Do painful experiences serve any purpose?

Tom: Do Painful experiences serve any purpose?

Guru: Let me put it this way.

Tom: Which way?       

Guru: Have you experienced real hunger?

Tom: No, I can’t say I have.

Guru: So do you know what real hunger is like?

Tom: No, I can’t say I do.

Guru: How sympathetic are you towards people who’re suffering from real hunger?

Tom: Only superficially, because their pain is not my pain.

Guru: Thank you for your honest answer. In fact, this is how the world leaders are responding to people who’re suffering from real hunger, right?

Tom: Right, but why is this so?

Guru: Because they’ve never experienced real hunger.

Tom: You mean they’ll respond differently if they’ve actually experienced real hunger?

Guru: Yes, a painful experience gives us the benefit of understanding other people’s pain better.

Tom: So we can empathize with others better.

Guru: In fact, painful experiences make us better human beings.

Tom: Painful experiences make us more humane.

Guru: Painful experiences make us more enlightened.