Class Video: "Why we choose to suffer, with Paul Bloom, PhD"

 Video link: Why we choose to suffer, with Paul Bloom, PhD


My first thought as to why we might choose to suffer is because effort gives us a sense of fulfillment. The video brings up differing forms of suffering--whether severe or minor--like watching scary movies and running marathons. If we're going off of these specific examples, scary movies give us a sense of thrill and powering through the movie will make us feel stronger and braver, while running a marathon takes a lot of energy and effort so we'll feel like we achieved something when we're done. So when we choose to suffer through something that takes a lot of effort and difficulty, we feel more fulfilled in the end.

On the other hand, I think that some people feel like they deserve to suffer. People with depression or some other mental illness might feel hopeless, insecure, or like they're a burden to others. This is why many people with depression will self-harm: they feel like they deserve to suffer (even though they don't) so they inflict that punishment upon themselves. My personal experience with self-harm has been that I felt like I didn't deserve other people's sympathy and so I would hurt myself and force myself to suffer so that I could feel like I was worthy of other people's kindness.

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