Evil and the Addiction to Pain (Part 1)

Common sense tells us that people naturally seek pleasure and avoid pain, but common sense is wrong. Pain is rarely a deterrent from destructive behavior. Sometimes the greater the pain, the more fiercely someone will cling to it. We see this on many fronts, from domestic abuse (when battered spouses repeatedly return to their abuser) to the Iraq conflict (where militias seem willing to slaughter each other until no one is left standing). Our addiction to pain is one of the toughest problems to solve in human psychology.

The ingredients of the addiction are rooted in consciousness, the twists and turns of hidden motivations and beliefs. Masochism -- needing pain in order to feel pleasure -- is rarely a prime factor, in my experience. Rather, there's a stickiness to pain that overrides the physical and mental discomfort that pain obviously causes. By stickiness I mean the following:

Habit -- I'm used to my pain; it's too hard to change.
Victimization -- I'd like to be out of pain, but I'm too weak. Somebody stronger is responsible.
Revenge -- If I make you hurt more than I do, it's worth it
Numbness -- I don't feel anything, so I must not be hurting.
Religion - God wants me to feel this pain -- and you, too.
Ideology -- My pain is worthwhile because it serves a higher purpose
Shame -- I'd rather hurt than have others find out who the real me is.
Guilt -- Punishment is the redress to my past wrongs.

Since all of us contain, to one degree or other, all these factors in our hidden -- or not so hidden -- makeup, we have no cause to point fingers. The Iraqi civil war seems totally perverse because both sides would benefit from peace more than they benefit from mutual destruction. Yet the same applied in the American Civil War and WW I. War isn't so much insane as addictive. During the Cold War the prevailing idea was that the U.S. and the Soviet Union needed to build huge arsenals of atomic weapons until the point of "mutually assured destruction" was reached. Yet instead of insuring peace, mutually assured destruction is exactly what spurs the pain-addicted on. Relationships end in catastrophe, environments are destroyed, genocides occur, dictators run amok -- in all these cases our rational side tells us that nobody can win, yet that doesn't prove to be a deterrent.

Click: www.intentblog.com

www.deepakchopra.com

Comments

[MindandMatter]

Dear Dr. Chopra,

Recently, on your blog "The Dalai Lama" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deepak-chopra/the-dalai-lama_b_99721.html you told us that the most inspiring thing he ever told you was to ignore all organized faiths and keep to the road of higher consciousness. He said, "Without relying on religion, we look to common sense, common experience and the findings of science for understanding."

One of the regulars on intentblog posted the following comment, which was promptly removed and the poster banned. Are you aware of how intolerant intentblog has become?

Here is the removed comment:
"In the name of fairness, freedom of speech and the desire to have an honest discussion about subjects like science, would you please consider not removing this post?

CKNW is the most listen to radio station in British Columbia and a guy, who many consider the world"s most prominent evolutionary biologist, had a question and answer session with Bill Good as the monitor.

Please permit those who are interested in this subject to listen to the discussion. Thank you for your tolerance and for Intentblog."

http://www.richarddawkins.net/article,2520,Bill-Good-Interviews-Richard-Dawkins,CKNW-Vancouver-Richard-Dawkins

You see Deepak, when you tell the world that your critics are your friends too, when you invite them to New York to see a RCB (Remote Cutlery Bending) demonstration, but never tell your cheering fans what actually happened, you lose credibility.

[nyboomer]

The notion that vengence is the duty of human progeny belies the biblical injuction, "Vengenance is mine sayeth the lord." How can you believe in a diety yet ignore its injuctions.

Nursing a desire to cause pain to others, a desire that seems to endure centuries and millenia, is a human frailty paid forward as a debt to be repaid by no one involved in its origin. It is pain felt by some but inherited by their progeny like some genetic disease. (Your great grandfather insulted my great grandmother so you must die for it?)

Somehow we must change the culture & break the cycle of nursing grievances by educational means.

[marko77]

Is is true that people are addicted topain? It seems that people always seek pleasure, but when that pursuit is rooted in ignorance, stupidity, and at the expense of others the result is pain. Such is the natural karmic reaction. Did not Buddha, Krishna, Jesus all state this? Yes and it's right there to experience.

[StealthisBlog]

All suffering comes from attachment and desire. When we free ourselves from these then we can transcend to the selflessness necessary for true enlightenment. Namaste.

[sharonh]

War is a greed-driven, power-driven machine, not a habit or addiction.

[sharonh]

War is driven by greed and lust for power, it is not an addiction, it is not a habit, and it can be undone.

[janvoght]

i agree that war is an addiction, such as the addiction to oil, and the addiction to the listed concepts, we all have the potential for them all. to what degree we wish to engage in these willingly or passively, depends on many factors, probably too many to clearly understand each and every person's motivation to stay in self destruct mode. my prayers are for peace, harmony, and happiness to all, so as to experience all the potential joy....
obama'08

[MagisterLudi]

Janvoght,
I would also add there's addiction to being told what to do and how to think by a leader with an attractive, yet meaningless message and nice suits. There's an addiction to easy solutions rather than personal introspection. Most of political troubles come from people willing to give up their personal freedom to think to someone with a seductive message of hope and change, when neither is likely to be forthcoming. Think on your own. Rely ion your own powers to solve your problems. Don't worry about the world so much, the world is not about to change that much.

[Gma11]

You insult my intelligence. My desires are the same as janvoght's. If you personally knew the people on this blog you would not write so dismissively of those of us who support Barack Obama. If you personally knew what the lives of such individuals were, what we have suffered, hoped, endured, etc. you would writhe in shame (I would hope). My husband and I have spent 25 years working in some of the most difficult and dangerous locations in South and Central America. Don't you dare address us as imbeciles!! Don't you dare . . .