From: Metaqualia (metaqualia@mynichi.com)
Date: Wed Jan 07 2004 - 10:19:24 MST
> I just wonder, for instance, how much of the joy of discovery would be
left
> if one removed the frustration of seeking the answer a while and not
finding
> it ;) ... Perhaps this is just a high-falutin' example of "hitting your
head
> on the wall so it feels so good when you stop?" -- or is it something
more?
When you look for something and can't find it and get irritated, and then
find it and are happy to have found it, here pain and pleasure are in
temporal sequence but it is not pain causing pleasure; it is the way the
brain is set up, to give you reward when a painful activity gives good
results; otherwise we'd stop doing painful stuff that gives good results and
that would be the end. Of course it can't abolish the pain of doing painful
stuff either because then we'd never look for better ways. It does exactly
what it needs to do, create the pain/pleasure balance and activation
sequence that best fits the interests of the dna i carry.
So, the mechanism creating that final feeling of satisfaction is independent
from the temporal sequence in which the brain chooses to activate it, I
believe. Imagine feeling happy every time you found something you never
misplaced. Every day would be a happy day :)
> And are there some kinds of insights into the universe that can only be
> achieved by going through and transcending a period of existential angst?
Good question; in the human world, indeed. But what I am suggesting is to go
beyond it and make so that this is not the case anymore, so the question is
would a world like this be worth living according to today's standards? If
so, there can hypothetically be a massive effort to reach that goal. If not,
then it is still possible that little by little we can get there, as the way
people think and feel about life changes, in a world that is made
increasingly comfortable and painless by technology.
mq
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