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Andreas Krafft is a professor at the HSG and researches the topic of hope.
Katja RichardEditor society
The way to Andreas Krafft leads over a 280 meter long suspension bridge in Goms. The valley, 1200 meters above sea level, is green. The futurologist has a chalet there. He has been researching hope for years.
Mr. Krafft, can we hope for snow?
Andreas Kraft: You can, but it doesn’t do much. When you fixate on something that absolutely has to happen, the chances of disappointment are pretty high. In this case, that would be the hope that there will be as much snow as there used to be. This is a wish based on fear, so that it doesn’t snow. Psychologically, this is exactly the opposite of hope. You fixate on the negative and only see what can go wrong. The fact is that a few ski lifts in the lower regions have already closed.
Despite bad forecasts, he looks to the future with hope: Andreas Krafft is researching the subject.
But that’s exactly what makes you hopeless.
That is resignation, you give up. But hope means opening yourself to new possibilities. When there is no snow, new ideas are needed. You can’t conjure up snow, and that will only get worse over the next few years as the climate develops.
what to do
This is not a problem that can be solved in the short term. But necessity is the mother of invention, as the pandemic has already shown. When the lockdown came two years ago, everyone in the region initially stood there with trembling knees. And then it became the most successful year for the regional hotel and catering industry.
No hope for snow: low-lying ski areas have to close.
You are researching hope, what does that mean exactly?
Hope is always associated with uncertainty. Without the possibility of disappointment, there is no hope either. It emerges from the crisis. This word comes from the Greek and means turning point, so it can get better or worse. It’s not about optimism, that’s something else.
What’s the difference?
Optimism is based on the assumption that things will be good. Hope means I don’t know if it’ll be alright. But I believe there is something I can do to improve the situation.
So is hope more realistic?
Yes, in any case. Because it starts from the perception of the difficult situation. Hope isn’t just wishful thinking, it starts when you know things aren’t going well. That’s the way it is these days, you can’t be optimistic anymore.
Why?
With regard to the environment, war and social issues, people are pessimistic about the future. This has been going in this direction for several years and has intensified. More than 60 percent of the population believe that the quality of life will deteriorate in the next 20 years. Only twelve percent imagine that it will be better than today. This is shown by the hope barometer that we are publishing together with swissfuture, this year for the 14th time.
Whence this pessimism?
It is the first generation that does not believe that their life will be better than that of their parents. In the past there was this expectation and it was fulfilled. It was still like that for me, my parents didn’t study, I had this opportunity. They couldn’t travel much but emigrated to Argentina for a better life. I could afford to see the world and own a home and vacation home with my family. Now we have arrived at a time when this idea of continuous improvement no longer applies.
Why is that?
Because we already have what we wanted to achieve in the 20th century: prosperity. And at such a high level that we are faced with the natural, but sometimes sad situation that many people believe that things can only get worse.
So the zenith has been reached, like in the Roman Empire, now it’s only going downhill?
That’s how many people experience it. However, the major problems of our time are not related to the economy, but to our environment and social issues. In poorer countries like Nigeria, India or Colombia, people still hope for economic growth and therefore better living conditions. Because there is still potential there, people are also more hopeful, especially the younger generation compared to here.
For an interview, go over the 280 meter long suspension bridge in Goms: Andreas Krafft with Sunday View editor Katja Richard.
What makes life so difficult for young people in Switzerland?
It is this helplessness that they sometimes experience, especially in relation to the environment. You feel like you can’t change anything and that leads to a feeling of powerlessness. What they have is taken from them and what is urgent seems impossible.
Is it the same with your children?
Yes, they are now around 20 years old. Since they’ve been born, there hasn’t been a collective experience that makes a massive improvement in society noticeable. In Colombia, for example, the civil war has been largely overcome and people can go out on the streets again without fear. Or in India, the castes are no longer so strictly separated, the economy has been booming for years. The people there know that they are not living in paradise, but they perceive positive changes and have perspectives.
And there aren’t any in sight?
Not in a hurry, because our society is facing challenges that cannot be solved overnight. The constant confrontation with negative topics affects young people in particular.
Why?
They have hardly had the experience that crises can be overcome. It’s like the first love that falls apart. That feels terribly tragic. Only over time do you learn that difficulties can be overcome. That’s why older people are more hopeful.
How can you give hope to young people?
We go to schools with hope workshops to enable young people to believe in good things again and to show that all is not lost. First of all, it’s about recognizing that not everything is as bad as it looks. There are simple positive psychology exercises that help shift perspective. Anyone can try it.
How do they work?
Every night, write down three positive things that you have experienced. This is difficult for many at first because we automatically focus on the negative. Because we are conditioned to experience negative experiences more attentively and emotionally deeper. It’s not our fault. It comes from the instinct to survive, it’s anchored in us, just like in animals: In the event of danger, we have to flee or fight immediately.
But we are human…
Yes, we have evolved. We have the imagination to wish for a better life and the belief and trust that it is possible despite obstacles and setbacks. This is what hope is and what has brought us forward as humanity. A look back at our history shows that.
For example?
The French Revolution in the 18th Century. Even if it didn’t look as if it would lead to the goal for a long time, people persevered thanks to their ideals and wishes. Back then, the great hope was freedom. This was needed to achieve more prosperity with the industrial revolution. Then came the desire for justice, that between peoples or between women and men. Each century has set the stage for the next, first liberty, then prosperity and justice. It all builds on each other.
And what is the hope of the 21st century?
The well-being, peace, harmony and a sustainable environment. And it will be the century of women. In my lectures at the HSG, female students are often in the majority. Many are realizing that even more money will not make us happier. And that some of them get a lot more and others less. The gap between rich and poor is widening.
hope explorer
Andreas M. Krafft grew up in Argentina and has lived with his family in Switzerland since 1995. For more than 20 years he has been a lecturer at the University of St. Gallen (HSG) as well as a management trainer and consultant with a focus on work, organizational and health psychology. As Associate Researcher at the Institute for Systemic Management and Public Governance (IMP-HSG), Co-President of swissfuture (the Swiss Association for Future Research) and Chairman of the Swiss Positive Psychology Association, he heads the international research network of the Hope Barometer.
Andreas M. Krafft grew up in Argentina and has lived with his family in Switzerland since 1995. For more than 20 years he has been a lecturer at the University of St. Gallen (HSG) as well as a management trainer and consultant with a focus on work, organizational and health psychology. As Associate Researcher at the Institute for Systemic Management and Public Governance (IMP-HSG), Co-President of swissfuture (the Swiss Association for Future Research) and Chairman of the Swiss Positive Psychology Association, he heads the international research network of the Hope Barometer.
We also live in a time of polarization.
Yes, because we focus on the negative. Anyone who cuts off their little garden is driven by the fear of losing something. Assuming the pie isn’t getting any bigger, the natural instinct is to defend yourself. You fight for your share so that someone else doesn’t get what is due to you. This is losing the fear instead of gaining the hope. In the current situation, we can only win together.
The climate crisis and wars are overwhelming problems.
It takes a lot of staying power because we don’t know if it will be good. We can even assume that it won’t. That doesn’t mean that we have to give up hope, or even that we can. Either we understand that now and act. Or we stick to old structures and fight out distribution battles. And then it just hurts, and it goes on for another 20 or 30 years as before. Either we learn or we suffer.
What’s your prognosis?
Personally, I believe in a universal, positive force that moves humanity forward. If you compare the situation today with 1923, the prospects were not rosy either. People left Switzerland because they were hungry. That has completely changed. At that time it was hard to imagine that today we live in abundance and worry about the figure.
Where do we draw hope from?
It is a deeply human phenomenon and begins with our birth. As babies, we couldn’t do anything except cry, laugh every now and then, and sleep. From this dependency arises this field of tension between primal fear and primal trust. Over time you learn to stand on your own two feet. Hope is based on helpfulness, cohesion and trust as well as on openness to new things and belief in the good – despite all the evil in this world. This is what your willpower builds on. Without hope, human life is hardly possible. It is not for nothing that they say: Hope dies last.