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Why suffering is good (by Paul Bloom)

2 July 2022

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Big Think / The Well title: Why suffering is good
By: Paul Bloom, a Canadian American psychologist (Wiki)
Date 21 June 2022

“What are you proudest of in life? When you reflect on all you have done, what things stand out as the most celebrated, the most important — the most meaningful? The chances are that what comes to mind are those things that demanded an element of difficulty or struggling. They are the things which caused us to suffer.

According to Dr. Paul Bloom, in our Interview of the week, suffering is what makes our life meaningful at all.

Evolutionarily, it’s easy to explain suffering. Grief, pain, and fear all tell us to avoid whatever causes them. They say, “Don’t do this again; it’s bad for you.” But the harder thing to explain is why it is that so much of our life involves seeking out difficulty. From trivial things like eating a chili or watching a scary movie to more substantial things like running a marathon or having children, we spend a lot of time deliberately walking toward suffering. Few people think having children is easy, yet they do so wholeheartedly, and most consider parenthood the proudest, happiest part of their lives.

Bloom is talking here about chosen suffering. He does not argue that unchosen suffering, like the death of a relative, chronic pain, or asthma give us meaning (in the same way). Self-set obstacles and chosen difficulty is what gives life meaning. Life needs meaning, and meaningful experiences require an element of suffering.

As Viktor Frankl, Holocaust survivor and psychotherapist, put it: “Without suffering and death, human life cannot be complete.” “


Sources:
article: https://bigthink.com/the-well/why-suffering-is-good/
video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24g8IzFCOMM
transcript: https://bigthink.com/the-well/why-suffering-is-good/
book: The Sweet Spot: The Pleasures of Suffering and a Search for Meaning

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