Existential uncertainty: the Problem of Coping

The article is devoted to the ways available in culture to cope with the radical uncertainty of people's social and personal lives, which receives a particularly vivid expression when looking into the future. The author develops the idea that uncertainty cannot be overcome by purely rational, in particular mathematical probabilistic methods, besides, none of the people living everyday life will resort to complex calculations based on huge information in a situation of an uncertain future. Practice has developed other ways to overcome fear and anxiety about the uncertainty of the future. The article shows that uncertainty is reduced by referring to various kinds of stable and recurring moments: stereotypes, norms, traditions, «reference narratives». But these external forms are complemented by a purely subjective, personal form – the construction of a project that forms a certain future, dismissing everything that does not correspond to the achievement of the goal.