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The human race faces many problems, like climate breakdown and the threat of nuclear war. Many are responding by falling into despair. But this might not be good for us.

The Covid-19 pandemic had a heavy impact on our mental health. The war in Ukraine and economic problems since then have made many people anxious about the future.

Historian Michael Lamb thinks this is making them lose hope. But hope, he says, is just what they need.

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He points to the work of ancient thinker Augustine of Hippo. Augustine lived through problems similar to the ones we have today, and he said despair is just an excuse not to make things any better.

He wrote that we have a duty to be hopeful, because when we are hopeful we will work to improve the world. But if we are hopeless, we turn a blind eye to people's suffering because we think it is inevitableUnavoidable. .

Yes! Hope is a good thing for our brains and for our society. It helps us to change the things around us.

No! Being hopeful is irrational in a world filled with so much pain and suffering.