Wednesday 21 March 2018

Hope versus Expectations

A short discussion on how 'hope' differs from 'expectations'.

Hope and expectations are synonymous, but for the context.

When there is no statistical understanding and hence reasonable basis for occurrence or non-occurrence of an outcome - one uses the word 'hope' not 'expect'. Expectations is used when there is some real or even perceived, emotional or intellectual understanding of reasons why a specific outcome should or should not occur.

Examples - One can hope to go to heaven not expect to go there; because no one has any knowledge of having been there. One expects one's child to graduate, but one can only hope that the entire batch graduates.

Since hope requires no reasonable cause to exist, "hope dies last". When all reasonable basis to expect something to occur or not occur have ended & one has no expectations, one can still hope.

When the cause is reason, one 'expects'. As soon as reason is substituted by belief, one can only 'hope'.

                           ... Deepak Loomba

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