He says, "" You know, look, I know you think this is repugnant, but it is no different from interpreting an ancient text or looking at a monument. "" He says, "" They are scientific investigations with real intellectual value. "" Proust is trying to show us that jealousy feels intolerable and makes us look absurd, but it is, at its crux, a quest for knowledge, a quest for truth, painful truth, and actually, where Proust is concerned, the more painful the truth, the better.