[Winter wind]

Quote by: freefallife That's fine. People do indeed have differing pain thresholds. Are you trying to maintain that this old miner HAD to feel that much pain in order to apprecieate pleasure. No. He would only had to be injured once to experience the difference. So, some suffer more than others and some can handle more suffering than others. What your tale fails to address is WHY suffer at all? Even in variying degrees? Your miner doesn't help justify evil.

As simple as possible.

I'm a fairly well of child. So when I go to...let's say...inner Mongolia for a few days, the standard of living is much less then what I'm used to. So when I come back, the shower is five times nicer, the food five times tastier, and the beds five times softer.

However, let's imagine I take one of the families from inner Mongolia back with me. To someone who has experienced luxury in a much lesser quantity then I, the atmosphere is much nicer. To someone who has rarely had a warm shower, the concept is much nicer then my simple return to luxury.

There is a difference between someone who has experienced pain once and someone who has experienced pain more often and that appreciation of pleasure. It takes more then once.

Quote by: freefallife So, what have I done to deseve a better life than this helpless child? Even better, what had this child done to deserve such lifetime suffering? I get the fact that we all suffer differing amount. Fine. Now justify the suffering of those that suffer more.

This is a seperate point, unrelated to the point you responded to, but valid and relevant none the less.

The reason we suffer in different quantities is that we are all different. When faced with a choice of making everything the same and making everything different, but unequal, I go for different.

Just because it is more interesting when people are different. However, this unfortunately means that some people are going to have a different amounts of suffering in life and a different amount of suffering they start out with. The cost of having a great verity in life is that life ends up being unfair.

Now the question is can you make people different, yet make their suffering and pleasure equal.

I think otherwise, because there is more kinds of pain and pleasure then one. To make all levels of pain and pleasure the same would probably make us far too similar.

But, maybe not, so if you could post a metaphor, it would help me think and put this into context.

Quote by: freefallife I appreciate what your are trying to say, but again, it doesn't justify why it has to happen in at all.

Because, again, without pain, pleasure is undefined, or the most extreme pain will simply be redefined as the absents of pleasure.

Quote by: freefallife No, he just doesn't party. He didn't have to give anything up at all. He has done me no evil, and therefore is relatively good. Im sorry, but you are going to have to support why I can't just live my life quietly and not be considered good. If you are not evil, then you are good. Simple as that.

If someone is getting beat up in the street and you see this, yet do nothing, is that good?
Is that the best you can be?

The neighbor is "good" by your standards, but in my standard he is average, because he neither helps nor hinders anyone. Good is having a positive effect on your surroundings.