Is it true that "life is suffering"?

noubliezjamais

The mantra "life is suffering, everyone has problems". I know two friends from school who are rich, attractive and when I ask them if they have struggled in life they say no, they feel average/great most of the time.

Now, you'd be quick to say that they don't want to admit they're suffering but these two people are very open minded and although very kind a bit self centred so they seem to have a genuine conviction in what they're saying. They aren't the type of people to care about perspective and lie about being happy because they feel guilty that others have it worse in many ways.

I don't know even what this post is, I'm just interested, is live objectively suffering for all or is there a hierarchy of suffering. If we can accept that some kid in Somalia is starving horribly and will spend most of their life dying early or suffering from malaria, diarrhea, typhoid etc... can the opposite be true? Can someone spend 60-70 years on earth with no suffering.

I've read groups on reddit like antinatalists who claim that it's impossible not to suffer due to biology and physics. Humans and all animals are designed to experience pain endlessly due to constant physical, chemical, biological dangers in the world. Pleasure only motivates good behavior but pain forces it. You always hear of drug users stopping due to developing tolerance and no longer getting euphoria. You seldom here of people getting used to chronic pain.

Given this, would you have kids?

Apiarist

noubliezjamais wrote: »

Can someone spend 60-70 years on earth with no suffering.

Yes, you have to be rich, be smart, have smart parents and good teachers, and be good looking and in sound health (including mentally).

Then 99% of problems you would encounter are surmountable and only add spice to your sweet existence. And since you are smart, you can easily accept that the remaining 1% of problems can be ignored.

baby and crumble

it all depends on what you term 'suffering' or 'problems'. It's unlikely they've gone through life without every suffering or having a problem. But they may be folks who have developed ways to counteract the negatives associated with that, and don't see it as suffering in that traditional sense.

'Suffering' can be as simple as losing a beloved pet as a child, or failing an exam. it doesn't have to mean you're wallowing in despair or worrying where your next meal is coming from.

cursai

What IS suffering?

skallywag

It is all relative I guess, but most people do indeed have problems of some nature I think, even if that may be a scratch that is pissing them off on their new 100K car.

As a wise man once said, 'you can sit next to a pretty girl for an hour and it will seem like a minute, but you can put your hand on a hot stove for a minute and it will seem longer than any hour'.