What is the point of human sufferring?

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Originally Posted by Gadget Girl

I think there is suffering because that is how we make life equal. You suffer, one day something good will happen to it, when you're happy, one moment you never know you are crying helplessly alone in a corner. What I mean is, you can't be happy if you don't suffer. Yeah, imagine if we don't feel sadness or frustration, we live our lives so perfect that you wanted nothing more, but there will be a time that you can't feel happiness because everyday of your life you're happy, you don't feel upset or wanted to punch the air because of your madness anymore.

I guess that's what life is. Things don't come your way all the time.

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i agree- how can we know joy if not for suffering... i think in the long run, life balances itself out, we have our own equilibrium... the joy balences out the suffering... i also think that suffering is a way for us to learn... a way to learn detachment, a way to learn to love, but also to lose, not in vain, but in a way to learn to find joy in what has been... and a peace in what the present... i think joy and suffering are an essential part of the human experience, it is our job to find the meaning of our personal suffering, and utimately find the joy in what we once had or experienced... :)

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Originally Posted by kilted exile

To allow us to remember that there's always some poor sod worse off than we are, which in turn cheers us up and for a while forget about our own suffering for a while.

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:lol: :lol: Agreed

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Originally Posted by Lote-Tree

. There are other ways of learning which does not involve pain...

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But why?? Pain is so close to pleasure :brow:

Jebus,

I commend you on raising the question of suffering and helping all of us to think about it on a deeper level. You are approaching it as a philosopher (which we all have the capability to do) and, thus, encourage you to consider more. While such an exploration may never definitively answer a question such as “what is the value of suffering,” it can help to characterize the issue and enrich your life beyond expectation. Have you ever read Schopenhauer? If you don’t have time for all of “The World as Will and Representation” (an ambitious task), try the chapter titled “On the Vanity and Suffering of Life” from volume two of the Payne translation. Not only is it free of more intense and technical terminology, it is beautifully written, even in English. Ultimately, though, trust your voice and the questions you come up with. Never abandon the seemingly basic inquiries; they're almost always the most rewarding.

O.

Bump.

pseudo-int,

Human suffering was not a gear or trinket in some grand scheme of life, but just a side effect from the workings of society. Also Life would be rather bland without certain extremes.

Does anyone know the poet who said beauty could not exist without the ugly?

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Originally Posted by jebus197

Some doctors and psychologists tend to treat suffering as a disorder - but I'm not sure I agree with this.

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I tend to agree with these doctors and psychologists. But only in their diagnosis (that 'suffering is a disorder'), but not in their treatment. How can you treat someone when you have the same problem deep down yourself? Just look up the net on suicide rates by profession, you will see that medical professionals are up at the top. Some people argue that this is because they have easier access to drugs. But I believe that they have a higher rate of suffering from depression because they are human and they are in a demanding job. When I was young (and I am now old enough to appreciate this fact), I asked myself many, many times why I suffered so much while others seemed to be much luckier and happier. But, I now realize that there is not a single person in the world who can affirm that he/she has always been happy in all his/her life. Even very spiritual people still suffer a great deal (at least before their enlightenment). I think that suffering comes from the inside. It is not the external circumstances that make us suffer. It's our inner reaction to external circumstances. When the same unfortunate event happens to multiple people, the degree of suffering varies among those people. This means that suffering is entirely subjective. If man can create something then man can destroy it. The same goes with suffering. I think that the degree of suffering is proportional to the strength of the identification of the self with its possessions in the material and emotional worlds (including wealth, reputation, loved ones, ...). And I believe that this is the key to end suffering.

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Originally Posted by jebus197

Would we be able to appreciate the suffering of others? Would we be able to experience joy? Would we still be able to feel compassion? Would love still have the same kind of meaning that it may have now?

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I think that there is a big difference between compassion/true love/empathy (appreciating the suffering of others) and suffering that causes emotional and physical disturbances. With the former, you still feel the suffering of others and in yourself you are like a quiet witness with an open heart. Your heart goes with the sufferers but you still have a clear mind and are ready to take any sensible action to alleviate that suffering of others. When you suffer in love, then this love may not be true love. It's not the love of the other person for the other person's sake. If you examine it closely, it may be that it is the love of what the other person gave you and now you have lost what used to belong to you. Although more subtle, it's no different to losing some material object that you "loved" dearly. Suffering goes with joy/pleasure but inner peace and compassion and true love are above both of them.

Suffering? Could you be here posting if your mother did not suffer, or did not have the labor of pains.