> > I once saw a list of the ten most painful experiences that a human being can experience in a lifetime.
>
> This comment has stuck in my head since I read your post, which, ok, was only this morning. But I was struck by how revealing such a list would be about how we work. So much of our behavior, individual or as a society, is driven by what makes us hurt.
>
> I tried Googling for such a Top 10 list, but I didn't turn up anything. Do you know where this list might be online, or do you remember what was on it? I'd be pretty interested.

I can't help but think, given lack of agreement on these things and the elusiveness of the list, you'd be at least as well off making your own list. Unless the idea was to compare a list of your own with The List, as it were, as it were, in which case you may as well up the sample size and ask the readership to contribute lists.