In the 1950s, Professor John Hopkins employed a research experiment using both domesticated and wild rats in which they were placed in a bucket of water and forced to swim until they drowned. The experiment was originally meant to test how long it took for rats to die of drowning. In the first few tests, each group of rats lasted at most a few minutes before giving up and drowning. After some consideration, Hopkins decided to do something differently with the final group.

He placed them in buckets just like before, but just as they were on the verge of death, he rescued them, nursed them back to stability, and then introduced them to the buckets again. This time, the rats were able to stay afloat for upwards of 80 hours before drowning. What was once a study about biological limitations had then turned into a study on psychological resilience. With no light at the end of the tunnel and no chance of survival, the first groups of rats gave up, letting themselves drown, but the second group, knowing there was even a slim chance of being saved, pressed on until they reached total muscular exhaustion. With minimal conditioning, only being saved one time, they learned to hope despite the hours they were made to swim. 

While this study is incredibly dark, it does shed light on something profoundly beautiful. Through this study, we are able to draw comparisons between the subjects’ struggles and our own struggles with persistence. When a person is saved here and there, when they are supported, they may better persevere through difficult situations. Without that lifeline, it’s easy for people to crumble and despair, experiencing learned helplessness much like the rats of the initial groups.

Of course, this study was done on rats; it’s not like we can recreate the same conditions with humans to find answers, but this experiment does let us take a look at where hope forms in nature and maybe even within ourselves. Hope is like a small candle in an endless sea of darkness. Even if it’s small, even if it’s temporary, its existence makes that ocean a little less overwhelming. In today’s world, things often feel hopeless, out of our control, but knowing that there is always time to change the things that weigh us down, knowing that there’s hope, helps us continue forward, even when the future is uncertain.