Marketing Manager (Nestle) | Posted on | others
Does having “hope” mean lack of knowledge and weakness of mind? If yes, how?
Thinker | Posted on
This question can have many answers based on different perspectives. A basic thing that one needs to know while dealing with this question is how is hope defined. If you ask Google, it will tell you that hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for something to happen. But it is not so. There’s a difference between “expectation” and “hope” and based on this difference, one can say that hope is “lack of knowledge and weakness of mind”.
According to the philosopher Baruch Spinoza, “the more we endeavor to live by the guidance of reason, the more we endeavor to be independent of hope”. If we go by this statement, the hope is contrary to rationality or reason.
When you “expect” something, you have basis, a “reason” for that. You have a specific path in front of you which can lead you to your expectations. But when you “hope” for something, you are uncertain, and there is no reason for your hoping. It’s an abstract feeling.
Now the question comes if hope is abstract and irrational, is it so in a positive way, or a negative way. This again, depends on your way of seeing, your perception. We have often heard people saying “where there is nothing, there is hope”. A hope even when it has no possibilities and base, can sometimes help you look forward to various happenings. Some people lead their whole lives on mere hope. And it is the lack of hope that takes people in the dark alleys of depression.
Another popular saying is “ignorance is bliss”. So if you lack knowledge sometimes, it doesn’t make you weak in mind.
2
0
0