The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Hope vs. optimism, explained

A psychology professor makes the case for hope.

On Explain It Me, we try to give you useful information to help you navigate and understand the world around you. But lately there’s been an elephant in the room: Life feels kind of…bad.

Polling suggests that Americans are unsatisfied with their lives now, and with prospects for the future. It’s understandable why: We’re on the cusp of a technological revolution, but it could come for all our jobs; the country is at war; and the global economy can feel unstable at best.

All this uncertainty and we’re still expected to do things like declutter our homes, work out, and stay on top of our reading. So how do you face all that crushing negativity? Some make the case for optimism. Jamil Zaki, psychology professor and director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab, makes the case for hope. “Optimism is the belief that the future will turn out well, and optimistic people tend to be pretty happy and healthy, but they can also be a bit complacent,” he told Vox.

By contract, Zaki says, hope is “the idea that the future could turn out well, but that we don’t know what the future holds. In fact, being hopeful acknowledges and embraces that things are difficult and asks, ‘Where can we go from here?’”

So how do you find hope in times of darkness? And why are some of us more predisposed to seeing the bright side of things than others? We answer those questions and more on this week’s episode of Explain It to Me.

Below is an excerpt of our conversation, edited for length and clarity. You can listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts. If you’d like to submit a question, send an email to askvox@vox.com or call 1-800-618-8545.

I’ve seen the phrase “toxic optimism” used to suggest that, at times, we tell people everything is going to be okay when it’s not. Are there times when we’re trying to get people to gaslight themselves into thinking things are better than they actually are?

A lot of the time there’s actually pressure to be negative about the future because there’s the view that if you’re positive, you must be a Pollyanna, rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. If you think about it, yes, being a Pollyanna might encourage you to do nothing. An........

© Vox