Suffering

Part of a GlassBeadGame I'm playing with NatBennett.

In TheTimelessWayOfBuilding, ChristopherAlexander calls the "QualityWithoutAName" a "subtle kind of freedom from internal contradictions". A building has this quality (which AFAICT CA renames "life" in NatureOfOrder) to the degree that it resolves the human and natural Forces that arise within it. One example given in Timeless Way is of a person walking into a room and wanting to sit down, but also wanting to be near light. If there's a natural place to sit comfortably by a window, they'll go there; if not, they have to choose between sitting down and being near a window, and that dilemma creates suffering.

My impression from reading TheMindIlluminated and observing my own mind is that suffering happens when SubMinds disagree on what action to take. E.g. if you're experiencing Pain, but wholeheartedly committed to ignoring it (or dealing with it) then suffering evaporates. This is just me speculating, but I wonder if inner conflict is identical to suffering.

Bringing this back into the realm of SoftwareDevelopment—I am fond of talking about the "friction" or "pain" inherent in a process, or a way of structuring Code, or some other formal System. Invariably, what I mean when I say this is that different parts of the system are in conflict. There is a kind of "turbulence" or "impedance mismatch" or "inefficiency" that hampers the system as it tries to fulfill its goals and evolve. I find it very difficult to put my finger on exactly what principle underlies all of the instances of "friction", because it seems weird to ascribe goals to a system that in theory has none. However, it could be that "friction" is just a specific form of suffering. If so, that would mean suffering or its absence inheres in the structure of informational systems, and can be perceived objectively by looking at that structure.