I’m not saying people seek out being sad to attain pleasure. I’m saying that when people are already sad, pushing the buttons in your brain to explore that sadn

I’m not saying people seek out being sad to attain pleasure. I’m saying that when people are already sad, pushing the buttons in your brain to explore that sadness results in a positive feeling. Science is already on board that crying releases oxytocin and endorphins. I’m merely suggesting that crying is not absolutely required for the brain offer a similar comforting response when sad. I further posit that given humans have a tendency to get addicted to any source of endorphins from phone screens to spicy peppers, they can and do get addicted to this one. If you want to triple down on strictness and say only crying gives pleasure from sadness... sure whatever. I’m not going to make that my hill to die on. Edit: and note that if someone did accumulate tolerance to natural calming emotional counteragents, that sounds like a very compelling setup for depression.