Pain
5 January 2007Y often has a unique take on things. I am not sure she realizes it. I am not sure she realizes she could make a living as a philosopher :)
The other day we were generally discussing things and we drifted from a mention of a pain on my foot to pain in general. At this point she said that she detested physical pain more than anything else and the reason she could never have been a spy, soldier or a revolutionary or be in any situation where she could be tortured, was because she would spill the beans too easily.
Then she said, “People become selfish under pain”.
We usually sympathise with the image of someone under pain, whether physical or otherwise, whether self-inflicted or inflicted by others. We see them as the victimised. We never say they are selfish under pain. Perhaps we do not wish to demonize someones suffering because selfishness is seen universally as a negative trait.
If we give it a thought though, it is evident that all our actions are geared towards avoiding pain and are essentially selfish. Even the most holy of acts are essentially selfish. Of course, this could be a matter of a huge debate or at least a topic of discussion for philosophers at a cafe, but for me I’ve simply added that comment to my list of to-be-pondered-ons.
Like Y said earlier, from the story of an ancient philosopher. “Truth is perspective. There are as many truths as there are perspectives”
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