“Hope For The Future”: 25 Beliefs That People Feel Jaded About

We start the journey of life full of optimism and hope, but as we get older, we learn to give up on certain expectations along the way. A recent thought-provoking discussion took place on Reddit when someone asked, “What is one thing you no longer believe in?” The responses rolled in, citing everything from ‘finding the right time’ to ‘the intelligence of fellow humans’ and more, as you can read for yourself in the gallery below.

#1 American’s intelligence

Edit: as a German just fk you. You still look at Germany and point your finger at us. Asking us how WWII happened. Now look into the f***g mirror. THIS is how it happened. If he pushes his project 2025 through then you will have THE EXACT same thing but on a MUCH larger scale.

#2 I no longer believe in the idea that ‘everything happens for a reason.’

Sometimes, things just happen—random, unplanned, and without deeper meaning. I’ve found it more comforting to focus on making the best of what life throws my way rather than trying to search for some cosmic justification behind every tough moment. Sometimes, life is chaotic and unpredictable, and that’s okay. It’s what we do with it that matters most.

#3 Hope for the future.

#4 The intelligence and compassion of my fellow humans.

It turns out that decades of catering to the lowest common denominator has reduced our species to selfish, brutish animals who avoid thinking at any cost.

The world is literally on fire, but too many people would rather have someone else do all of the hard thinking for them and then complain about the consequences later.

Edit:

I can no longer hold empathy or patience for the willfully ignorant.

I’m tired of living in a world where people willingly avoid any form of critical thinking by having someone else make the “big decisions” for them – only to then whine about the consequences for their actions.

I’m tired of living in a world where people are mocked for being learned. Where literacy is considered a niche interest. Where people deride artists, but demand the fruits of their labor.

I’m tired of being in a world where someone’s worth is centered around how much money they have.

I’m tired of people stepping over their neighbors in order to get ahead.

I’m tired of people demanding the benefits of living in a society, while complaining about having to contribute to it.

I’m just done with people in general.

It turns out that actual intelligence is such a rare quality in humans that it’s practically a rounding error at this point.

#5 Faith in my fellow human beings. LMAO what a joke. I thought we were better than this but here are.

#6 Karma. Bad people do bad things and get away with it.

#7 I no longer believe that integrity matters, or that laws have meaning, or that the truth is important.

#8 That adults have everything figured out and their life is a smooth journey on a fixed path.

#9 That hard work alone ensures success. I’ve seen too many cases when the appropriate timing and connectivity are required.

#10 The Mormon church. I was a member for 21 years. I hated it. I hated what I had to believe. I hated the kind of person I had to be. I hated everything about the church. But I believed it was 100 percent true. So I lived it for 21 years. The day I let myself accept it wasn’t true was one of the most freeing feeling I’ve ever experienced.

#11 That most Americans are not stupid.

#12 The idea that humans are basically good (in the sense of morality) and intelligent (in the sense of wisdom).

Historically, and as events over the last couple years have continued to highlight, culminating with the election results in the US…humans are simply a more advanced form of primate. We are – in general – tribal, selfish, and greedy. And emotionally stupid.

Contrary to our religious aspirational ideals, our complex philosophical navel-gazing or our grandiose self assumptions, humans as a whole contain no inherent or ingrained virtue beyond that of any other animal. And in certain areas of our behavior, such as with our wars of political expediency and the choices demonstrated in the USA election, we are abjectly f*****g pathetic.

#13 That I was supposed to know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life at 18.

#14 I no longer believe in ‘finding the right time’. If you wait for something to happen, you can always find an excuse not to start it.

#15 That facts matter. narrative is more important.

#16 People, Justice, and Common sense.

#17 The fallacy that one can function with less than eight hours of sleep. People, coffee can only do so much.

#18 The survival of the human race in the face of climate change.

#19 I dunno. I don’t really believe in anything anymore. Life in general is an empty, meaningless slog. I admire those who can enjoy it because it’s impossible for me.

#20 The future of our Constitutional Republic. Clearly this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause.

#21 The decency and intelligence and sense of ethics of the vast majority of humans.

Most people are not bad, but indifferent to evil and they refuse to learn, to understand the world around them, to understand cause and effect and to have at least the basic empathy.

Most people are not bad, but they want bad people to govern and they don’t care about evil unless evil and bad policies affect them directly. And I mean directly them, not their family their friends, their community. Them.

#22 The decency of my neighbors. Trump won this round decisively, the American people have spoken and they want… That.

#23 Democracy. I no longer see republicans as people.

#24 That humans are good by default. This election result was the final nail in the coffin.

#25 The belief that people can influence others. I’ve learnt that people must want to improve themselves, you cannot do it for them.

Shanilou Perera

Shanilou has always loved reading and learning about the world we live in. While she enjoys fictional books and stories just as much, since childhood she was especially fascinated by encyclopaedias and strangely enough, self-help books. As a kid, she spent most of her time consuming as much knowledge as she could get her hands on and could always be found at the library. Now, she still enjoys finding out about all the amazing things that surround us in our day-to-day lives and is blessed to be able to write about them to share with the whole world as a profession.