Posted by cody on March 04, 19101 at 14:42:23:
In Reply to: Re: Why suffering? posted by Colin on August 27, 1999 at 00:55:11:
I see your point.
I have no idea what the ant's reality could be in terms of my human values, so how could I, with all my computers and technology, know what to do to alleviate that creature's apparent pain, say if I observed it in my human values to be in pain or some state of suffering. It might be wrong to interfere in the first place.
But what if I were a human time traveler with the answers to solving humanity's suffering, or a long lost. highly advanced cousin to the human race returning to see a society in darkness.
Would it be ethical to let humanity continue in this struggle, evolving their own solutions, or would it be prudent to end ignorance at once.
If I had the answers to society's ills, I would share that information, regardless of the consequence of interfering with the slower natural evolutionary pattern.
Seeing people in pain moves me to want to come to their aid out of compassion, regardless of interfering with their emotional development. I do understand that through suffering and loss we grow as individuals, but it seems extremely cruel to stand by and watch the flow of tears caused by a lack of technical or psychological understanding.
So as a follow up to my original question, "Why suffering?". I am still wondering if there can be a social order that evolves holistically without the experience of emotional pain. Can we perhaps even accelerate our evolution as a species if all our mental and physical needs were met?
If we did not have to focus all our energies on basic survival, how would this affect us? How would our culture adapt to a utopian state afforded by super advanced technology?
Can there be a non-linear time bump in our evolution?
Or is it only possible to develop our mental software and cognition based on hardware that our culture can produce in it's specific time frame?
I suppose one question always leads to many more. So thanks for the answers.