Hope and Despair

A Chimpanzee’s Versus Human’s Way of Thinking

I recently read an essay by journalist Michiyo Owaki about Tetsuro Matsuwaza, a primatologist who studies chimpanzees. It turns out humans and chimps share about ninety eight percent of our DNA. Tetsuro observed that chimpanzees do not have despair like humans do. Chimps also do not have an ability to guess their future. Chimpanzees can, however, quickly grasp their surroundings and understand the present, but not the past.

Humans do experience despair, however this despair can create hope for a better, more positive future ahead. Having a lot of problems in the present day has its negative impacts, but there can always be hope for change. Finding hope can help us have more of a sense of stability and strength to continue, even during hard times. 

People can have hope because they possess the ability to imagine a future, similar to the ability to experience despair. Regardless of the harsh circumstances, humans can maintain hope.

Reading this article, I realized even though we are surrounded by different obstacles, we can perhaps find a way to find strength and solutions. Looking at the present state of society, we can determine what we can do to contribute. 

Sometimes when writing articles for this website, I get stuck and don't really know what to write for my opinion statement. I can’t think of a solution to an issue that seems so large. I begin to feel hopeless, like there wasn’t really a solution. 

But now I feel some kind of relief in my heart.