"All the things that human beings suffer from are how their environment treats them, and how the elements of their planet affects their mind and body - like radiation, cancer, and all"

Ornette Coleman’s reflection on suffering points toward the intricate connection between humanity and its environment, both natural and social. The way human beings are treated by their surroundings shapes their experiences, health, and even their psychological well-being. Rather than viewing suffering as an inherently individual matter or as isolated from context, Coleman suggests that hardship arises largely from external forces, how the world around a person responds to and shapes them. This includes not only immediate interpersonal or societal treatment, such as the warmth or hostility one faces, but also extends to broad, often unseen influences.

Environmental factors encompass the physical world, air, water, soil, and especially the subtle, pervasive elements that exert influence over time. Coleman hints at the silent impact of things like radiation, invoking an image of invisible forces that seep into daily life, capable of causing great harm. By pairing “radiation” and “cancer,” he underscores the reality that the elements of a given environment can initiate profound, sometimes catastrophic changes within the human body and mind, often beyond one’s control. This viewpoint resonates with concerns about industrialization, pollution, exposure to toxins, and how such forces contribute to disease and psychological distress.

Coleman’s statement also points to a form of determinism: people are, to a significant degree, the products of their environments, shaped by forces that may be indifferent or even hostile to their well-being. Social structures and natural phenomena act upon individuals, much as radiation permeates flesh, often with consequences that manifest only gradually. Simultaneously, the reference to “how their environment treats them” encompasses social and cultural dimensions, how systemic injustices, discrimination, or neglect compound the challenges posed by purely physical threats.

Ultimately, Coleman’s words call for awareness of the myriad ways environments bear upon human existence, urging that to comprehend suffering requires looking outward as much as inward, acknowledging the powerful interplay between mind, body, society, and the planet itself.