Pursue Pain, Not Pleasure - Why Comfort is Crippling You 

Maybe AOI should get out of the computer chair, away from the cushy online social media "job", and bust theirasss working all day like the rest of us do? Get out of the subjective bubble and experience real objective reality. experience the real world, the world that 99% percent of people don't have the luxury of ignoring or being naive of.

The Comfort Crisis: Pursue Pain, Not Pleasure In this thought-provoking video, the Academy of Ideas delves into the intriguing relationship between pleasure, pain, and comfort. The central thesis is that our modern lives, filled with comforts and pleasures, may actually be contributing to our mental and physical malaise. Let’s explore some key points from the video: 1. Luxury and Pain: The video begins by quoting the Greek orator and philosopher Dio Chrysostom, who observed that luxury can make pains seem even harder and weaken one’s pleasures. In other words, excessive comfort can dull our ability to endure pain and diminish our capacity to experience pleasure. This paradoxical relationship challenges our assumptions about what truly contributes to well-being. 2. Modern Comforts: The modern West offers unparalleled comforts and pleasures. We have access to technology, processed foods, entertainment, and distractions that kings of old could not have imagined. However, despite this abundance, many people suffer from chronic stress, anxiety, depression, and physical ailments. The question arises: Why are we struggling despite our comfort? 3. Hunter-Gatherer Ancestors: To understand the contrast, the video invites us to consider the lives of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. They faced physical challenges daily-walking miles to find water, foraging for food, and engaging in persistence hunting. Their livelihood required constant physical activity, making them essentially professional athletes. They didn’t “work out” because their daily lives were already intense exercise. 4. Mental Stress and Nature: Beyond physical exertion, our ancestors endured mental stress without the crutches of technology or distractions. They faced the elements-rain, sun, wind-without the comforts of modern housing. Sickness and infections were part of their reality, and they coped without the aid of modern medicine. Their resilience came from facing discomfort head-on. 5. The Comfort Crisis: Michael Easter’s book, “The Comfort Crisis,” highlights our lack of physical struggles in today’s world. We no longer work hard for our food, move heavy objects daily, or experience deep hunger. Instead, we numb ourselves with comfort food, smartphones, and sedentary lifestyles. The side effects of comfort include long-term physical and mental health problems. 6. Pleasure and Pain: The video emphasizes that pleasure and pain are intertwined. Pursuing only pleasure without experiencing discomfort weakens our ability to appreciate joy. It’s akin to a muscle that atrophies when not used. By seeking out challenges and embracing discomfort, we can build resilience and a deeper appreciation for life’s pleasures. In summary, “Pursue Pain, Not Pleasure” encourages us to reevaluate our relationship with comfort. Perhaps true fulfillment lies not in avoiding pain but in embracing it as a necessary counterpart to pleasure. As we navigate our modern lives, we should consider how our comforts may be subtly crippling us. Dio Chrysostom’s ancient wisdom still resonates today: balance between pleasure and pain is essential for a richer, more meaningful existence.

Embracing comfort leads to pain, and embracing pain leads to happiness.

@@egrytznr8893 absolute midwit take

@@Afflictamine sorry, I was being insensitive to the supposed 27% of people mentioned in the video who don't do any physical activity whatsoever based on the kind of job they work, and assuming the channel creators were in that group. my bad

Hence our current situation. Nicely said!!!

we don't have governments they are corporations masquerading as government

@@flowerpower8722 They might in the present/future, soft totalitarianism/Brave New World.

@@flowerpower8722 societies run by tyrannical governments do not have the capability to fight back hence they do not have comfort. this is not the case with the west. As such, they are addicted to comfort and thus too weak to fight off a tyrannical government even when they have the means to.

Tyrannical government... thats antisemetic

Yep, enjoying a cold beer after a long hard day work is so rewarding instead of just beige drinking.

Truth !

The PRICE you PAY for TRUE FREEDOM is RESPONSIBILITY.

@@hectorg362 Beige, what beer are you supping?

@@hectorg362gross . All alcohol is poison and a substance addiction

If you know the outcome you want, but aren’t willing to sacrifice for it, you’ve failed yourself

Quality gear makes it faster tho.

Working out is not real pain. Muscle soreness is not pain.

@@brandonmusick77 Weak people look for fastest ways to comfort.

@@brandonmusick77 weakness.

Fair play to you buddy. I too am 38 and in my 30’s I have adopted the attitude of, “If I eat, sleep and exercise really, really well, while embracing all the little pains and pleasures life throws at me, then I will be at peace with any outcome, even if it means a lack of success in the eyes of others.” Good luck to you in future 👍

Try this: Wormwood tea, 200ml in the morning- and before bed. Kernel seeds, not more than 4 a day. Carrots juice. 3 glasses a day. 1 hour of running, in the morning. 1 at lunchtime, 1 before bed. I fight liver cancer, prostate and colon at the same time. Eat only organic, cut sugar and carbs and any processed foods. Avoid chemo, as it kills your immune system to fight the disease. You will heal in the Lord Jesus' Name. We will prevail. God Bless!

Google Thomas Seyfried

I hope you're doing well man

@marlonscloud thanks, I appreciate it. On Chemo now which comes with its challenges but nothing that's strong enough to keep me down. So ya im doing really well. Thanks!

Yes, basically.

Discipline is painful. Controlling desires and imposing restraint is painful. But it's a pain that leads to meaning and growth!

He means pain in the broadest sense, i.e. the pain of restraint and discipline.

@@Gabriel-fj7hm Exactly.

Not literal or actual pain of the flesh. Discomfort. Struggle. Doing things that are hard. Kids with helicopter parents never learn to adapt and become crippled by hard or difficult circumstances. Fear becomes the norm.

You probably get this video. You’ve probably been out in the cold weather for 12 hours and then get in your car to come home and appreciate the car heat. You get home and take a shower and ponder the miracle of hot water from the shower head. I’m amazed at how few people commenting here have any concept of discomfort.

Former Texas Roofer....much respect

​@@Maryland_Kulak12 hurs in the cold esp with wind i couldnt stand heated rooms from the wind burn room temp was comfortable enough

Underpaid? Yeh good one. You live in China or something?

I compare the men across the street that work from dawn to dusk in all weather building a hotel.. to my two male roommates that think they are hard done by when they have to work for 6 hours driving around in a truck spraying trees. real men versus boys in man bodies.

Congratulations. May your story be a source of inspiration to all those around you

How long did it take you? How many hours per day? How did you balance other responsibilities?

Congrats Bro!

Nice👍

Congratulations 🎉🍾🎊🎈

Just checked your channel garageman brutal training keep it up grandpa 🔥

I pulled a muscle in my arse doing squats. Periformis muscle hitting off my sciatic nerve. Not fun. Squats are no joke. lol.

Absolutely proving it on your channel garageman Subbed💪

Love it brother..

I'm sure the 💉 helped. I can see the gyno in your pfp

Hang on, isn't the goal to make things easier for us and the next generations, otherwise what are doing this for? Comfort for millions of people, better than kings and queens of a hundred years ago should be applauded yet here we are saying comfort can't be a goal. The problem is the lack of appreciation of comfort and it only being a fairly new thing for the masses one could see how it might be taken too far but it's not comfort that is crippling me.

hard times create strong people strong people create easy times easy times create weak people weak people create hard times

LMAO, maybe *YOU* do! 🤣

@@antonyjh1234 Your opening sentence is Ridiculous.

@@antonyjh1234 You're right.

We should all be striving for greatness?

@@beingsshepherd Yes 100%

There is no greatness, that's only perception.

What are you great at?

Water is wet lol. Innovation and change come from the fringe being on the outside. Comfort only keeps up the status-quo. And those who like the status quo are bias towards that very environment, so yes. You are correct.

Wise Words - I think.

This is also true for our pets. I cook whole foods for my dogs and they require less, have lost weight, become more bright and active...and produce 50% less waste. White meat chicken, bone broth, canned pumpkin mixed with a very generous portion of cruciferous vegetables (broccoli or Brussels sprouts.) Manuka honey, and supplements for joints and collagen. Also a supplement for gut health which contains pre and probiotics. This diet cured chronic bladder infection in a 15 year old dog...no more blood in his urine.

When you ate one meal a day, what time did you eat it? Sounds really appealing to me.

@@peteschaub7561 As late as possible but usually between 4 and 8 pm because I find sleeping much easier when tummy not empty. Ate mostly healthy and as much as I wanted. Its called intermittent fasting.

@@jedics1 It's called being "an old age pensioner !"🤫

IMHO you are far better off keep up the good work.

❤

Why do you feel the need to share it and to be accepted? Just live your life and mind your business. People can choose for themselves how to live, even if it is in ignorance. None of us know enough to give anyone advice.

This. I been saying a lot of stuff that pertain to reality and yet get ridiculed. But i stay strong and i dont let what others say get to me. You right on the path. Stay the course.

Too many choices and distractions can lead people to feel overwhelmed, indecisive, and unable to focus on what truly matters to them. Resulting in the many problems we face in society.

Have you ever stubbed your toe before? What kind of rebellion is that?

@achinthmurali5207 After stubbing, have you tried to walk again? That kind of pain...

Explain?

We have comfort for millions of people, better than kings and queens of a hundred years ago yet here we are saying comfort can't be a goal and it's a submission? I'll submit to comfort over pain if you got comfort going, isn't that why I have suffered so much pain, to be comfortable and pain free?

stubbing your toe should teach you to look where you are going not being a blind zombie with your face transfixed and mesmerised by your black scrying window

Pain is inevitable and suffering is optional. Hurt is inevitable and misery is optional.

Sounds like what your mother said last night during rawdogging

@@gasmith7486 its not optional when youre depressed

I love this sentiment

i believe in medications. Your opinion is on the opposite end of the spectrum but equally harmful. Your ability to cope with pain isnt the case with everyone. You shouldn't need to be in constant pain 24/7 when medications exist to ease the suffering.

there are tradeoffs. Medications are good, when necessary. But antidepressants are a scam at best, a conspiracy to stunt the mental development of society at worse. Its created a nation of weenie babies

@@cruisingscenesandtakingbea4197 I've experienced serious physical pain and agree. Aside from knowing that suffering is real, which takes only one or two lessons, I see no benefit from it.

You shouldn't medicate your pain you should seek to understand it. Argue for occasional pain relief from extreme injuries but let people decide for themselves how much pain of their OWN they can or want to endure. People stop people from experiencing themselves way too much. And medications will never ever cure or heal. Numbing out is the problem ​@@cruisingscenesandtakingbea4197

​@@sanniepstein4835if suffering only requires one or two lessons and the lesson is learned then the suffering should be eased. If it isn't, medicating it out doesn't fix the unlearned lesson...

Like #69 lol

😊😊😊😊​@@Alexander_KB

In my experience, the one who take advantage of others or know how to game the system are the ones who succeeded and make it

@achinthmurali5207 that's appearing that way to you for a reason. I don't see truth, values, etc. in those people, it speaks to their truth within they fear... not the appearance they want others to have.

​@@achinthmurali5207those kinds of people tend to fall at some point. They'll realize their ineptitude through their fraudulent ways and demise will soon follow.

@@MikeyfromBOS Whatever you got to tell yourself

@@Earl_E_Burd that's true for everyone

Don’t be the skip let day guy. They always look odd

@@johngoldsworthy7135 my legs are to big so i skip them, is that okay?

"God created Leg Day to test the faithful"

Just did them myself

I thought skipping is good for the legs

Who are you to judge who deserves what? We live in the times we are born into, just like everyone else throughout history.

Yes, but not all times were Decadent - like the present Times.

well you could also say that our current abundance of pleasurable things & leisurely days is not a Net Benefit as we have more depression and silly sicknesses than our fore fathers. A curse disguised as a gift.

I agree ☝️

They perpetuate unnecessary chaos. Nature's design

😂

You should’ve picked better

My husband and I are growing to be old 'pains' to each other. And, we wouldn't have it any other way. I'll love my 'Pain' forever. ❤

Lol😂

That's me after coming back home from a warehouse shift 🙃 But after 5+ years, at least I don't get sick from cold anymore. I used to be sick every single year before I started that job.

Darkest is just before dawn

My 6yr old daughter wanted to swim in our pool at 61 degrees and it was 68 outside and breezy. I said sure! Towels never felt so warm after…

@@factsoveremotions6035 68 is crazy hot. Where do you live? On Mercury?

No.

@@vooteimer1234 yes

Yin and Yang. How would we appreciate summer without winter?

Lateralus, yin yang is a bastardization of the concept of two. The principle of two.

What a midwit comment. “Balance is the key!”. Can’t go wrong there, can you, bud?

I'd love to eat clean, but that's expensive.

Yes, animal based plus exercise. This is the way

The zone of proximal development

Over temper steel it will shatter

Until when? I understand achieving goals to get you somewhere but what then? Imagine you had all the money in the world, what then? Learning to appreciate what you have and what it took for you to receive what you have can also be seen as development

True. Hardships either shape personality in a good or bad way. Development in either direction depending on the individual.

And also the more jaded and lame you become, when you forget how to enjoy life. Our existence is not about milestones and climbing ladders. The purpose of life is to be happy. If you’re not happy, you’re not winning.

Really? His tone always sounds to me like a Canadian teen, sneering at the perversity of all that makes no sense to him.

im most comfortable on a hike. Thats the thing. Being comfortable with limited uncomfortable stimuli. A hike might be a burden on the body, but its rly just that. THe pain (unlike other body pain) is not even that hard to see as exiting and such. Of course don't over do it. To the defense of the newer generation i must say that i hated hiking too in my younger years. Im from the 00s. Only after turning 22ish i found pleasure in hiking.

What a great story/metaphor - all these people will be consumed by Fire, one of these days...

@@Rithmy In my experience physical pains are much easier than mental ones too. It is much easier to do intense exercise for an hour than it is meditate for an hour.

@@hapybratt8640 Exercise pain is not what i mean. Exercise also pumps you up with many hormones that let you keep going, its basically a rewards system. Also meditation is not painfull at all. IIt has no inherent pain in it. Buddhist divide between unavoidable pain and avoidable pain. I would consider this fully avoidable. Plus Both cases are limited in time. It becomes muchmore problematic if its chronic pain. Chronic tooth pain is something that most people go mad about about if a certain intensity is reached. Remember how hard it is to eat and laught if that evne further intensifies a chronic pain. Mental pain that is existantial can be destroying too. severe loneliness, having no possibilities in life, feeling like a slave, feeling empty....

​@@Rithmy I would say meditation is a form of pain because certain types go against what your brain wants to do. You try to focus on one subject for as long as possible but it doesn't want to do that so it comes up with ways to trick you out of it. It is in pain so it tries to avoid it and a couple seconds later it gets put right back into the frying pan. If it wasn't in pain then why do so many people avoid trying to focus on one subject? Also, exercise can be very painful and requires a lot of mental strength to keep going sometimes, especially running and cycling for long periods. It is more than just endorphins telling you to keep going. Focusing meditation is way harder than just cycling though because your mind doesn't have to be focused on the cycling but it does have to be focused on the focusing which is what's causing the pain. The reason Buddhists separate avoidable and unavoidable is because you cant do something about unavoidable pain so you might as well not think about it. They're both still pain though, there is nothing inherently different from chronic back pain and a needle in your arm just because one is temporary and avoidable. This got this way off topic though and I'm pretty sure you agree with me on what I'm trying to say anyway.

The best is yet to come. You will never regret the decision to live clean.

@@bshilala❤❤❤

But you've not the insight to see through the cynicism of imperial Washington.

Congratulations!🎉 You are better off than 95% of us right now. Keep challenging yourself and keep your mental and physical edge. God bless!

@@beingsshepherdhave a cry

​​@@beingsshepherd Finding a balance between pleasure and pain through self discipline will not inherently lead a person to see through a political regime that has gradually controlled all the levers of information including the mass media. Fortunately, with the advent of the Internet there has been a tidal wave of content creators through which one can access information about the political regime. One valuable source are commentators on international relations such as John Mearsheimer from the University of Chicago and Larry C. Johnson. One can learn a lot from how other countries view the U.S.

@@RandallvanOosten-ln5wf Preaching to the converted. Surely that comment's better directed at the op.

The more comfort the more pain, wasnt that what the video was about ? lolz.... jesus christ .Pain is NOT the "great motivator" those who've made it and stayed there have much validation. Where is the pain in validation.

Which slave driver said that?

@@gapho5198 hahaha fuck

Try growing up as a child in a house filled with violence, neglect and sexual abuse.

@@brianpan6453 if that was you, so sorry to hear that. I hope that painful experience would motivate you to get out of that situation if possible or motivate you to be a better parent to your own children or motivate you to help others in the same situation

Yep I've done both...chronic unending pain can break the strongest spirit

There are things you have learned to appreciate that most others still take for granted:

Yep, and those who think pain is good and life should be lived for struggle are the ones who would deny you of affordable healthcare, thus perpetuating their grim world of misery. If hard work is the default state of life then why do we invent and use tools to make things easier on ourselves? This "pain is good, comfort bad" BS is just that.

you should do some deadlifts

@@strahljd I definitely don't need anything to be more difficult in life. It's already stupid enough. I'm looking for ease

@@DovydasGlb haha that sounds smart. It's difficult to just put pants on. Besides, I've done enough dead lifts in my years of body building and steroids. I'm good

safe spaces, safe words.

I actually describe this and similar phenomena as tantamount to a collective Thanatos drive. A slow dehumanization further dissociating/alienating us from our nature. A process that can only result in a collapse of life as we know it as people rely more and more on authority.

Yup. We are causing detriment to our kids by shielding them from any kind of discomfort/stress

Participation trophy everybody wins lol..why then do they still keep score..scoring implies winning but somehow that is cruel to those who chose not to come to practice

Yes please. My brother looks like the thumbnail exactly because my parents enabled him

Um, not all worldly pleasures are also escapist in nature. Exercise is worldly and pleasurable, but I wouldn't call it escapist. What exactly do you mean when you say "worldly", here?

Ah, synchronicities

And discomfort is painful, you’ve become so soft the word pain upsets you

@@jenbodhi1133 pain - physical suffering or discomfort caused by illness or injury. Again, it's the wrong word choice. I would call you soft, for feeling the need to reply.

@@jesusguerrero8786 there are things called psychological and emotional pain. I’m sorry you’re so weak you got triggered by this conversation. Typical weak western man

@@jenbodhi1133 Sounds like you allow internet ‘gurus’ to do all the thinking for you. You’re upset because of a disagreement of how a word is used.

Despite myself, I was thinking of Pinhead all through the video.

you opened the box. we came.

You haven't see Kapil Gupta. The ultimate.

Tips hat MD, I am in 21227 area Zoo but was molded from 21223 Concrete Jungle being a wild poor white haha

I also thought this while watching this video. I had to do hard work for 3 weeks in another city. Coming home in my comfortable home was so awesome! 🤗🙂👍

There is a series where they go to the jungle and a lot have reported that they learned there to appreciate the small pleasures of life a lot! 🤗🥪

I was a Welder at the shipyard welding below deck in the ships boiler room wearing leathers. Going up on deck at the end of the day to peal off my leathers and feel the oceans cooling breeze wash over my sweat soaked body was more refreshing than I can describe! Ahh

@@loveistheanswer5924I would like to challenge you to experience it yourself instead of watching it on TV.

Yes true

Yes sir.

Hard to be diogenes when you've got dodgy knees.

Does this principle apply to women as well though? Since we are weaker physically

Have you ever heard of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? If you don’t have enough food or water or if your life is in danger, you don’t give a damn about meaning and purpose and belonging.

I think comfort and meaning are somewhat related, if you are comfortable with your life you won't have the zeal to take on pain in order to make your life better...why take pain when you are already comfortable? Similarly on the other end a person would take on extra pain to do the hard work today to make himself comfortable tomorrow. On Purpose, Living a life in comfort is okay but you are going to be trading of the meaning/purpose of your life. However, pain/suffering no matter how hard it might be it gives your life meaning. (One must imagine Sisyphus happy) Now on belonging I would say yes the virtual world has enabled us to connect us more frequently but the quality of those connection have gotten down. As I myself experience this, it is difficult for me to have new inperson authentic relationships but hey I can message anyone anytime :')

​@@Maryland_KulakI wouldn't really say that's entirely true. There's countless examples of people sacrificing their own well being for others. We are a tribal species, not a purely self centered one.

Yeah, kinda hard to care about things when the post modernist keep telling us all that we're worthless sacks of meat in an infinite universe with no end nor beginning, making that also meaningless. This idea has been pushed on us since elementary school, so of course people lack purpose. They're programmed to believe there is no purpose.

@@user-mj9lq9vp3wWhat does your comment have to do with what I said?

Start working on it as a side hobby until you can possibly go part time at your desk job and then maybe quit forever. I have acquired enough side gigs to only work part time at the hospital and my mental health has increased substantially. I look forward to a day when I can leave the medical field altogether.

Several? Wow.

@@MrJamesdryable depending on the size of the lotto. Could even be dozens, yes.

Commit to donating a percentage - 3% seems fair.

@mikeoglen6848 First step, I have to actually play the lotto.

Try going on a week long backpacking trip. See how you feel when you get back home.

Well said, Greg! Blessings to you. 🙌

The point is that a lack of exercise probably contributed to your condition and poor health.

What’s your condition?

@@GyobuTheDemonOniwa the point is your lack of knowledge led you to misunderstand my condition

​@@GyobuTheDemonOniwawisdom has been chasing you but you have been faster

@@Bucky1836 I am married to wisdom Sophia. You obviously remain invisible to her

サイタマか~?

What’s on RT today

This isn't the time for game of thrones its time for reality.

​@@GyobuTheDemonOniwaright? That blazed trail is merely a beaten track

Today's generation of men is lacking love. Most young men will never marry.

So everyone around you is satisfied and you don't see that as the end result for yourself? Why chaos instead of peace and happiness? What success do you think you are going to achieve if the end result has already been reached for so many?

​@@antonyjh1234exactly what Nietzsche was talking about 200 years ago... The last man thinks they have found happiness, they work to pass time . And anyone who dares dream would willingly go to the mad house, thinking something is wrong with him/her/they/them/whatever other gender the west have 😅

*post* modern life

Life isn’t easy

i would elaborate that the doing of the work that it takes to avoid suffering and hardship is what life is really about, what makes humans feel ~alive~. but life, as you say, is too easy, leaving humans with nothing to conquer, no satisfaction, no fulfillment. i choose to live in my own version of a "tub"- an old van that i travel fulltime in the desert with. i have built a small solar electrical system that generates my power, but requires my daily work and attention and dedication to manage. i work to maintain a comfortable tempature by studying the weather and moving up or down in latitude or elevation, and/or parking in shade versus sun, and/or parking facing west versus north, and/or cooking inside or outside, and/or burning candles/warming rocks/ sting water, etc. i often have to carry the water i'll need for two weeks so i know that i use 1 1/2 gallons a day. i sleep like a baby on a 24" wide bed that i built, after all that i do in a day to work for my immediate needs and wants. i don't have to do this, but existing in the extreme comfort of this world almost killed my soul, but now i am fully present and ~alive~.

Um, I was thinking Venus in Furs - Velvet Underground -- it's older.

discipline is "painful" in face of all this comfort. That is the point.

agree, this account is simply a dog and a bootlicker to the capitalists and parroting what they would like ppl here to believe

Yikes. As painful and actual as the truth may be, there's one thing I've never escaped from, and that is the personal responsibility of the words I say. I guess I just never figured anyone was really listening. My anger and frustration at interacting with most people, became my greatest challenge. They do and say stupid things, but my criticism of others, has always had more to do with me, than the people I criticize.It may feel good to let someone have an insult we think they deserve, and sometimes they actually do, but when it's not necessary, and we do it anyway, and think we're doing people a favor by telling them what we think of them in a negative way, we're only creating more misery for ourselves. It's always easier to dish out insults, than to take them ourselves. Just a thought.