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@Kaitlyn
I would like to focus on 1a in my response so I can be more coherent with my thoughts. We can focus on 1b after finishing 1a.
Positive effects can arise from various sources, including accomplishments, negative experiences, neutral states, or even in the absence of something they value becoming theirs. An example of this would be someone who does not have a 2023 Corvette, is this a negative emotion or merely not a positive one I would say this is not a positive or negative effect as people recognize this is a difficult wish to be fulfilled. However, being given the Corvette would have a substantial positive effect on your attitude and view of life, you would instantly be grateful and happy that someone would be willing to give you such a gift. Perhaps even you have accomplished tons of work in your new business and have finally worked up to the revenue provided by your business to finally purchase the car in which you would also have an incredible sense of accomplishment from overcoming such a large obstacle.Accomplishments have a goal before them, hence a negative state wherein the person is working towards a goal (because they don't like their non-goal state of being, so we should consider that being to exist in a state of negative affect). Negative experiences obviously come before positive ones, so that's a given. Neutral states result in boredom if lingered in for too long, of which is itself a negative state. I don't know how an "absence of something they value" results in a positive state.Not having a Corvette, in this scenario, results in a negative emotion and that's proven negative by the fact that someone would work for the Corvette. If people were neutral towards the Corvette (or not feeling a positive emotion towards the thought of having it), then they wouldn't be willing to exert effort and invest time (i.e. work) into it. In other words, they are willing to sacrifice effort and time to own a Corvette because not having a Corvette result in a negative state of being.
I never implied that the neutral state or the absence of something valuable was positive, but I am implying absence isn't necessarily negative. It really depends on the person's mentality. If a person believes they deserve something that they don't have they will feel as if they are being robbed by life of something they are owed, implying a negative emotion. If a person believes that they don't deserve something even if they value it, they will not feel as though they've earned it. Therefore, out of the necessity of work will they only genuinely believe they deserve it and therefore enjoy it. This is quite a common thing to understand, parents are always teaching their kids that ice cream tastes better when you worked hard for it. It may seem absurd at first but after you consider all the value and effort put into receiving, it makes it all the more rewarding and thus enjoyable. A clear example of this is if someone gave you a Football championship trophy. In the first scenario you have been training for over a decade and put your blood sweat and tears into the hard labor and finally come out the champion of the world. In the second scenario someone gave it to you as a gift freely, it wasn't even on your birthday, just a normal everyday gift. It is obvious that the one where you worked in put your hard dedication to overcoming the obstacles that you were able to obtain such an ecstasy of joy as it represents much dedication and history, on the other hand you would find little to know joy out of receiving this gift that has no value behind it because it represents nothing.
It's now easy to understand that without these obstacles many values in life would be lost. Therefore, I don't see obstacles as negative but rather the platform to becoming a champion.
If you could beat a toddler at tic-tac-toe, you would not feel very accomplished and therefore there was not much of an obstacle to overcoming your goal of beating them. However, if your goal was to beat the world champion at chess and you were able to do so you would feel amazing accomplishment as you overcame such an enormous obstacle. This is also keeping in mind that your acknowledgement that if you did not beat the world champion does not necessarily imply a negative effect as you would have expected this.This amplifies the problem of existence because that positive feeling of accomplishment is expensive in terms of time and effort. It would be better if we could experience genuine accomplish in beating a toddler.Losing, even if expected, is never a positive experience. The negative feelings found in losing could be mitigated if you don't expect to beat the world champ, but this is not positive in the slightest.
You are correct, positive feelings of accomplishment are expensive in terms of time and effort but that's what makes them so valuable. The moment that the time and effort required to obtain the positive feeling of accomplishment ceases so does its value of accomplishment.
You are also correct that losing even if expected is never a positive experience, but it also isn't always a negative one. A clear example of how someone could lose and still feel positive is by progression. Progression is a sense of accomplishment and seeing yourself lose by less and less gives you the motivation to trudge forward and eventually accomplish victory.
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Ultimately, obstacles are a necessary part of life, and I am grateful to have them. So many aspects of life would become valueless if obstacles ceased to exist. I do not want someone to give me the trophy for the international soccer championship, I want to earn it by conquering all of the challenges and obstacles it can hurdle at me. If someone took obstacles away for me, that would truly be negative. Therefore, obstacles are not negative, they set the stage for becoming a champion and feeling only what you could from an incredibly difficult challenge and finally accomplishment.