Hope is the necessary, but insufficient, precondition for survival. As we grope our way up the hill, we will meet with many dead ends that cause us to descend a ways to see if another approach will take us to a higher peak hill-climbing only gets you to the top of whatever hill you find first, and to find a taller one, you’ll have to go to the bottom and strike out in another direction. It’s a frustrating, even painful method. It’s inefficient and messy. But then, so is the world. And the alternative is hopelessness and sinking straight to the bottom.