Suffering: A Difficult Question to Answer.

This week in philosophy we discussed the question of whether we would choose a life with extremely high highs and extremely low lows, or a life without suffering. Most people in class were set on keeping their suffering and experiencing the high highs and the low lows. It made me think about which I would choose. I couldn’t help but think about Buddhism. The main idea of Buddhism is eliminating suffering by following the eightfold path. It also talks about reaching enlightenment through ending suffering. This made me think about what my life would be like with no suffering. This made it even more difficult to make a decision on which option I would choose. There are benefits to having a life with no suffering. If I never suffered, I would be interested in learning more about the world if I was not bogged down by worries and inconveniences. Additionally, no one in class really talked about the magnitude of facing the lowest of lows. Having something happen to you that could be classified as a “lowest of low” could be traumatic and effect how you act for the rest of your life. Most of the problems brought up in class were minor to moderate inconveniences. No one mentioned the effects of lows such as life-threatening illness, losing an immediate family member, being assaulted, or other possibly traumatic experiences. However, this is still a difficult decision to make. You really could emerge out of a traumatic experience as a better person. Additionally, experiencing the highest of highs could be really inspiring and wonderful. It is also hard to choose because I have no experience with living a life with no suffering. There are few people who have ever existed who I believe have completely eliminated suffering. If I had a better idea of what a life like that would be like, I could make an informed decision. However, with much thought, I have decided that I would like to experience a life without suffering. I feel like it would be a very interesting experience. However, I am extremely open-minded to both possibilities. In conclusion, I’m really glad this question was presented to me. It really got me to think about the foundation of how I would live my life.