Is 10,000 people suffering identically equal bad as one of them?

[Violet]

Suffering requires a sufferer. 10,000 identical sufferers means 10,000 identical suffering. If you believe that more sufferers of identical suffering can outweigh less sufferers of identical suffering then that implies that enough sufferers of low level suffering can outweigh someone with high level suffering. Despite the fact that in all cases identical sufferers means identical suffering.

It outweighs it because it's more people being negatively affected... even if it is very minor. This negative effect can be huge for being so 'small' as a pinprick (though not necessarily immediate) in some of the cases, as noted with hemophiliacs. Little negative things are some of the worst... do away with those and most of the population gets happier in an amount that far outweighs the single man's gratitude.

But the 'pinprick' has to be a noticeable annoyance, or people will not even register the pain. We're really talking about a very narrow range of pain here.