Maria Popova
We hope, we despair, and then we hope again—that is how we stay afloat in the cosmos of uncertainty that is any given life. Like the universe exists because there is more matter than antimatter in it, we exist because there is more hope than despair in us https://www.themarginalian.org/2023/01/03/john-steinbeck-hope/
The Tragic Miracle of Consciousness: John Steinbeck on the True Meaning and Purpose of Hope

“Hope is a diagnostic human trait, and this simple cortex symptom seems to be a prime factor in our inspection of our universe.”

The Marginalian
Jan 8, 2023 at 8:14pmWeb
Show threadJoshuaJan 8, 2023
@mariapopova This made me dig my worn paperback of THE LOG FROM THE SEA OF CORTEZ off the shelf as my first nf read of ‘23.
Show threadJ Λ M Ξ SJan 8, 2023
@mariapopova I also laugh, as Kierkegaard urges us to do
Show threadGodefroy_BJan 8, 2023
@mariapopova Well, the analogy seems a bit far-fetched to me: if there had been more antimatter than matter in the universe, the universe would still exist, but we would call antimatter and we call matter and vice versa. There is no such symetry between hope and despair.