You are absolutely correct. Pain is far more than a simple signaling mechanism to tell you to take your hand off the stove. One of its more interesting applica

You are absolutely correct. Pain is far more than a simple signaling mechanism to tell you to take your hand off the stove. One of its more interesting applications is as a pathway to mystical experiences. In the Christian tradition for example one uses one's own pain to come into a kind of spiritual alignment with Christ's experience and in that way become closer to God. I'm not particularly familiar with other spiritual traditions, but I'd be shocked if every single major one doesn't have some kind of mystical algetic praxis.