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Alleviating World Suffering pp 73–83Cite as

Synergy, Dysergy and the Alleviation of Preventable Suffering

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Part of the book series: Social Indicators Research Series ((SINS,volume 67))

Abstract

This chapter suggests that people (and social systems) can suffer excessively because their wants/desires are pulling them in opposite directions. This is dysergy (conflicting desires) as opposed to synergy (harmonious desires, yielding more than the sum of the individual wants). Two significant conclusions follow from this. One is that dysergetic elements yield suffering, which may be alleviated by transforming some of the wants to more compatible ones. Second, this model of synergetic and dysergetic elements applies to interpersonal and societal levels, as well as to individuals. Suffering can come from a lack of meaningful wants, a belief that one’s wants are not attainable, and failure to progress towards one’s wants. Among the approaches proposed for minimizing dysergy are developing a culture of unconditional acceptance of others; helping people to develop communication skills; building a culture of trust; orienting society towards synergetic wants; and maximizing the domains in which people can achieve competence. Overall, the chapter shows that the concept of synergies and dysergies are powerful because they can help people, and societies, find ways to develop intra and interpersonal configurations that may reduce highly afflictive, destructive and unnecessary suffering.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Roehampton, Holybourne Avenue, London, SW15 1JD, UK

    Mick Cooper

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  1. Mick Cooper
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Correspondence to Mick Cooper .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Sociology, Department of Sociology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    Ronald E. Anderson

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Cooper, M. (2017). Synergy, Dysergy and the Alleviation of Preventable Suffering. In: Anderson, R. (eds) Alleviating World Suffering. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 67. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51391-1_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51391-1_5

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-51390-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-51391-1

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