Acharya Prashant explains that hope is fundamentally a comparative state, where an individual desires something better than their current situation. He asserts that pleasure and pain are not opposites but are relative to one another. Using examples of academic marks and financial wealth, he illustrates how pleasure can instantly transform into pain when compared to a superior alternative. He emphasizes that as long as one is caught in the cycle of comparison and the desire for 'more,' they will remain in a state of suffering. This constant seeking of relative progress prevents individuals from attaining absolute liberation.