On Fri, 27 Jun 2003, Miles Jackson wrote:
>
>
> On Thu, 26 Jun 2003, Luke Benjamin Weiger wrote:
>
> > All other things being anywhere close to equal, just about everyone (in
> > every sociohistorial context) prefers a life free from physical
> > discomforts like, say, starvation.
> >
> > -- Luke
>
> I'll admit, I was fishing for this (naive?) response. Religious
> fasts? Rites of passage? Your idea that physical discomfort is
> bad is an idea you've learned in a particular society.
>
> Miles
Don't ignore the qualification "...anywhere close to equal." People will put up with all sorts of physical discomforts in the pursuit of various ends, but they won't endure them merely for the hell of it. Aversion to physical discomfort and pain is among the behavioral patterns that is almost certainly "hardwired" into our brains, and thus is present in most people in most circumstances in most every sociohistorical context.
BTW, the idea that we "learn" physical discomfort is bad is prima facie ludicrous. You'd don't have to teach a young child to hate being burned (although you might be able to teach him to voluntarily endure it).
-- Luke