on pain

Pain protects the body. That seems a little unlikely since pain hurts - it must be bad for us, right?

When a creature feels pain, it's a warning signal. 'Move away from the fire.' 'Set down that hot skillet.' Paying attention to the warning keeps flesh from getting destroyed by burns. 'There is something in your eye - rinse it out.' 'You are ill - rest until this passes.' 'You hurt your foot - don't put weight on it and make the damage worse.' It's good that the body puts out this signal!

However, sometimes, pain shows up that has nothing to do with injury or illness, and the false signal is confusing. If pain centers in the brain are stimulated in unnatural ways, you might feel a sharp pain in the foot when no injury has happened, there is no stick nor stone in your shoe. It just feels that way. You might stop walking or go to a surgeon thinking something is wrong with your foot when your foot is fine. You might keep taking that shoe off and shaking it. The pain is a hurtful feeling not related to any injury. To artificially cause such pain in another is usually cruel.

Some people have few pain signals at all, or the volume of the pain is very low compared to what others experience. These people may take more risks because the consequences are not very painful, and in the long run they may be more crippled by damage because it didn't hurt when it was happening. They may walk or run when they have a broken foot, preventing it from healing properly.

Chronic pain - pain that continues day after day - can be disabling in itself in that the individual feels too uncomfortable to focus on anything else, too uncomfortable to enjoy life.

There is emotional pain, such as grieving over separation from a loved one - but that's a whole volume in itself.

In a community - it can be helpful to have people with different pain thresholds. The very sensitive people will give warning that something is awry, there is something hurtful going on or approaching. The less sensitive people, the people with a higher pain threshold, will not notice perhaps, feeling no pain. But when there is need for someone to stand up to the threat, they may be cheerfully willing because they are not afraid of hurt; they don't know pain.

To artificially disconnect a person's pain sensors, for example with drugs, may not be in that person's best interest in the long run. It's helpful to know when you have an internal injury or a fracture. However, once the person knows there is a problem, and can address the cause, or finds there is nothing further to be done, pain relief can be a blessing.