Is suffering really necessary for human wisdom?

Question

How can human 'learn' without suffering?

Answer 1

Trying times call for tried men; perplexing days require wise men. Mental suffering that is
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Pain is enivitable, and suffering is more often optional. and a wise person can choose not to suffer with his undertakings because he gets more than mere knowledge but a profound understanding and acceptance. once you understand, Truth will may hurt you but will never make you suffer...
this in return will make a wise person more adept to critical thinking. i reckon that a wise man reflects before he speaks; because when a fool speak, he only reflect after he has spoken.

"strength is an asset only when it is blended with wisdom"

Answer 2

Wisdom sources itself into us in different ways.

Wisdom can be earned with both success and mistakes. They are two different sources of wisdom.

Suffering for the sake of it means little. Suffering is not truly related to wisdom...it is an individual emotional experience. Then what is suffering for one may not be so for the other. What causes suffering to different people also differs.

If you mean to ask that can wisdom be only earned after experiencing/going through something - yes and no.

There are some situations which educate the keen one. There are some situations that need no experience to understand - the classic example of this are the parental diktats to a very young child, such as, flame burns, or sharp objects hurt, are also a component of that wisdom. Such are designed as protective wisdom to equip a young animal/human.

Answer 3

There isn't any learning without suffering of some sort . Human must suffer to a certain degree as we may take things for granted without some kind of reminder that good things do come with some effort and hard work and that includes pain and tears and sweat as well . Human would like it without pain but unfortunately that may be impossible .

Answer 4

Usually a human will suffer because of a mistake either made by him/herself or by another human. And this leads us to the popular belief that you make mistakes so you can learn.
For example (with the mistakes) on a date you do something stupid. Well, how else will you get the "one" without knowing what it is that you are doing wrong. And the best way to find out is to do the wrong thing. hence you make a mistake.

With the suffering: If you lose your grandparents, who you were very close to, then yes you will suffer. But when a very close friend loses a parent or grandparent, for example, then you will be able to help them through it with your aquired "wisdom". We figured out a long time ago that alone we don't stand a chance.

Answer 5

Suffering and wisdom belong to two different domains of human understanding. Suffering is a completely subjective state of being, it is derived from your personal desires and your inability to attain what you want. While people who suffer seem have become wise it is not necessary for a person to suffer in order to become wise. Wisdom is not completely subjective nor completely objective, people have different opinions on what constitutes wisdom, it is achieved through a process of enlightenment. This process however could be completely made of reading great and profound works of literature, or listening to someone else who has suffered tell their story. Perhaps wisdom can come from someone who has not suffered in the least bit in their life, yet is aware of the tremendous suffering of others and considers themselves lucky and blessed.

Answer 6

Is summer necessary or the cool shades?

Yes definitely without a summer no idea of a cool shade. And in the absence of a cool shade summer is too scorching a hell.

They should co-exist. If you ask a sportsman or an athlete or a President of a country what is his most joyous moment in life. They are sure to answer the victorious moments as the most joyous. Do you think that all comes without the necessary sufferings and sweat?

No sweet memories without a sweat. That is the philosophy here on this earth.

Answer 7

Originally, this was not the case. In the Garden, we were with God in a way where we could ask for wisdom directly from God. But sin came into all humanity through one man (Adam) choosing knowledge rather than God. After that cataclysmic event, we had the choice to stray from God (i.e., to suffer). But because God is a God of ultimate redemption, He allowed all of our suffering to innately contain the possibility of learning, wisdom, etc.

Not all people who suffer immensely necessarily gain wisdom, however. Scripture says, "fear of God is the beginning of wisdom." So that is what we really have to ponder if we want to understand the nature of wisdom.

Answer 8

The reason we all suffer is because we have to be able to sympathize with other people. If we didn't suffer we wouldn't be able to understand those that did. For instance, there is the story about the queen of France before the start of the revolution. Her advisors came to her and said, "Your highness, the people don't have any bread!" Her response was, "Then let them eat cake". She was so rich, sheltered, and had so much that she could not understand the utter poverty faced by the majority of people in her country. I am not saying that she didn't have any suffering in her life, but I am saying that the fact she knew so little of the world and what it meant to be unhappy or without made her incapable of understanding the needs of her people.

Answer 9

Knowledge has a price. I mean that to get it, we always have to make an effort. At all times, when we find our knowledge insufficient, we have to decide whether adding to our knowledge justifies the effort we would spend, or the profit we would get.

Part of this price comes across as suffering. Some choices are painful. Time, money, effort dedicated to expand our knowledge would not be used in other desirable items. Sometimes, the "price" we pay we can barely afford. Sometimes, we gamble, we pay the price, and find that it was useless.

Finally, as we go thru life, we make mistakes in spite of our best efforts. Some of those mistakes are painful in themselves, or even to face. Yet, we examine the facts to avoid a repetition of the event. We should be willing to go thru suffering now to avoid more pain the future. Such pain we should accept.

Answer 10

Sure, we can learn without suffering. But there are things that, unless you experience them, you don't really know them. For instance, I have certain beliefs about death that I think are near the mark: that death is part of a cycle necessary for life to continue, that an important part of us lives on after our bodies die, etc. But all that goes down the tubes -- loses all meaning -- when you've experienced the death of someone you love.

You can read all of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets about love, what philosophers have to say about it. But until you've loved, you know nothing. And part of love is the experience of losing the person you love, whether it's because of a breakup, or a mother's child dying.

So, there are things we can know *about*, but not really *know*, without having experienced them.

And suffering is the strongest impetus to get a person to examine themselves. Sure, believe God is a loving Father and that we're His children. Will you still believe that childish image of God once you've suffered deeply? You will either give up on life, or become more self-aware and look in other directions -- less superficial ones -- for answers.

Answer 11

It's difficult to say, because suffering has always been a part of human experience. I would like to think we could learn without it, but I suspect we would be something so different from present humanity that we would be unrecognizable.