Is suffering necessary for survival?

[Deidre]

Nietzsche felt that suffering was necessary. ''To live is to suffer, to live is to find some meaning in the suffering.''
is a famous quote of his.

Jesus died on the cross, and from a Christian perspective, followers of Christ could find redemption in the suffering. Sharing in his suffering, even.

None of us like to suffer, but maybe Nietzsche is correct, if there will be suffering that comes our way, maybe we should find a way to understand its meaning in our lives.

Do you believe that suffering is necessary for survival to reach a peaceful life? Do you feel that suffering gives life meaning, or do you feel that's something we just tell ourselves to make sense of it?

 

[Frog]

Sufferings are unavoidable unless you are a nihilist.

 

[SalixIncendium]

I don't feel suffering is necessary, and confronted with the possibility of suffering, most will do what is necessary to avoid it.

I think Nietzsche's quote would be better to read ''To live is to experience, to live is to find some meaning in these experiences.''

 

[Deidre]

That's really interesting you say that @Frog - Do you think that nihilists don't really experience suffering or do you feel that they don't find meaning it it? I know that to be a ''true'' nihilist, one doesn't find meaning in life, in general.

 

[Frog]

That's really interesting you say that @Frog - Do you think that nihilists don't really experience suffering or do you feel that they don't find meaning it it? I know that to be a ''true'' nihilist, one doesn't find meaning in life, in general.

Yes, you cannot suffer from a meaningless existence. The downside is there is no meaning or fulfillment. Life then becomes a drag .

 

[Deidre]

Yes, you cannot suffer from a meaningless existence. The downside is there is no meaning or fulfillment. Life then becomes a drag .

That is fascinating. Idk, that never clicked for me until you posted that. I think that's a very good point. I've thought of suffering as many things though, it could be physical it could be emotional. It doesn't have to take on an existential meaning, so I wonder then, if a nihilist could suffer, but just choose to not make much of it. He/she just sees it as part of existence. Hmm.

 

[sayak83]

Nietzsche felt that suffering was necessary. ''To live is to suffer, to live is to find some meaning in the suffering.''
is a famous quote of his.

Jesus died on the cross, and from a Christian perspective, followers of Christ could find redemption in the suffering. Sharing in his suffering, even.

None of us like to suffer, but maybe Nietzsche is correct, if there will be suffering that comes our way, maybe we should find a way to understand its meaning in our lives.

Do you believe that suffering is necessary for survival to reach a peaceful life? Do you feel that suffering gives life meaning, or do you feel that's something we just tell ourselves to make sense of it?

Only the laws of math, logic and physics are necessary. Everything else is just possible, probable or improbable...but not necessary nor inevitable.

 

[Thief]

Nietzsche felt that suffering was necessary. ''To live is to suffer, to live is to find some meaning in the suffering.''
is a famous quote of his.

Jesus died on the cross, and from a Christian perspective, followers of Christ could find redemption in the suffering. Sharing in his suffering, even.

None of us like to suffer, but maybe Nietzsche is correct, if there will be suffering that comes our way, maybe we should find a way to understand its meaning in our lives.

Do you believe that suffering is necessary for survival to reach a peaceful life? Do you feel that suffering gives life meaning, or do you feel that's something we just tell ourselves to make sense of it?

I lean to say.....suffering means to allow

not sure if allowance leans to survival
Jesus seemed to allow His trial and execution

if you believe in life after death....you might claim He survived the last breath

but where does that leave us?
need we die persecuted?

 

[Frog]

It doesn't have to take on an existential meaning, so I wonder then, if a nihilist could suffer, but just choose to not make much of it. He/she just sees it as part of existence. Hmm.

As part of existence and unavoidable, yes. The pain of suffering would be meaningless. Nothing would seem real or constitute any true worth. You would be carefree and careless.

 

[It Aint Necessarily So]

Nietzsche felt that suffering was necessary. ''To live is to suffer, to live is to find some meaning in the suffering.''
is a famous quote of his.

Jesus died on the cross, and from a Christian perspective, followers of Christ could find redemption in the suffering. Sharing in his suffering, even.

None of us like to suffer, but maybe Nietzsche is correct, if there will be suffering that comes our way, maybe we should find a way to understand its meaning in our lives.

Do you believe that suffering is necessary for survival to reach a peaceful life? Do you feel that suffering gives life meaning, or do you feel that's something we just tell ourselves to make sense of it?

People unable to feel pain die younger. Diabetics with neuropathy in their feet and who lose sensation in them frequently burn them on hot surfaces. In one case, a woman woke up to find that her dog has chewed a toe off. That kind of suffering - feeling pain when there is a noxious stimulus is necessary and good. It protects us.

Another form of suffering that is salutary is the ability to experience guilt and shame, or to suffer empathetically with others who are suffering, without which our personal development is suboptimal, our lives becoming less than what they could have been - perhaps rendering one socially incompetent if not sociopathic.

And then there's the pain of grief, as when a loved one dies. Is that a good thing or not? I say it's good. It is an honor and privilege to grieve the loss of a living thing, whether human or pet. It means that individual was loved in life, and that their loss mattered to at least one person. How many lives end with nobody noticing or caring?

From this perspective, we can recognize that there is good suffering and bad suffering, the latter being the kind that does nothing for us except make our lives less pleasant.

 

[TheBannerofHomuraAkemi]

That is fascinating. Idk, that never clicked for me until you posted that. I think that's a very good point. I've thought of suffering as many things though, it could be physical it could be emotional. It doesn't have to take on an existential meaning, so I wonder then, if a nihilist could suffer, but just choose to not make much of it. He/she just sees it as part of existence. Hmm.

I'm a Nihilist and I suffer. It is in human nature to find meaning in life, but there isn't one. God created us and gave us meaning by worshiping him, but it's hollow and not real. So I constantly look for meaning in friends and family, but their humans so their fallible and unreliable. In a continue exist to find meaning when there is none. Is an honest definition of suffering.

 

[Deidre]

I'm a Nihilist and I suffer. It is in human nature to find meaning in life, but there isn't one. God created us and gave us meaning by worshiping him, but it's hollow and not real. So I constantly look for meaning in friends and family, but their humans so their fallible and unreliable. In a continue exist to find meaning when there is none. Is an honest definition of suffering.

Could our lives have intrinsic value of some type, do you think? Without relying on anyone else, our lives might have meaning independent of that?

 

[Sunstone]

Physical pain might have the redeeming quality of teaching us what to avoid, but suffering? Suffering is a different story, I think. It's largely over-rated and worthless. It drives you inward, denying life, rather than affirming it. You become increasingly self centered. Stupid to suffer if you don't need to.

 

[TheBannerofHomuraAkemi]

Could our lives have intrinsic value of some type, do you think? Without relying on anyone else, our lives might have meaning independent of that?

Depends really on the person. If you can find some value in your life. Good on you. I will not berate you for that even though I disagree with that notion.

I believe that God gave us two purposes in our life. To worship him and continue the human race. Neither of those seem for filling to me. A musician said it best for me. "A life that's granted, but never wanted."

 

[Twilight Hue]

Suffering is just a fact of life here.

I wouldn't build it up or dismiss it any more or less aside from what suffering entails and proceed accordingly as with any fact of life.

 

[Sammaiel]

Suffering is mostly unavoidable. Through experience and careful planning it can be reduced, however.
And no, for me it has no higher meaning or purpose.

 

[Spirit of Light]

As a buddhist i see human life as suffering,
Humans clinging to feelings, greed, anger, sadness, jealosy, like, dislike, and so on, this leading to suffering. 99% of humans live in past or future but not inpresent moment.

to end suffering we must let go of the attachments to human life and live only in the moment, seeing life as it trully are.

 

[Deeje]

No one seems to ask why there is suffering at all.....I mean, we don't ask for it....we don't welcome it.....and we hate seeing those we love go through it.
So, why do we suffer? And will there ever be an end to it......we all hope so, but is it fantasy to believe it could ever happen?

Looks like we have two choices as to what to believe......that suffering is a part of life because there is no purpose to our being here so wondering about it doesn't get us anywhere....or there is a reason for it and a promised end to it because we are in the outworking of an object lesson that will mean that no one will ever have to suffer again. I'll go with the latter myself. I hate unanswered questions.

 

[Valjean]

Most living things are incapable of suffering, likely most are incapable of pain, as well.
Bacteria, sponges, mushrooms, jellyfish, begonias? The OP did not mention humans.

Why would philosophic abstractions like meaning or purpose be needed for survival -- or for happiness, for that matter?
I doubt if my cat spends much time contemplating the meaning of life, yet she appears quite happy. Why should humans be any different?
Are we taught that life must have some cosmic meaning or purpose? Can't we invent our own purpose, should we feel the need?

 

[wellwisher]

The human brain has two centers of consciousness. The inner self is the center of the unconscious psyche and the ego is the center of the conscious mind. Putting aside physical pain such as cuts and bruises, suffering appears when the ego creates too much potential with the inner self. Suffering is there to make one aware of this departure from their natural center.

As Buddha observed, this potential is often connected to participation in the mass mind of culture, where people are collectively trained to inflate the ego through external sensory means as defined by culture. The inner self has other needs, more natural and/or unique to the individual, which are not being met.

For example, a young man may decide he can achieve happiness with a new sports car. The car has a special social prestige and status due to conditioning. This will offer him positive feedback from the environment, as though the car is now an extension of him. This is not real in the sense of being natural so it does not optimize the inner self. It is more of a cultural illusion, created by the market place, for the ego. This illusion can provide a temporary positive mind buzz, until such time the inner self seeks realignment with the natural center. Then the ego loses the same positive buzz resulting in the perception of separation and pain. He may need to buy a new car. What really needed to change was inside the man, not what was outside.

A good example in America was the last president election. The Democrats were so convinced of a victory that they had already planned out their utopian future. When Trump won, this was a hard dose of reality. Since they are unable to accept reality, as reality, since this deflated the ego, they have been in a state of constant stress and anger. They need to find a place in their mind that is better connected to the inner self so they can recenter and start again. However, peer pressure from fake news and acceptance of the herd mentality, makes it hard to exit the source of pain. The pain is projected outward, as though altering reality into the image of the fantasy, will be a lasting solution; blame someone else.