Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

The Greatest Examples Of Necessary Evil

The Greatest Examples Of Necessary Evil
woman in yellow sweater holding red and white box
Photo by Dollar Gill on Unsplash

There are several things we look back in history which instantly make us shudder.

Wars, acts of terrorism, shootings.

We can even say the same of our own lives, as we look back on family illnesses, break-ups or terrifying travel experiences.

It's easy to say that these are events or memories which we wish had never happened.

However, if we stop and reflect, we might realize that all of the above, and more, were important stepping stones in our lives and the course of history.

As they were all valuable learning experiences which shaped our lives, and the world, for the better.

A "necessary evil", if you will.


Redditor opiate_user was curious to hear what people considered the most important instances of necessary evils, leading them to ask:
"What is a great example of a necessary evil?"

A Natural Warning Sign

"The ability for the human body to feel pain."

"As exploitable as it is, without this ability to feel pain the life expectancy would go way down because people often wouldn't realize something was wrong with their body until it was too late to do anything about it."

"Pain is the body's natural defense mechanism to protect itself against further injury."- Music_Girl2000

Even If You Still Want More Chips

"That air in you bag of chips stops the chips from getting crushed on delivery."

"We all wish there could just be more chips but you need that air."- ArminTanz

Hungry Full House GIFGiphy

Kicking Cancer In The Butt...

"Chemotherapy."- Qazax1337

Everyone Needs To Be Served A Slice Of Humble Pie...

"If you don't experience sitting down and being humbled, you're all the more likely to not only let success go to your head but to take things for granted."- ImaginaryCharges

Everyone Deserves The Right To A Fair Trial

"A lawyer defending an alleged murderer etc."- qqqrrrs_

Episode 16 Reaction GIF by Law & OrderGiphy

A Little Perspective Goes A Long Way

"If we manage not to engage in a nuclear war, we will probably look back on the century or centuries we had them pointed at each other as being the single most important factor in not engaging in massive warfare every decade."

"People forget that the firebombing of Tokyo killed more people than Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined, and it was nothing compared to Dresden, and that was comparable to Nanjing, which was nothing compared to the Holocaust, which was nothing compared to the Eastern front, in which an estimated 30 million people died."

"Before that, we had WW1, which setup the political and economic stage for WW2."

"Before WW1, we had various wars of colonialism that setup the imperial rivalries from Europe."

"After WW2, the entire world seemed to be teetering on the edge of another global conflict every decade that was only truly staved off by the possibility that the entire human race would be annihilated if such an event occurred."

"People on every continent have engaged in brutal wars ever since, but the specter of global war and the potential for nuclear holocaust has tempered these conflicts immensely."

"If we manage to outgrow the need to be pointing a gun at each other's heads, our great-great grandchildren might think of us as having been silly, but they should have an appreciation that their peace is because we came close to ending it all."-tacit_urn

Let It Rip...

"Farting, it stinks and it's embarrassing but we'd be in constant agony without it."- OutlawCountryFan

Evil In The Classic Sense...

"D&D villains."

"Hard to run a decent campaign without one or two of them."

"I used to run a home game with close friends and family so luckily I never had that problem player or a murder hobo party but never say never."- Clear-Owl-378

Role Playing Magic GIF by Dungeons & DragonsGiphy

It Takes Being Sad To Realize How Happy You Are

"Sadness."

"You can't be happy all the time."

"It isn't healthy."

"You have to take the good with the bad."

"You learn to cope and move on from it."- PracticalyWorker

Literal Necessary Evil

"I don’t know, but in the 'Engineer Trilogy', a great low fantasy series in a weird renaissance/medieval mashup world, they call their war department the Department of Necessary Evil."

"Which I always loved."- malenkydroog

There are countless things we find ourselves going to great efforts to avoid, or wish would never happen.

Hard as these things may be to endure, however, they must happen nonetheless for progress to be made.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Mel Curth; Samantha Fulnecky
University of Oklahoma/Facebook; @OU_Tennis/X

University Of Oklahoma Places Professor On Leave After Student Cries 'Religious Discrimination' For Bad Grade On Essay

A Christian college student has started an all-out war after she received a failing grade on a psychology essay for using the Bible as her only source.

Samantha Fulnecky was assigned a 650-word essay about how gender stereotypes impact societal expectations of individuals.

Keep ReadingShow less
Elaine Miles
CBS; Elaine Miles/Facebook

Indigenous 'Northern Exposure' Actor Says She Was Detained By ICE After Agents Claimed Tribal ID 'Looked Fake'

Elaine Miles is an actor best known for her roles as doctor's office receptionist Marilyn Whirlwind in the 1990s TV series Northern Exposure and as one of the sisters, Lucy, in the film Smoke Signals.

More recently, Miles starred as Florence in an episode of HBO's The Last of Us.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pete Hegseth
Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

Pete Hegseth Blasted After Trying To Turn His Potential War Crimes Scandal Into A Meme

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing heavy criticism after he made light of his deadly attacks on alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean by turning the scandal into a meme featuring Franklin the Turtle, the protagonist of the popular Canadian children's book series authored by Paulette Bourgeois and illustrated by Brenda Clark.

The meme, which Hegseth inexplicably captioned "for your Christmas wish list," features a doctored book cover titled Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists and shows Franklin firing a bazooka from a helicopter at boats in the water below.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
x.com/acyn

Trump Dragged After Vowing To Release Results From His 'Perfect' MRI On Unknown Body Part

President Donald Trump was dragged after he told reporters he would release the results of an MRI because the results were "perfect."

The White House has not released the results of a scan after Trump's recent admission that he underwent an MRI as part of a visit to Walter Reed Military Center in October.

Keep ReadingShow less

People Share Laws That Don't Exist In The U.S. But Would Actually Help Millions

New laws are signed into existence all the time, but it's debatable at times who they're really for and who they are helping.

There are laws, however, that would be incredibly helpful to the general public if they could simply be approved.

Keep ReadingShow less