this post was submitted on 14 Sep 2023
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Yeah the only thing I'm wondering about is whether you'd actively feel the pain before the receptors are destroyed. Not sure the brain would start interpreting the catastrophic receptor firing as pain in time for it to matter before the signals just shut down.
I would be more concerned about phantom pain.
Sure, your fried receptors are not firing anymore; but your head may interpret the absence of any sensory input as pain.
Only one way to know for sure...
From an evolutionary standpoint I can see how that would be beneficial, which is why those people that don't feel pain at all hurt themselves badly as kids, but it would be nice to lose an arm and orgasm every time my brain decided to do inventory.
My friend burned through his finger with a welding torch. He said he didn't feel anything until he took the glove off and saw the carnage.
One time I accidentally touched my hand against an active coil at the top of a 450° oven. I heard the noise, felt the contact, and smelled the hair on my hand, but there was absolutely no pain or burning sensation. The burn was pretty bad and the mark is still visible. Never hurt at all though.
I'd think being close enough to any amount of lava large enough to plunge your arm into would be putting off a considerable amount of heat. Even if you damage your arm enough to not feel it, the rest of you is gonna be pretty uncomfortable from the radiant heat.