COLUMN: Discomfort breeds quality

Published: Tuesday, May 6, 200

Dear readers,

Throughout the semester I've written some fairly controversial columns. And as a result, I've received some vulgar diatribes in response to my views.

I've been accused of using the Constitution in lieu of Charmin to wipe my backside solely because I posited the dangers in assuming the Bill of Rights as universally valid. I've been labeled unsympathetic to the homeless. And I've been called a Nazi on several occasions, once for speaking out against nuclear weapons and again for shedding light on the dangers of handguns. (Last I checked, the Nazis invented the Luger and were designing nuclear arms toward the end of WWII.)

But throughout it all I kept my cool. While some of the narrow e-mails I received were unsettling, I didn't get upset when referred to as a "liberal asshole," a revivalist, a classicist or an uninformed, ignorant, pea-brained nincompoop. No, I didn't seethe, bark out foam or bare my sharp canines. I thanked those who e-mailed me for their responses; I accepted the fact that people hold different opinions than I do and that the public expression of my opinions has a tendency to make others squirm in their ruffled panties.

I did, however, become very uncomfortable at times as I read reader responses. On several occasions, I doubted my own ideas, both before and after publication in anticipation of public rebuttal. I inquired as to whether I truly believed what I was saying or whether I just wanted to get under people's skin. In most cases it was a combination of both.

But it's really discomfort as an object of study that I want to defend. In modern times, people highly value their comfort and consider it a moral violation when things are copasetic and some rabble-rouser comes along and turns everything upside down. Often, the result is an erroneous lawsuit where trivialities become trauma and people exaggerate the amount of damage they've endured.

This is disheartening, because by now people should be insightful enough to gather some keen perspicuity out of an uncomfortable situation rather than having to be awarded money by a judge in order to feel like the situation has been rectified. It seems that life's lessons are being grossly overlooked because we value our commodious lifestyle too much. People seem to have forgotten that life is about intervals of pain and pleasure.

Given the history of the world, it's ironic that people allow distress to disturb them. Rather than putting it to a good cause, namely self-affirmation, people complain, or lay lethargic, quoting the maxim, "The world's not fair," instead of trying to alter these circumstances. Most people view discomfort in any form as extremely abject, and will do anything they can to avoid it.

But uneasiness gives birth to desire, protest, progress and reformation. Things that are unpleasant and aggravating teach you more about yourself and the world than do situations of friendliness and neutrality. Things that are upsetting are just as valuable if not more so than things that are pleasing.

Discomfort has been the world's most galvanizing catalyst in the natural and the social realm. Animals adapt and evolve because of the discomfort of competition and death. People are uncomfortable with hegemonic political states, oppression and injustice, and this threat, this uneasiness, provokes them to congregate in the streets yelling, chanting and screaming.

Rosa Parks could have easily not moved from her seat that fateful day in 1955. If she had merely found a way to be comfortable and accept her subjugated position, the world would be a very different place. She could have just started walking to work and avoid the immediate pain of her stance against riding in the back of the bus. But instead she confronted an unbearable situation. Discomfort makes people reassess their beliefs and reaffirm their philosophy. It concretizes their values. Discomfort that people don't act upon is harmful; confronting discomfort leads to the betterment of the world.

Instead of viewing discomfort as something that should be avoided at all costs, whether it's physical pain or emotional distress, it's absolutely imperative to view every situation in the human life as offering some sort of anecdotal wisdom. Why avoid pain, or sadness, or anger at all costs when there's much to be learned from these things? Of course, exaggerations like sado-masochism, depression and violent outbreaks are not healthy but a good dose of discomfort is essential to the balanced life. What good is the life only filled with ups and no downs? Can a person who's never suffered know the true meaning of happiness?

Men avoid wearing pink shirts for fear of being stereotyped. Many women to this day hesitate before arguing with their male partners. Most people hate hearing opinions that drastically clash with their own. These types of discomfort need to be confronted before we can progress as a society.

More instrumental than avoiding certain types of discomfort is spelunking the caverns of the mind; it could be that you're uncomfortable because something is festering that needs closure and resolution.

If what you read on the Opinion pages of the Lobo makes veins bulge in your forehead, great! But once you've calmed down, take some time and ask yourself, "Why was I upset just then? What does that say about me as a person? And do I really want to react that way?" And if you still feel strongly, let us know. Write us an inflammatory invective. Tell us when and why we're wrong. Butt heads with us, don't just put your tail between your legs and sulk away.

In conclusion, thanks to everyone I've upset over the course of the semester and I look forward to accommodating your discomfort in the future.



Send jeremiads to erichow@unm.edu