Book 37. If you want to live a more secure and reliable life in this uncertain world, studying is one option.

Hello. This is Watanebe Ten. Today's topic is uncertainty. When I think of uncertainty, the first thing that comes to mind is default. Default is when a company fails to repay its debt obligations, and recovering from a default requires considerable effort and hardship, and it has a far greater social impact than we can imagine.

The most prominent example of a recent default was the collapse of Lehman Brothers following the Lehman Shock, a historic event that resulted in the loss of a large number of jobs. I witnessed this Lehman Shock, an event of uncertainty that will go down in world history, but I only became aware of the problem in 2010.

Until then, I was a high school student who didn't read newspapers or watch the news, but after entering university, I witnessed the Lehman Shock, the ultimate example of uncertainty. Many students faced difficulties finding jobs, and I remember being anxious about whether I would be able to find one myself.

I started reading newspapers after entering university, and I realized how amazing they are—they contain information about everything happening in the world. When I first started reading newspapers, I thought of them as just free papers that were kept at my parents' house.

However, after entering university, I continued to read the newspaper obsessively, reading it all day long until I felt omniscient, as if I understood everything in the world. Thanks to that, although I now only read one or two newspapers a week, I believe that even if I refrain from reading for the next two or three years, I will be able to understand a newspaper article immediately after a long break, thanks to the level of reading comprehension I developed during my university days.

Newspapers are a source of money. More accurately, the information contained within them is what's valuable. From the political section to the business and international sections, any investor, especially one involved in stock market investments, will undoubtedly read their newspaper every single day.

Now, speaking of uncertainty, the Lehman Shock was a major event that significantly changed my values. While the Lehman Shock wasn't the direct trigger, it made me realize the importance of information.

At that time, the turbulent dawn of the 2010s was hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011. Speaking of uncertainty, I worry about the future. It's a vague sense of crisis about what I'll do if I suddenly find myself unemployed and penniless. That's why I always make sure to invest in myself so that I'm prepared for any eventuality.

I believe that even something as simple as reading a newspaper is just like work. If you have a desk job, you might be gathering information for tasks like creating documents. Even though a newspaper contains current events, I think that simply reading it superficially will only allow you to grasp the flow of the times, and you won't be able to reach its essence.

In this increasingly uncertain world, information is a crucial step in resolving that uncertainty. It is precisely because of this uncertainty that we rely on news, newspapers, and the internet to obtain information. Speaking of newspapers, they offer information not as self-contained stories, but rather as a continuous, narrative type of information.

I think that even just looking at a newspaper, it contains the equivalent of dozens of pages of information in a book, so I admire people who subscribe and read it every day. However, for someone like me who likes to skim through the information, reading the newspaper every single day is a chore, so I subscribe to a daily subscription by buying it at a convenience store.

Even though it's a newspaper, there isn't much truly new news; you can see that political, international, and business stories progress little by little each day. If you read it every day, there are some articles that are as thrilling and exciting as an adventure novel, but most of the articles are just rehashes of previous issues.

I read the newspaper once a week, and following the theme of uncertainty in this article, I think that new news is a manifestation of uncertainty. When something that was uncertain and difficult to predict actually happens, it becomes a major event, which is why the media gives it so much attention.

One of the best things that has happened in my life is that I started studying, but even then, I only began studying seriously when I was close to adulthood. Before that, I neglected studying, let alone reading the newspaper, but I did devour popular contemporary novels. I've written quite a lot, but I would say that life, including mine, is a bundle of uncertainty.

I'm now in my mid-thirties, and I'm glad I continued studying. Ultimately, reading the newspaper and studying can be seen as self-satisfaction. However, I believe it's true that studying helps you acquire knowledge, transforming uncertain and unknown things into something a little more certain and secure.

We were talking about newspapers, but even something as simple as a newspaper can be a valuable resource for determining a course of action or a policy in the face of the unknown and uncertain. I believe that if you want to live a more certain and secure life in this uncertain world, studying is one option.

Whether it's studying or a hobby, consistently pursuing something for a long period of time can become a lucky charm that saves you at unexpected moments. Life is short. We must make the most of this limited time and keep moving forward to avoid the trap of uncertainty.

Once uncertainty becomes a thing of the past, it ceases to be uncertain. Uncertainty is simply the feeling you have at the moment such an event occurs. I started studying when I was transitioning from a minor to an adult, and I've continued studying ever since. What will you continue to study in this uncertain world?

That's all. Thank you for your continued support. This was Watanabe Ten.