 7 The trap of black-and-white thinking
Chapter 8 When relationships are defined in a hurry
Chapter 9 The trap of rushing to prove yourself
Part Three The wisdom of living with uncertainty
Chapter 10 Building a positive outlook
Chapter 11 The rational roots of patience
Chapter 12 The best view is still ahead
Chapter 13 Practising acceptance of uncertainty
Chapter 14 Getting along with people unlike you
Conclusion Finding your slow answer
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