E
Epsilon0
Enlightened
- Dec 28, 2019
- 1,874
Having lived with ME/CFS for a very long time, I have developed a keen interest in pain. Physical pain and psychological pain alike. So, I would like to propose that we delve into this subject together. What is pain?
A clever chap, with a fondness for bricks, once wrote that the word "pain" expresses the sensation of pain, but does not describe it. Two people who say they are in pain, may use the same word, but, experience quite different symptoms.
In order to illustrate this argument, he proposed the beetle-in-the-box example:
Suppose everyone has a box with something in it: we call it a "beetle". No one can look into anyone else's box, and everyone says he knows what a beetle is only by looking at his beetle. – Here it would be quite possible for everyone to have something different in his box...
So, my question to you is this: What's in your box? What is your pain like? Can you describe it?
A clever chap, with a fondness for bricks, once wrote that the word "pain" expresses the sensation of pain, but does not describe it. Two people who say they are in pain, may use the same word, but, experience quite different symptoms.
In order to illustrate this argument, he proposed the beetle-in-the-box example:
Suppose everyone has a box with something in it: we call it a "beetle". No one can look into anyone else's box, and everyone says he knows what a beetle is only by looking at his beetle. – Here it would be quite possible for everyone to have something different in his box...
So, my question to you is this: What's in your box? What is your pain like? Can you describe it?