I recently realized that we are designed to have suffering* as our default condition, looking from the evolutionary standpoint. Our biological wiring (innate tendencies and impulses) mostly serves evolutionary purposes and isn't conducive to our well-being or contentment in this world, while our reason (rationality – which we have to cultivate) is what is needed for well-being and contentment in this world of conscious living. Life is a constant conflict between Nature and human consciousness/reason. Nature doesn't care whether we are happy or not. Nature just IS, and the evolution is all what it's concerned with. Evolution is Nature's way to take the existence to a next level through survival and refinement of genes, which would only happen when we go through suffering. Suffering is indispensably important for the evolution to be successful.
By acquiring knowledge, developing awareness, and cultivating our reason and consciousness, however, we can overpower our biological wiring and bypass unsettling natural impulses like jealousy, greed, romantic love, sexual desire, other desires and suchlike – each happens to have some evolutionary significance – and thereby reduce the extent of suffering we have to go through otherwise. And that way we can also achieve our most pristine human goal, contentment, which is never there in the Nature's agenda.
But that would mean we will be doomed genetically. Do you care?
*Suffering here only means affective suffering, not physical pain.
By acquiring knowledge, developing awareness, and cultivating our reason and consciousness, however, we can overpower our biological wiring and bypass unsettling natural impulses like jealousy, greed, romantic love, sexual desire, other desires and suchlike – each happens to have some evolutionary significance – and thereby reduce the extent of suffering we have to go through otherwise. And that way we can also achieve our most pristine human goal, contentment, which is never there in the Nature's agenda.
But that would mean we will be doomed genetically. Do you care?
*Suffering here only means affective suffering, not physical pain.
