True Hope, False Hope...

Hope is a word that can take on many meanings—I hope we win the game; his only hope is surgery; I see some hope for the future—but its general meaning still remains the same—the desire for something positive to happen. Hope is something that most (if not all) humans experience at one time or another. Much of the time, hope is expressed when one’s fate lies in the hands of another person (or even oneself), i.e., “I hope John doesn’t drop that infinitesimally small grain of sand,” or “I hope I pass the test that I didn’t study for.” Hope is can also be a quasi-prediction of the future. Most people wouldn’t even have the audacity to hope to pass a test if it was never studied for. I know I wouldn’t. Ok, that’s a lie, but regardless, most people hope for things that have about a 50% chance of happening. Most people, that is…

(Ok, so I like to use italics just a little bit. At least I’m not ONE OF THOSE ALL CAPS PEOPLE, right?)

Some people, however, have the audacity to hope for things that have about as much a chance of happening as me getting an ‘A’ in Ancient Greece. Not much, eh? This kind of hope is called false hope. False hope generally (and usually does) misleads people; it can be manifested in several ways. False hope can boost confidence, usually resulting in overconfidence. Let’s say “Walter” is stranded on a deserted desert island. A cruise ship passes by at about one mile away. If he exhibits any form of false hope, he will most likely try to swim out to the boat. Now, you may be thinking, “But Kwame, I can swim one mile in 2 minutes! Surely the boat will still be there when Walter gets there!” But Walter is not an Olympic swimmer. He’s about 69 years old with a bad knee or two. He could have some twisted false hope that he would be able to swim out to the ship. He would get stranded, fall asleep, and drown, thus having the swim indirectly kill him.

Hope can also give strength, usually in the form of confidence. If someone were playing a soccer game (let’s say it’s Walter in his younger days), he could have hope that he could win the game. His hope could lead to confidence, which would lead to better plays. All in all, hope can do many things to a person.