I have actually just read a book that touched on suffering as being one of the fundamental human aspects. It was the Five Invitations: discovering what death can teach us about living fully by Frank Ostaseski. Though some of the book is a bit blabla, it has something interesting to say about suffering which I agree with. Basically all humans suffer: sometimes during our lives when we loose something important to us, struggle with life. But everyone also physically suffers upon dying. Leaving this body of ours can be quite a laborious thing as he describes (he is a palliative care giver). But the use of suffering, though it does not always seem clear at the time, is a very human experience: it makes us realize that our time is fleeting in this life. Besides that human suffering also makes us connected to that life. We suffer because we want to be healthy and happy, a universal aspect of all humans. Would we like to not suffer when it happens to us? Yes! But would the human experience be the same and be as valuable without it? I think not.
Very interesting topic this indeed! Thanks a lot for provoking thought!