I saw this idea in “The Matrix”.Agent Smith tells Morpheus that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect world. For some reason the program was not accepted. Some people said it was because no one had the capacity to think of a perfect world. Agent Smith proposes something I thought was very interesting. He says the reason was because humans use depression and sorrow to identify our surroundings.
So if the world was perfect then would we think? Would philosophy exist?If we don’t have problems then what’s the point of brooding on anything? If it was all perfect then would we even be capable of independent thoughts? After all it is our experiences that lead us to think in our own unique way. Thoughts???
I think that the drive for better conditions is part of human nature, and without something to be improved we would become directionless and confused. However, the world could not possibly be perfect for everyone, so that’s beside the point.
I have to agree. No world can be perfect. In fact, I don’t even know if any world can be ‘better’ from the perspective of people in that world. If we lived in a world without the top 100 most evil things in this world, we’d just feel the same degree of misery about lesser things, I think.
This is a topic that has led to hours of thought by myself, and is in fact addressed by Schopenhaur in my signature. I believe firmly that a perfect world is not only possible, but a perfect world would actually be hell. I believe firmly in the saying “Better suffering than smiling.” In actuality, all positive progress has come from unhappiness and imperfection. In seeing that things are not as man would like them to be, man has struggled to move forward and create a better situation for himself. This is why a world cannot be perfect. A world could not be created perfectly because whatever created it would have to wait for the dominant beings to theorize on perfection based on their individual experiences. However, as each one would have different experiences, each idea of perfection would be different, therefore, no single perfect world could be created. It is up to each man to do all he can to better his existence. And this is why a perfect world would be hell. In our imperfect world each and every person is free to better their existence in their own eyes and based on no beliefs or views than their own. In a perfect world the idea of perfection would be forced on all and now freedom of thought would be allowed. Perfection lies not in a herd mentality, but in each man’s formulating of his own idea of perfection or betterness, and moving himself towards it.
I agree with most of the ideas presented here. I see suffering as a defence mechanism, if we put our hand into the fire it causes pain, this pain is letting us know that we are being damaged. I see it the same way with suffering. We hurt because we are in danger of something, something that could be threatening our life. Suffering is the acknowledgement of a very real presence of danger. Better to have a small pain and live then no pain and die.
I also believe that it’s this pain that, almost forces us to grow. If it didn’t hurt we could be lazy and not bother trying to improve ourselves. Because of suffering I’ve had to grow in many ways, philosophy has help me to view all the sides in an argument and allowed me to see how I fit into the equation, understanding why I’m in that position is a sort of comfort. It then allows be to be prepared for the next time so I’ll be able to get a more advantageous position. It’s the same for everybody.
Through understanding I’ve transcended suffering. Because now I know it’s only there to protect me, even from myself. So, when I suffer I must always look to the source of the suffering to see how I can remove that danger, which I know must be threatening me in some way.
I like to say that the world is imperfectly perfect. Does that sound right?
Maybe a more fundamental question is, would humans even exist apart from suffering?
That sounds right, Pax. Suffering is an essential tool of evolution. Could life really have evolved without a painful selection process? Suppose life somehow could have arisen without natural selection and aggression (and therefore suffering). The biological world would look so different it’s almost not worth speculating on.
So yeah we define ourselves through suffering. It’s how we got here–through violence and natural disasters and a trillion genetic missteps. Of course we also define ourselves through more positive elements like our relationships and accomplishments. But suffering is present in every aspect of life, so it must factor into our self-concept at every level. It’s probably impossible to imagine life without it.