Could we survive without pain?: Philosophy Forums

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Could we survive without pain?

jsawvel
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Posted 10/27/09 - 08:03 PM: Subject: Could we survive without pain?	#1
Pain is usually spoken of in a negative context. When I say pain, I mean discomfort and also desire, because desire is discomfort or pain. But, is pain really a negative thing? Without pain or discomfort, we would not know when to eat, we would not know when to sleep, we would not know when to pull our hand back from the flame. So, pain actually keeps us alive, it keeps us going. It keeps us doing what we need to survive. Perhaps it is a cruel master, but we have life because of it.

hinano
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Posted 10/27/09 - 08:07 PM:	#2
We are defined by our by our pain as much as our joy. - Da'al Jakai from Broken Sky #7

Wosret
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1 of 1 people found this post helpful Posted 10/27/09 - 08:18 PM:	#3
Presumably life did for three billion years or more, before the evolution of the first nervous system. Although there is clearly a massive evolutionary advantage to have a warning system for what damages the organism. Ergo, life would survive, just not nearly as well.
"If you've got any last words, say 'em now." - Nadie. "I am Horo the Wise." - Horo the Wise.

swstephe
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1 of 1 people found this post helpful Posted 10/27/09 - 09:13 PM:	#4
You know that some people are born without the ability to feel pain. It goes by the pretty unscientific name congenital insensitivity to pain. There is a film called "A Life Without Pain" about it too. My father used to work with one person with this condition. They don't feel pain, but they can feel touch. They have to be constantly on the alert for visual cues to injury. They may cut themselves and be completely unaware. So, you can survive, but not as easily. They don't feel hungry, so eating seems like an "unnecessary chore". I think levels of pain are important too. Too much sensitivity to pain would also make life pretty unbearable. Although it is a serious affliction, I think I would be tempted to go for an extreme tattoo and piercing if I had it.
Ethics is the measuring of morality. Morality is the measuring of good. Good is the measuring of benefit. Benefit is the measure of values.

hyena in petticoat
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Posted 10/27/09 - 10:10 PM:	#5
When I say pain, I mean discomfort and also desire, because desire is discomfort or pain. IMHO, only if the desire is unsatisfied. So, pain actually keeps us alive, it keeps us going. It keeps us doing what we need to survive. Perhaps it is a cruel master, but we have life because of it. I'd personally say that although it is an important element that gives emphasis on the good feelings and things that cause these positive emotions by virtue of contrast, it doesn't define life entirely. It does not dictate all of our actions. It's not always our motive for living and doing what we do.
I need to get acquainted with sanity. Rantings, rantings and more rantings. Seriously.

Samuel Locke
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Posted 10/28/09 - 04:18 AM:	#6
hyena in petticoat wrote: IMHO, only if the desire is unsatisfied. I'd personally say that although it is an important element that gives emphasis on the good feelings and things that cause these positive emotions by virtue of contrast, it doesn't define life entirely. It does not dictate all of our actions. It's not always our motive for living and doing what we do. I am interested to hear what else dictates our actions?

rigelrover
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Posted 10/28/09 - 05:25 AM:	#7
Lepers suffer terribly without proprioception, interoception, etc. A more interesting question is that of suffering, considering that there is an abstract sense whereby emotional responses may, in fact, cause physical conditions, or may not. Is it necessary (for survival) for a conscious being to suffer? I would think so, by definition. How could one be aware (i.e. with freedom) w/out suffering? Edited by rigelrover on 10/28/09 - 05:42 AM
I am more interested in questions than answers; dialog than dictation. If we can reasonably believe that there is not just a breach, but a fundamentally unclosable gap between the individual mind and the ultimate nature of the reality; the primordial thing in itself, then 'true' mystery does exist.

Samuel Locke
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Posted 10/28/09 - 06:13 AM:	#8
Is there anybody alive today who does not suffer some kind of pain? If not the the answer is obvious. The ones who had to endure pain survived while the ones who did not died off.

jsawvel
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Posted 10/28/09 - 08:47 AM:	#9
"It does not dictate all of our actions. It's not always our motive for living and doing what we do." I think is the big question, are we solely motivated by pain and pleasure - pleasure being the satisfaction of pain. Buddhism supposedly addresses this. There is something called "independent generation of action," or something like that. It says that most people are simply reactionary always chasing the carrot or running from the pain (chasing desire). Enlightenment is supposed to kill desire (or suffering) and end suffering so that the person no longer chases the carrot (or understands that they have a choice). Of course, the Buddha never stopped eating. I think this is where things like addiction come in and being out of control. Because people feel coerced under pain. They don't believe they have a choice.

Samuel Locke
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