Cynicism feels clever.
You can't be disappointed if you've already written off the ending.
But certainty about doom is its own arrogance.
We've never been good at predicting what comes next.
Plagues ended. Empires rose from rubble. The worst chapters closed.
Despair asks nothing of you.
It lets you sit back and watch.
Hope costs more.
It asks you to stay in the room. To act as if the future matters.
Both are bets.
Neither comes with proof.
If you're betting either way, why bet on the loss?