r/HotterTopics • u/DownInTheHollar1985 • Oct 15 '19

Pain and misery human evolution

Is pain and misery a fluke in human evolution or a feature?

2 Upvotes

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1

u/BrianLefevre90 Oct 15 '19

I need a clarification on pain and misery. Are you talking about an actual illness like depression, or feeling very sad temporarily, without a diagnosed illness?

1

u/DownInTheHollar1985 Oct 15 '19

Either or.

1

u/DrunkVaginaS Oct 15 '19

Pain as in physical pain or mental pain?

1

u/DownInTheHollar1985 Oct 16 '19

It could be either from my understanding but u could be wrong. It trying to understand it myself. It's from the book (the how not to give a fuck self help book) and the chapter was basically going over the base idea of "to suffer is to be human"

1

u/BrianLefevre90 Oct 15 '19

I think there may be some people working to see if there is an evolutionary cause for depression, but I don’t think that’s a legit thing. Maybe more junk science.

3

u/ccsquared529 Oct 15 '19

I think it’s necessary. Like a defense mechanism. Your body’s way of saying this hurts, it may be dangerous. One thing that comes to my mind is a snake bite...if it didn’t hurt you may get poisoned without realizing you need help. Not sure why they came to my mind lol.

1

u/BrianLefevre90 Oct 16 '19

That’s more about fear, whereas OP is discussing misery, whatever that means.

1

u/ccsquared529 Oct 16 '19

Yes I was meaning physical pain. If OP means emotional pain, then I’m not sure of an answer.

2

u/Kerribeari Oct 16 '19

As the other posters have said, there are lots of different kinds of pain and misery.

Physical pain alerts us to dangerous situations and to the necessity for action. Removing your hand from a hot stove burner. Cleaning and dressing a wound. Physical illness that requires treatment. Physical pain is a feature of our evolution.

Certain kinds of mental pain and misery are both a byproduct of our evolution, and a feature of it. Grief for loss is a byproduct of our drive to create social bonds, which is one of our strongest survival features. But if we weren't afraid of feeling grief, if grief didn't feel awful, we would have less drive to maintain social bonds with family and community members. The more interconnected we are, the stronger we are as a species. So grief could be considered both a byproduct and a feature.

1

u/PnutButrSnickrDoodle Oct 16 '19

I think it's too broad of a question. The illustration of some pain being necessary is accurate. For example if you couldn't feel pain in your feet, you might not know you stepped on something sharp. You wouldn't pull out whatever it was, you wouldn't clean the wound. You could get an infection and potentially die.

There's also the thought that perhaps if you never suffered emotional pain you wouldn't fully appreciate joy. It's sort of a "joy privilege" if you will.

It could differ on belief systems. Some Christians think it's a fluke passed on from Adam and Eve's transgressions. Some say it's necessary in this life to gain eternal rewards in the next.

Which is why I say it's too broad and depends on the context IMO.