Is Pain A Good Thing?

I had a cortisol injection this morning to hopefully relieve ache and irritation in my thenar eminence (thumb pad.) Whereas I’ve had a number of covid, flu, pneumonia, shingles, and different pictures in the previous few years this one actually harm. In actual fact, it was essentially the most painful shot that I can recall. (My physician thought he may need hit a nerve.)

Now I’m not complaining. I can’t even think about the ache of childbirth, breaking my femur, being shot or stabbed, severely depressed or incarcerated, or a thousand different issues. Moreover, the extreme ache solely lasted about 30 seconds. But it surely brought about me to mirror on ache. These 30 seconds have been, because the utilitarians would say, a nasty factor. Imagining that very temporary state being prolonged for a few years would render life not value dwelling.

In my case, the potential advantage of assuaging my present ache with 30 seconds of intense ache is properly value it. But when that ache have been prolonged for a major time with no potential profit then life could be bereft of that means.

Now you could possibly argue that I additionally achieve from the shot by being reminded of how lucky I’m to be comparatively wholesome and never in ache—though I’ve at all times been skeptical of these “it’s good to expertise the unhealthy so as to know the nice” arguments. Furthermore, my very temporary encounter with ache additionally jogs my memory to assist and be sympathetic to others in ache.

But the most important takeaway from this very minor expertise was … bodily and emotional ache is unequivocally unhealthy and we should always do all we will to eradicate it. And sure I’m accustomed to the assorted arguments for the advantages of ache however I’ve by no means discovered any of them in any respect convincing.

Additionally, this doesn’t imply that I’m advocating that we be related to Nozick‘s expertise machine (the place we expertise continuous bliss) however that we undoubtedly must be disconnected from the numerous ills of our existence. Right here’s to hoping that sometime, in some way, we will create a world through which all aware beings can flourish.