[Serious] The Purpose of Pain

[Belacqua]

negative emotions

Maybe people could operate without physical pain -- I'm not sure.

But it seems to me that negative emotions are unavoidable, given what it is to be a human being.

I think that one of the key things that makes us human is our ability to imagine things different than they are. Probably some "higher" animals share this ability, but I don't think that bugs or mice can conceptualize something like "gee, I wish my environment were more widely extended." They perceive what it is, but can't imagine it otherwise. 

Our capacity to invent and innovate requires this ability. 

But our negative emotions are generally rooted in this as well. We feel bad because we can imagine how life could be better, or imagine that some good thing might not have ended, or just see more desirable alternatives. 

So I guess you could complain that God made us with such imaginative ability, but desiring NOT to have such an ability would mean you desired not to be human.