It is often said that having gone through any kind of suffering tends to makes you appreciate life more and live more in the present. I'm not sure how universal or long-lasting these effects really are.

Indeed, without emotion it seems unlikely we can even have morality.

Justice can only be dispensed when you have all the facts in front of you.

You don't choose what you believe moment to moment, but choices you have made do shape what you come to believe.

Believers are right when they say that to understand a religion properly you need to get under its skin. But to understand it fully, you cannot stay there: you have to take a more objective view, too.

If you believe you are right, then you should believe that you can make the case that you're right. This requires you to deal with serious objections properly.

If I hammer my own thumb while doing some DIY, it's not nice, but it's not the end of the world. To care obsessively about similar levels of discomfort in animals seems to be a case of mistaken moral priorities.