Humans go to extraordinary lengths to avoid pain. We instantly recoil at the touch of something too sharp, or too hot. We spend hours working through our mental pain with trusted confidants. Some people try to reduce their pain with perception altering drugs. The experience of pain hurts. Why?
The medical community has answered this question by positing pain as a kind of alarm mechanism. Pain is a signal of damage to body tissue, or is a sign of disruption to homeostasis (the balance of internal conditions in the body).
Human bodies are covered in nociceptors, sensory nerve cells that pick up chemical, mechanical, and thermal stimulation in our environment. When nociceptors detect conditions that could cause damage, a signal travels along nerve fibers via the spinal cord and into the brain.
