But there’s a secondary problem with this: suffering can’t be appreciated by definition - in fact a good working definition of suffering is “that which is not appreciated”. So asking people to do that just generates gibberish.
Or grifting.
An example I see on socmedia regularly: some mogul worth 20 to 100 million, or more, lecturing the rest of us on the value of suffering. It’s ridiculous. Does that guy suffer? No.
So I prefer not to encourage this and say honestly, as a near working class person who struggles mightily to save & earn - I don’t appreciate suffering and I especially don’t like to hear it from people materially insulated from suffering. End of story.
You're hyper focused on the instant effects of suffering. Intentional suffering helps prepare us for unexpected things down the road that will be much more difficult, such as deaths in the family, injuries to ourselves, getting fired, etc... Suffering that is out of our control will also make us more resilient
Your assessment of suffering being unappreciable is borderline ludicrous. I can appreciate someone else who works hard. Do they have to earn 20 million to get my appreciation? Absolutely not. I can appreciate my own hard work when I get off my couch and run a few miles. I could have stayed on the couch and taken it easy. Do I have to break my back for a noble cause for it to be suffering? Absolutely not.
If life was just a happy stroll for 100 years straight, that would actually be miserable.
> An example I see on socmedia regularly: some mogul worth 20 to 100 million, or more, lecturing the rest of us on the value of suffering. It’s ridiculous. Does that guy suffer? No.
It's kind of ridiculous to assume that merely having lots of money removes all suffering.
I mean, it sounds to me like someone worth 100 million has quite a lot of attachment, which I am told is the basis of suffering according to some guy under a tree.
Or grifting.
An example I see on socmedia regularly: some mogul worth 20 to 100 million, or more, lecturing the rest of us on the value of suffering. It’s ridiculous. Does that guy suffer? No.
So I prefer not to encourage this and say honestly, as a near working class person who struggles mightily to save & earn - I don’t appreciate suffering and I especially don’t like to hear it from people materially insulated from suffering. End of story.