Human suffering is a universal feeling. Every human that has ever lived has suffered. Suffering can be caused by a multitude of reasons, whether it be sickness, failure at completing a task which leads to grave consequences, or death of a family member. There are also different forms of suffering; physical, mental, and emotional. No matter how large or small the reason is, everyone suffers. From the rich to the poor, all races and genders. There are no exceptions. Regardless of status, the magnitude of one’s suffering should not be belittled. There is no response or answer to human suffering as it is part of life on this earth. No one can spare you from suffering. All we can do is accept the fact that that suffering is present and find ways to improve our situation and alleviate the pain. Others may help solve some problems, but there will always be another reason for suffering. Our species has survived for thousands of years, enduring the pain that they suffer and move forwards. With our capacity for reason and problem solving, the world we live in has been improved immensely through the advancement of science and technology, but suffering is still ever present. Rousseau would probably say that the suffering caused through society has increased to an immense level, where the modern man is detached too far from the natural man. “Property and wealth” and “living in the gaze of others” is a large cause of suffering. Suffering is also neither purposeful nor meaning, which is exemplified through Voltaire’s Poem on the Lisbon Disaster. “Living in the gaze of others” is more relevant now than ever before with the internet wherein everything is connected. In modern society, we live in a world where the need for affirmation has become a necessity for the modern man. With this need for affirmation, we turn ourselves into objects in order to compare ourselves to others, in order to evaluate ourselves. Turning the self into an object creates distance between the true self and causes detachment from your true feelings. Comparing value and beauty between one another are not natural as it instills values into others from bare facts. You may not know a person but through their appearance you instill meanings into them. The meanings becomes what you see, instead of the facts. When you compare yourself with these “meanings” that may not be necessarily true, it distorts and damages the evaluation of self as you’re comparing who you are against a set of virtuous or good values that you do not see in yourself. Furthermore, “being” and “appearing” becomes separate leading to us seeking esteem and not virtue. Other people judge who they see, so by molding yourself into what you think makes them happy, your own emotion becomes less important. Emotions are publicly rooted, thus your self-evaluations are a culmination of other’s opinion of you. “Each person began to gaze on the others and to want to be gazed upon himself, and what came to be was prized was public esteem.” (Discourse on Inequality, 60) The need of other’s views fulfills our self-love as we have lost that ability through the distractions of society and the dependence on others. One can no longer be alone and if they are, they will be left behind by society. One exam