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

Screenshot of Sanae Takaichi and Donald Trump
MS Now

Room Goes Silent After Trump Makes Super Tone-Deaf Joke To Japanese Prime Minister About Pearl Harbor In Shocking Video

The audience in the Oval Office went silent after President Donald Trump made a tone-deaf joke about the attack on Pearl Harbor to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi following a question about why he kept his attack on Iran a "surprise."

Trump was wrapping up a Q&A with reporters during a bilateral meeting with Takaichi when a Japanese journalist pressed him on why key allies—like Japan—were not notified ahead of the attack on Iran on February 28.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @torimosser's TikTok video
@torimosser/TikTok

Woman Says Stranger On TikTok Helped Save Her Life After Dangerous Medical Misdiagnosis

It is far too common for women's health concerns to be dismissed in the United States, especially when it comes to chronic conditions and pain levels.

Diagnosed with several chronic conditions, 23-year-old TikToker Tori Mosser reflected on years of painful stomach cramps and painful episodes when she finally was able to share that she'd received a diagnosis: Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome (CVS).

Keep ReadingShow less
Images from u/South-Basket-887's post in the 'Mildly Infuriating' subReddit
u/South-Basket-887/Reddit

Landlord Sparks Debate After Warning Tenant About Leaving Small Appliances Plugged In

Many of us have had to live in a rented space at some point in our lives and had to deal with landlords, some of whom can be very imposing and let the power of having tenants go to their heads.

But most of us probably didn't receive special notes from our landlords detailing the little observations they noticed about our lifestyles while doing a surprise inspection.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mark Zuckerberg
Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images

Meta Is Shutting Down Its VR 'Metaverse' After Spending An Obscene Amount Of Money Building It—And People Are Roasting Mark Zuckerberg Hard

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was roasted online after Meta announced they'll be shutting down Horizon Worlds, part of their virtual reality "Metaverse," this summer after spending close to $80 billion on the project.

The news comes five years after Zuckerberg declared the metaverse to be the future of Facebook, even renaming the company Meta to reflect that vision. In recent months, Meta cut roughly 10% of the workforce in its "metaverse" division and signaled a shift away from virtual reality for its flagship platform, Horizon Worlds, where users interact through avatars.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of Rand Paul and Markwayne Mullin
C-SPAN3

Video Of GOP Senator Picking A Fight With A Witness Replayed During Contentious Senate Confirmation Hearing

Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul confronted his GOP colleague, Oklahoma's Markwayne Mullin, President Donald Trump's pick for Secretary of Homeland Security, over his "anger issues," even presenting video evidence.

Earlier this month, Trump announced he will replace Kristi Noem as Homeland Security Secretary with Mullin. Trump said Noem will instead take on the role of Special Envoy to the Shield of the Americas, a newly created organization intended to foster a right-wing alliance across South America.

Keep ReadingShow less