Things do not fall down, but are attracted to the center of planet Earth, this being a model that can be complicated including other celestial bodies. The difference is not important at the local level, but it is fundamental to understand it if our plan includes escaping from the planet. In the same way, knowing what sentience really is (Open Individualism, Empty Individualism) does not seem very important if this in practice manifests itself in other ways (Closed Individualism), but in a project that pretends to escape from all suffering it is absolutely essential. Of course, this may sound as far-fetched and ambitious as escaping the gravity of planet Earth. A few centuries ago no one in his right mind would have proposed something like that, or if he had, he would have been ridiculed as a pretentious madman.
Algonomy
Algonomy is the discipline that sutdies suffering as a phenomenon, systematically. The term comes from two ancient Greek words: algos, which means pain or suffering, and nomos, which evokes the notions of domain, management, and knowledge. It should be noted that the word “suffering” is used here in a broad sense and may refer to any pain or unpleasantness.
Measurement and estimation are of prime importance for most rational activities dealing with suffering, and quantitative studies concerning suffering should be developed as an independent subdiscipline, which could be called algometry.
In the field of philosophical ideas we can not (easily) make predictions, but we can prove and demand that philosophical hypotheses should have:
- Regarding the proposed subject:
- Clarity
- Internal coherence
- Compatibility with the evidence (observations, experiences)
- Explanatory capacity
- Parsimony, in the sense of leaving out accessory or arbitrary elements
- Regarding the author, the creation process, and its context:
- Honesty
- Impartiality
- Skepticism
- Recognize the intention
- Recognize the motivation
There are two very related questions: “Is there a symmetry between suffering and enjoyment?” and “Can suffering be compensated with enjoyment?”
Investigating the way in which we respond to these questions is very relevant, since we may have biases or blindness that are encouraging to make bad decisions, such as the survivorship bias. By better understanding and evaluating suffering and enjoyment we can more easily minimize suffering and maximize enjoyment, as well as compensate for bad experiences, if such a thing were possible.