The order of the suffering and the joy is not just important, but essential. It's an explanation for why stories almost inevitably a dramas have, on the whole, a bad than good ark. We seem to want to ha get the bad stuff over with sometimes,. because we just, you know, we want to free ourselves to experience the good stuff... Sometimes it makes the good stuff so much better.
Author and psychologist Paul Bloom of the University of Toronto talks about his book, The Sweet Spot, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Bloom argues that suffering is underrated--suffering is part of happiness and meaning. This is a wide-ranging discussion of popular culture, religion, and what we hope to get out of life.