Artificial Masochism.

A method (preferably involving permanent body modification) that would allow an individual to enjoy pain (physical and emotional.) I theorize that most people would live much happier lives if they were masochists. Imagine: there would no longer be such a thing as an unpleasant sensation. This may currently sound distasteful to you, but your modified self would disagree. Old age would provide an increase in one's quality of life instead of a decrease. People would not dread terminal illness, knowing that they would pass away in utter ecstacy. A practical means by which this worthy goal could be achieved is to somehow remove the portion of the brain which is responsible for pain, and wire the vacant slot to the pleasure-centre. One day, medical technology will advance to such a stage that this can be done. Think of the consequences: in a world filled with masochists (of the kind that I am describing), there would not be such a thing as torture. The concept would be forgotten. Soon, the very idea of suffering will become an abstract, obscure philosophical concept. It may very well be possible to modify a human brain to like everything that happens to it. However, it is also possible to create Douglas Adams' Cow (as described in the Restaurant at the End of the Universe) this way. This would be the undesirable extreme here.