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At first glance, you might think that my question is an Irrational question. But think about it because>> Even some lottery-winners have been known to commit suicide. And also even good-looking people have been known to commit suicide. And even some Millionaires have been known to commit suicide. So doesn't it all even out in the long run?
I remember that question was once asked of Marilyn vos Savant who you might know has a genius IQ. She gave an answer but I cannot recall what it was. I've been trying to find that answer online but cannot. So if someone can find it, I would appreciate. Also what do you all think of the point made?
What do you mean by "suffering"? It means very different things to different people. On top of that, the degree to which each person ranks their personal degree of unhappiness (from mildly inconvenienced all the way up to torture) will influence what they admit to. To someone who does not value money very highly losing a fortune may not register as suffering. To someone who lives for money the same event might be worthy of suicide. Many people won't admit they are suffering. Others scream and wail at the drop of a hat over the smallest things.
At first glance, you might think that my question is an Irrational question. But think about it because>> Even some lottery-winners have been known to commit suicide. And also even good-looking people have been known to commit suicide. And even some Millionaires have been known to commit suicide. So doesn't it all even out in the long run?
I remember that question was once asked of Marilyn vos Savant who you might know has a genius IQ. She gave an answer but I cannot recall what it was. I've been trying to find that answer online but cannot. So if someone can find it, I would appreciate. Also what do you all think of the point made?
No they dont.
Pain enters every life. How a person chooses to deal with it defines how much they will suffer.
You break a finger but choose Not to seek medical care, your choice increases your suffering.
The rich or priveledged can experience suffering or suicide if they fall prey to an overreliance on the purely material.
Those with a firm grounding in spiritual principles are safest. Whatever a person values most , above all else in their life...
That is their God.
Maybe people are psychologically hard-wired to be capable of emotions within certain extremes. If our mundane experiences don't move the emotional needle much, some may "amplify" experiences that do trend towards extreme elation or extreme sadness in order to experience that emotional limit. Engaging in certain behaviors can serve a similar function - drug use, I'd say less so as the "emotions" will not be felt in as genuine a way.
Buddhism says every human (except a few enlightened ones) suffers because of grasping (holding onto what it is pleasant) or aversion (not being okay with the unpleasant). It's when we are okay with what is, including who we are, that suffering lessens/stops. So to that extent, everyone IS suffering, but in different ways and possibly not equally (can't really be quantified).
Many people lead charmed lives. One would never know that, reading posts on City-Data where when it is mentioned that many people have a wonderful life it is immediately challenged with insistence that the wonderful lives of others are facades behind which lies deceit and multiple problems, some or many on the level of severity which are kept secret.
I don't think everyone suffers equality. Some people suffer to a much greater degree than others.
Everyone does have some pain, at times, though. Although a great number of people do have a charmed and wonderful life.
Nobody escapes it, but some people have a ton more suffering in their lives than others. I think there is an argument to be made that suffering can enhance other aspects of your life in some regards - the lessons you rake from it, the way it puts your other complaints into perspective, the way it makes the good times that much more precious. I know people who have just been repeatedly knocked down by life though, and I can't see the benefit of that. For some people life can just be one disaster after another through circumstances beyond their control, but then there's people who just make repeatedly bad choices.
I lost a best friend and her mother six months apart 20 years ago - that just blew up my world, and it still hurts. But I cherish my other friends and loved ones that much more because I understand the horror of losing someone you love and how you have to really let people know they are important to you. I was 40 before I realized how toxic my relationship with my mother was, leading me to cut her out of my life. Our relationship caused me all kinds of grief and torment - the benefit of it was that as an adult I've worked really hard to fill my life with good, supportive people to compensate for that lack in what should have been the primary relationship in my early life.
But for the best friend who died, I can say that her lifelong illness did not enhance her life or come with much of a bright side. That was just really unmitigated suffering - endless health problems, endless disruption of any plans she made, an endless sword of Damocles hanging over her head from the time she was born. I can't find the upside to her suffering.
People don't suffer equally. Not by a longshot.
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