I was almost through the article, finding it somewhat interesting for the reasons already commented on, but the final section earned my upvote. Yes, the possible results of it do seem fantastical, but I thought it worth the time to wonder just what makes them fantastical, what are some practical reasons that prevent them?
I myself have managed to raise my pain threshold in a useful manner through, as far as I can tell, mainly rationalization alone. My feeling was that certain setpoints for the feeling “pain” were overly cautious. Pain is useful for indicating or avoiding damage, so I set out to convince myself that my conscious mind should decide whether something should be perceived as pain or not.
What most people consider “hot” or “cold” is not extreme enough to cause tissue damage, and I find that my abilities have been expanded by using my hands in situations that would otherwise require less dextrous methods, by combining tolerance and caution to override my setpoints and learn my true limits. I also overcame my shellfish allergy in this manner, by recognizing the fine line between “This is very uncomfortable” and “You need to go to the emergency room”.
I was almost through the article, finding it somewhat interesting for the reasons already commented on, but the final section earned my upvote. Yes, the possible results of it do seem fantastical, but I thought it worth the time to wonder just what makes them fantastical, what are some practical reasons that prevent them?
I myself have managed to raise my pain threshold in a useful manner through, as far as I can tell, mainly rationalization alone. My feeling was that certain setpoints for the feeling “pain” were overly cautious. Pain is useful for indicating or avoiding damage, so I set out to convince myself that my conscious mind should decide whether something should be perceived as pain or not.
What most people consider “hot” or “cold” is not extreme enough to cause tissue damage, and I find that my abilities have been expanded by using my hands in situations that would otherwise require less dextrous methods, by combining tolerance and caution to override my setpoints and learn my true limits. I also overcame my shellfish allergy in this manner, by recognizing the fine line between “This is very uncomfortable” and “You need to go to the emergency room”.