Teething pains

I was about to begin writing a post about Hong Kong's Northern Metropolis project when I was interrupted by a very unhappy crying baby. Our son is getting his first teeth and boy is it painful. Many of us will remember the discomfort for the early period of our youth towards the end of the period of when we got our last teeth. Teething isn't a pleasant experience.

One wonders why the simple act of existing as a human baby is so painful. You would think evolution would have favored genes that help babies grow teeth in a comfortable, non-cry-producing way. After all, crying babies make them easier to be found by predators!

Ever since our son (generally) started sleeping through the night, he's been extremely happy. Most of his waking, non-eating hours are spent experiencing and expressing extreme, seemingly unhuman amounts of joy. His smile is often so big it can barely fit on his cute, tiny face.

Perhaps the purpose of the occasional pain and resultant unhappiness exists solely to give us a frame of reference for happiness and joy. Without the pain it would be impossible to appreciate the pleasure.