2007-10-10 15:42:33 · 23 answers · asked by Rita 6 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Without suffering a human being can not understand what compassion is. How can a person be kind-hearted if he can not imagine the pain of a fellow human being? How can he understand what is injustice if he was never wronged in life?
2007-10-10 15:56:14 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋
This is interesting b/c up until now I thought that pain was inevitable and suffering was optional and while that may still be true, I learned more through suffering b/c I had more time to reflect on what caused the pain. So YES I agree.
Sure it's all fine and dandy to be able to use reason but when the pain hits, you'd have to be extremely disciplined and maybe a little callous to think straight.
The more I suffer with my current illnesses, the more wisdom I believe I gain as I am open to it. That is not to say that I am not looking for a cure. I don't think the cure ever comes easy though. I need to use insight/wisdom to be an overcomer.
The opposite being ignorance. If I don't know a certain type of pain or suffering, I believe I am ignorant to it. I cannot understand it.
Of course prolonging the suffering can lead to apathy which has been proven in Psychology. So it is best not to stay there long but if you have to, keep an open mind, be honest and willing to get out asap.
2007-10-11 02:04:36 · answer #2 · answered by I don't know 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Suffering certainly gets our attention, and for many it focuses the mind ad may result in learning valuable knowledge. Hence the Greek Tragedies and Greek Mythologies which put the emphasis on understanding irrational & senseless (rarely just) sufferings. However, suffering did not lead to wisdom, except in a few cases, perhaps.Achieving Wisdom is altogether a different intellectual virtue. Aristotle and Plato both thought so. The presocratic Stoics and many other philosophic schools in Ancient Greece thought it was wiser to avoid suffering altogether, if one could do so by use of reason.
So my answer is no, I disagree with the assertion in the Q for the reasons stated.
Good Q, though because it provokes thinking it through.
2007-10-10 16:23:38 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Not at all. An open mind yields wisdom. I know people that have suffered immensely as are no smarter now than they were before. I know many people that have not suufered as much which are much more enlightened.
It's this kind of thinking that allows for oppression.
2007-10-11 00:21:16 · answer #4 · answered by St.Anger 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I do not agree Rena. Suffering is misery and pain. It may subdue us and weaken our resolve, which makes us appear more deliberate and wise. But that's a surface, side effect of having lost to life. We tell ourselves that suffering will make us stronger, it will make us wiser, it will make us better equipped at handling what comes next. I can't see the logic behind it. If you get knocked down 1, 2, 3 times. How will getting knocked down the 4th time make you stronger?
You would just be used to it and resign yourself to it. A bleak outlook perhaps, but I see no benefit in suffering and think we should aim to avoid it if we can. Not all lessons worth learning have to be learned the hard way.
2007-10-10 17:27:02 · answer #5 · answered by whuz007 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I think so. I feel I've learned a lot more from my bad mistakes and painful experiences in life, than from my happy moments. Painful events stick with you stronger than the happy ones. At least for me. It may be different for others. The wisdom a person gains from going through a painful event can be very beneficial to someone later on who may go through the same thing.
2007-10-10 15:54:49 · answer #6 · answered by danikatspecial 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Taken as parable, they can teach a lot. So can mythology of other cultures. Yes, focusing on "literal truth" can lead to superficial interpretation. To find the spirituality in a text, you have to think what it would be teaching whether or not the events really happened.
2016-04-08 02:06:05 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
there is no learning with out falling down and suffering..if everything would be nice and no suffering and it would be a utopia then we would not learn the truth of suffering which in the end would lead to becoming wiser and more rational as well as more precautious than before..discipline and suffering and sacrifices in my opinion makes the person wiser.
2007-10-11 03:41:38 · answer #8 · answered by icycrissy27blue 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sure. We learn a lot more when things go wrong than when they go right. And in the course of a life filled with mistakes, hopefully one learns a little humility and compassion. This is the road to wisdom.
2007-10-10 15:47:42 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Hey Rena!
Oh yeah. It's only when we fail/things don't work out the way we plan/we are "surprised" that we truly learn what is important to us. In these events, we also learn to look at things from someone else's perspective - this is where I think people are truly at fault overall - that's why I live by the credo "never judge a person" b/c you NEVER know what they've been through, what they know, or what they don't know.
Great question, by the way! :-)
2007-10-11 01:11:50 · answer #10 · answered by Impavidsoul 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋