False Hope

False Hope is defined as hope within someone or something which is known to others but not you as being in vain.

A common example of false hope would be a child's belief in Santa Claus.  They write letters each year to Santa asking for the presents they want.  Their parents know that Santa is not real, but choose to let the child believe the lie in the name of maintaining the magical illusion of Christmas.  This in itself isn't necessarily false hope, however what would be false hope would be if the child asked for something from Santa that their parents knowingly cannot afford and choose to allow the child to continue in the hope that Santa will bring their present for Christmas.

This is only one of many scenarios in which we employ false hope.  You can question the morality of the parents for allowing the child to build up their hope if you wish but the real question here should be turned on hope itself.  That question: Is it better to live with false hope than to live with no hope at all?

To answer this question you need to consider the positive influences hope has upon your life and consider the negative influences encountered through the sudden realisation that occurs when you discover the truth.  Weigh these two factors against one another and decide which you would rather live with.  In many ways this question is akin to that of love, "Is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?".

My personal view is that it is better to live with false hope than to live with no hope at all.  I see a life without hope as one without direction and one without aspiration which ultimately leads to depression, self-depreciation, feelings of inadequacy -  in other words, hopelessness.  I see hope, whether true or false, as being the polar opposite.  Optimism, self-belief, motivation and ambition.  Hope is often all we need to motivate us in life.  Then again I have never been a self-motivated person, I have always needed something to focus on or work towards, a goal or a target to be reached.  I know others who are self motivated who need no other motivation in their lives than the desire to "better themselves".

That last point could take up a whole post in itself as it leads on to a question of society as a whole and the impression of what makes one person better than another, something which I have never believed in.  I have always believed that all men [and women] are created equal and that no one person was better than another, through background, race, creed, fortune or wealth.  I have always accepted myself and my life for what it is and I have never seen it as something that I should "better" - I have never bought into the capitalist belief that you should accrue as much property as you could and rise up to great personal wealth - all I have ever wanted in life was to be happy.  Yes, money can help you achieve that by increasing what you can consume but I have never let it consume me.

I am not a product, I am a consumer.