As part of our application for Science Academy students are asked to write an essay imagining Earth as a ship voyaging through time and space with the human race as her crew and consider what is our mission and what is the role of science in achieving that mission? In considering this they are asked to address these four questions

• What do you think is the role of science in 21st-century society?
• How do you think science today is different from science in the past?
• What, in your opinion, are the qualities that are required of a 21st century scientist?
• What do you feel is the greatest challenge facing science and scientists in the 21st century?
• How do you think scientists could begin to address this challenge?

There was a 6^th question that never made it to the list from my original draft way back in 2010 and somehow drifted  back into my mind recently.

What are the hopes of science ?

Which begs the question

What is hope anyway? Is there a science OF hope?

So, in today’s blog post I’d like to have a brief look at …

The Science of Hope

Isn’t hope just the same as optimism? The same as ‘wishing’?

Research would say that whereas optimism is simply the ‘expectation’ of a better future hope is action-oriented and as such a skill that can be learned

Likewise. wishing is passive with respect to a goal, and hope is about taking action toward it.

For example, I wish I was good at writing short stories vs I’m building my hopes on becoming a better short writer by writing a short story every month until I get better at it

A key pioneer in this field is Professor C. R. Snyder who was an American psychologist at the University of Kansas who specialized in positive psychology.

He defined hope as a combination of what’s known as ‘agency thinking’ -the motivation to achieve goals and ‘pathway’ thinking -the ability to create paths to achieve those goals.

A combination of imagination and problem solving.

Where in the brain do we find those neural pathways associated with ‘agency thinking’ ‘pathway’ thinking.

Psychologists believe the region of the brain known as the nucleus accumbens co-ordinates many of the neural pathways associated with what we experience as hope.

Situated low down in the center of the brain this region integrates information from the hippocampus – a center of memory and learning, the amydala that governs aspects of emotional behaviour and the center for decision making and motivation at the front of the brain known as the prefrontal cortex.

 

 

When we indulge in hopeful thinking the brain produces that well known ‘feel-good’ hormone Dopamine

Studies have also shown links between the motivation to achieve goals (agency thinking) and the ability to create paths to achieve those goals.(pathway thinking) [i.e. Hope] with better physical and mental health and academic achievement.

What’s more, as well as producing dopamine neural connections from the nucleus accumbens extending into the medial orbitofrontal cortex also inhibit neural activity associated with anxiety and depression.

So not only does indulging in hopeful thinking make us ‘feel’ better it appears to also develop determination and resilience in the face of adversity.

And in today’s world be it at school, university, work or the challenges of everyday life it is my hope  that

Hope springs eternal

in every human brain!

(With apologies  to Alexander Pope)

His original  quote  from  ‘An Essay on Man’ published in 1733  was ‘Hope springs eternal in every human breast’)

For more on Professor  Rick C.R. Snyder and his work check out this article
S is for Rick Snyder: His Work On Hope

Brain image