A Life of Meaningful Pain might be more Valuable than a Life of Meaningless Pleasure

Pic Courtesy – http://greatinspire.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Happiness-by-Dennis-Bautista.jpg

Karl Popper said “All the living things are always in search of a better world.” Humans, animals, plants, even unicellular organisms are constantly active to create a better world. They are trying to improve their current situation or at least try to avoid its deterioration. Every organism is constantly preoccupied with the task of solving the problems of its life. These problems arise from its assessment of its condition and of its environment. We can see that life even at the level of unicellular organisms brings something new into this world, something that previously didn’t exist. It makes active attempts to solve the problems by assessment of the situation through trial and error method”. 

_______________________________________________________________________

Read Also : Sustainable Living: 16 Herbs That An Amateur Green Thumb Can Easily Grow

________________________________________________________________________

Our world is better off now at any point of time in human history. We are wealthier, healthier, safer, better informed, and more prosperous than ever before. Global life expectancy has more than doubled in the past century. More wealth in the world has been created in the last four decades, than in all of human history before then. Two centuries ago, 8 in 10 people lived in extreme poverty. Today it’s much fewer. In 1800, nearly half of all children died before the age of five. Whereas today, this figure has fallen to less than 4%. In the 19th century, women spent 58 hours per week for household activities, which has come down to less than 18 hours per week giving more freedom and time to them. 

But, if we listen to the TV news or read the daily newspaper, or on social media, it seems like we are living in the worst of times. The world seems overwhelmingly divided with mounting distrust between people, leaders, and nations. Trust is in a state of crisis around the people, societies, states, nations, and the world. People don’t seem to trust even traditional institutions including media, governments, and NGOs. The majority of the people trust themselves more than all these traditional institutions. There’s acute heightened anxiety prevailing among people in this fractured world. The fact is that each time we move up to the next level of awareness, we always intend to see more, and we get to enjoy more. Things seem to have never been so worse as they are now. 

_______________________________________________________________________

Read Also : Summer Skincare Routine: 5 Tips That You Must Follow On An Everyday Basis

________________________________________________________________________

There are three major reasons behind all this. First, because we are hyper-informed, we don’t trust anything easily. Second, we are using new technologies in variety and volume, they are never intended to be used. In turn, they are being weaponized from greed to temptation and playground bullying to sowing the seeds of hatred and intolerance widely. The third is the fourth industrial revolution. It has brought in the rapid pace of change through automation, AI and robotics, etc. They are swiftly transforming every single sector including the social sector, which is becoming difficult for the majority of the society to absorb. The fact is, the source of our progress has been becoming the source of our downfall. Things are too good for us to change it all, yet, too bad for us to leave anything as it is. 

In our modern world, happiness/pleasure is the highest and the ultimate goal from which all other goods flow. In this logic, unhappiness or pain becomes the greatest evil to be avoided. There’s some evidence that the oppressive pursuit of happiness/pleasure is associated with a greater risk of depression. A life of meaningful pain might be more valuable than a life of meaningless pleasure. It’s always better to work out what a meaningful life is, instead of to work out what happiness/pleasure is. 

_______________________________________________________________________

Read Also :  5 winter skincare hacks: how to use moisturiser, beauty oils, masks and more to…

________________________________________________________________________

A pleasure to the supreme good is suitable only for pigs. Dissatisfaction, unhappiness, and pain are part of human conditions, Mostly, we are overwhelmed by happiness in the face of difficulties. But in reality, we have a lot of means to act and correct mistakes. It does not ease but effort, not facility but the difficulty that makes humans a human. Kindness is a quiet and discreet power within reach of every individual. It allows us to affirm the vision of the world that we are seeking to achieve.