This week, we are gathering in Paide to do something our efficiency-obsessed society rarely values: hesitate together, openly and wholeheartedly. Uncertainty and hesitation deserve at least as much attention as decisiveness. A healthy culture of public discussion preserves curiosity and openness.

Decisiveness is a virtue. We are expected to make decisions, not remain undecided. We are judged by our decisions and the actions that follow from them. Uncertainty is seen as a flaw, even a disability. Reaching a decision quickly is considered a virtue; it signals efficiency and is highly valued. We gather information and then decide — quickly, professionally and efficiently. That seems to be the ideal society presents to us and expects of us. Simply mulling things over, hesitating and doubting are not considered efficient.

The European polecat is an efficient animal. It is economical rather than wasteful. In the wild, it does not kill the frog it catches. Instead, it bites through the frog's spinal cord and carries it back to its den. The frog stays fresh until it is time to eat it. But when a polecat gets into a chicken coop, it behaves the same way, leaving behind dozens of dead chickens. The polecat acted decisively — in the case of the chicken or the frog, the goal and the behavior are the same, but the outcome is different. If the polecat were capable of hesitating a little more in the chicken coop, it might choose a different strategy. Fortunately, human beings are not polecats and we are capable of weighing our options more carefully than this remarkably efficient little animal.

Uncertainty is the moment before we have made a decision. Sometimes it is brief, sometimes it is long and sometimes it barely exists at all. But it is a valuable and important moment — perhaps even more important than the moment the decision itself is made. At that point, every possibility is still open. We can do something entirely rational and expected, but we can also do something unexpected and creative or choose to do nothing at all. It is in that moment that we can reflect on possible futures, imagine them, think about what it would be like to live in them and talk with other people about what possibilities exist. Whether on the personal level or the societal one.

I believe we pay too little attention to the moment before a decision is made and assign it less value than it deserves. One way to think about it is this: if the past is the result of decisions that have been made, then the future is the result of hesitations that have been entertained. The quality of our hesitation and of our uncertainty therefore determines the quality of the future. A decision is simply the moment when we end uncertainty, eliminate countless possibilities, abandon certain futures and move toward the one we believe is desirable, likely or inevitable.

If we accept that the quality of uncertainty shapes the quality of the future, then we should do everything we can to ensure that our hesitation is of the highest possible quality. But what does high-quality uncertainty look like? Is it centered on the most rigorous rational analysis possible? On fact-based debate? On seeking solutions through the scientific method? On reaching consensus? On the roll of a die? At the level of society? Or for an individual? I do not believe there is a single clear answer to the question of how to hesitate. A scientist experiences uncertainty one way, a politician another and an artist yet another.

Regardless of the method we use to navigate uncertainty, its quality depends to a great extent on two qualities: openness and creativity. Openness to new information, to different perspectives and to new — even unexpected — futures. While openness allows us to accept and engage with different kinds of information, creativity enables us to synthesize it. If our uncertainty is truly of high quality, it may give rise to inspiration: the sudden and powerful recognition of a new possibility, a new direction or a new truth.

In Estonia and a handful of other countries, we have the unusual and important practice of collectively embracing uncertainty by coming together to discuss issues affecting public life. One could say that if elections are democracy's day of decision, then Opinion Festival is the moment of uncertainty when many possible paths and futures across different areas of society remain openly on the table. Everyone can find their own inspiration and direction there. We hesitate together and together we seek inspiration. That shared act of hesitation is valuable and unique. If we do it well — if we do it with quality — we will also create a better future.

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