The hidden virtues of predictability, according to science

Tell someone they’re predictable and watch their face fall, or perhaps even get offended. We treat the word like an insult, a synonym for boring, unmemorable, and forgettable; the human equivalent of an office cubicle, elevator music, or hotel corridor artwork. Indeed, we’d much rather be called spontaneous, unpredictable, a free spirit, and even crazy. However, this is a strange thing to want, as predictability is, in fact, one of the fundamental lubricants of interpersonal and prosocial behavior, to the point that most of us are quietly benefiting from it in every single day, even when we are loudly pretending (and at times quietly believing) that this isn’t us. {"blockType":"mv-promo-block","data":{"imageDesktopUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/10\/tcp-photo-syndey-16X9.jpg","imageMobileUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/10\/tcp-photo-syndey-1x1-2.jpg","eyebrow":"","headline":"Get more insights from Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic","dek":"Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic is a professor of organizational psychology at UCL and Columbia University, and the co-founder of DeeperSignals. He has authored 15 books and over 250 scientific articles on the psychology of talent, leadership, AI, and entrepreneurship. ","subhed":"","description":"","ctaText":"Learn More","ctaUrl":"https:\/\/drtomas.com\/intro\/","theme":{"bg":"#2b2d30","text":"#ffffff","eyebrow":"#9aa2aa","subhed":"#ffffff","buttonBg":"#3b3f46","buttonHoverBg":"#3b3f46","buttonText":"#ffffff"},"imageDesktopId":91424798,"imageMobileId":91424800,"shareable":false,"slug":"","wpCssClasses":""}} The basic necessity of knowing what happens next To understand the critical importance of predictability, let us briefly inspect the rarely examined case against surprise, namely your brain hates it. In line, neuroscientists studying uncertainty and anticipation have argued that the brain is essentially a predic