Week 3: Chapter 2 — The Cultures of Suffering

1.Keller argues that modern Western culture is uniquely bad at suffering compared to most human societies throughout history. What are the specific features of contemporary Western life that make this so — and do you agree with his diagnosis?

2.Keller contrasts the modern Western approach to suffering (avoid it, medicate it, escape it) with the approaches of many traditional cultures, which wove suffering and hardship into their understanding of what a good human life looks like. What has the West lost by disconnecting suffering from meaning?

3.Keller draws on the work of sociologists and historians to show that the expectation of comfort and ease — as a norm rather than a luxury — is historically very recent. How has this expectation shaped your own sense of what you are "owed" from life? Be honest.