You want, if possible
(and no “if possible” is crazier) to abolish suffering.

And us? – it looks as though we would prefer it to be heightened
and made even worse than it has ever been!…

The discipline of suffering, of great suffering
– don’t you know that this discipline has been the sole cause
of every enhancement in humanity so far?

The tension that breeds strength into the unhappy soul,
its shudder at the sight of great destruction,
its inventiveness and courage in enduring, surviving, interpreting,
and exploiting unhappiness, and whatever depth, secrecy,
whatever masks, spirit, cunning, greatness it has been given:
– weren’t these the gifts of suffering, of the disciple of great suffering?

In human beings, creature and creator are combined:
in humans there is material,
fragments,
abundance,
clay,
dirt,
nonsense,
chaos;

but in humans there is also creator,
maker,
hammer-hardness,
spectator-divinity
and seventh day:

– do you understand this contrast?
And that your pity is aimed at the “creature in humans,”
at what needs to be molded, broken, forged, torn, burnt, seared and purified,
– at what necessarily needs to suffer and should suffer?

Beyond Good and Evil by Nietzsche, trans. Judith Norman, aphorism 225

With our 21st century health care, and the affluence of a first world society, suffering yet remains. Suffering cannot be eliminated by money. Without question access to means to reduce suffering make a difference. But imagine if you will the consequences of eliminating all suffering?

A proposal was offered that the future may be so shaped by Artificial Intelligence that nearly all decision making by humans will be taken over and executed by algorithms, efficient, optimized with light-speed velocity.  A substantial amount of suffering comes on account of decision making, the stress of having a stake, risking the unknown, of something to win or to lose.  What if nearly all of those mundane, day to day stressors were to be unnecessary?

A difficult confession: I doubt that I’ve learned anything at all apart from suffering.

One more personal confession: in retrospect a great deal required molding, breaking, forging, to be torn, burnt, seared and purified.  There was no other way…