I just want something

An understandable motivation for any human behavior is the reasonable expected outcome. If you put a piece of fruit in your mouth, you will be rewarded with the reasonable expected outcome of a sweet tasting bit of food-deliciousness. We have no motivation to put a rock in our mouth because we have no reason to expect a positive outcome. However, someone had to have been the first person to do so and determine that, “hey, rocks aren’t very tasty.” Also, occasionally someone needs to test the socially accepted norm of rock-non-tastiness in order to ensure that it still is accurate.

Who are these people, the testers of social norms? While any great thinker clearly falls under that category, so do a wide variety of the mentally ill. What may appear to an outsider as a pattern of masochistic behavior could be a genius straining the boundaries of right and wrong as defined by thousands of years of human existence. It could instead be someone pounding their head against the table because they are unable to bear living a partially enjoyable existence. It could be a sign of a serious neurological/psychiatric disorder.

Outcome is key when it comes to self-destruction. To what end do you immolate yourself? Buddhist monks which set themselves aflame in protest gain nothing and sacrifice everything. Perhaps others may benefit eventually from it, but they themselves are simply ending their lives. However, occasionally we must — as a species, and as individuals — risk self-destruction in order to improve ourselves and our lot in life. Just as it is insane to set oneself aflame once we know the power it has, it is insane to never touch the flickering fire to begin with.