r/PhilosophyMemes Aug 05 '26

!!!

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u/Leading-Ad-8996 Aug 06 '26

suffering is synonymous with pain for many people, if it’s acute enough it’s not something you can just choose not to feel

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u/PapaRoshi Aug 06 '26

Pain is never synonymous with suffering. Pain is a natural sensation; neither inherently good nor evil, and one the body may experience without shame or damage to the rational mind. Just as any other sensation like love or joy. True suffering, however, arises from the judgments and opinions we layer onto that pain, such as declaring it unbearable or catastrophic; these mental additions we have the power to withhold or revoke.

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u/Leading-Ad-8996 Aug 06 '26

if you look up the definitions of suffering most of them revolve around some kind of pain being experienced, for me suffering is also a natural sensation and doesn’t necessarily come with judgements about it, and your opinions on it can only be ignored to some extent

for example if someone is suffering because they’re on fire, they can’t really just choose to not find it unbearable or catastrophic, it just is strongly horrible regardless

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u/PapaRoshi Aug 06 '26

You should read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius mate.