Hopelessness stems from perceiving barriers as insurmountable, not from the barriers themselves

Evidence

Thus, it is not the limit-situations in and of themselves which create a climate of hopelessness, but rather how they are perceived by women and men at a given historical moment: whether they appear as fetters or as insurmountable barriers. As critical perception is embodied in action, a climate of hope and confidence develops which leads men to attempt to overcome the limit-situations. — Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 287

Categorization

• QUESTION: This is the crux for the vanguard criticism: if hopelessness is purely a matter of perception, who decides when a barrier is genuinely insurmountable rather than merely perceived so? Worth chasing.
• XREF: Connects to the reader’s contest of Freire’s method — the risk that the facilitator ‘corrects’ students’ perception of barriers rather than trusting their own reading. — connects to: Obstacles are never absolute but reveal their adversity only against a freely chosen end. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1163; Mental health problems create radicalization vulnerability only by blocking other life opportunities — Ryan Andrew Brown, Todd C. Helmus, Rajeev Ramchand, Alina I. Palimaru, Sarah Weilant, Ashley L. Rhoades, and Liisa Hiatt (RAND Corporation), Violent Extremism in America:…, 285