3 ms·

This sounds like a really bad idea. Controlling pain, maybe, but even than raises issues of what exactly is pain and what is control. What people are not seei

This sounds like a really bad idea. Controlling pain, maybe, but even than raises issues of what exactly is pain and what is control. What people are not seeing here is that pain is a generalized concept in the brain. The pain of loss, the pain of remembering, and so on are also pain and without that pain we are at risk of losing our humility and humanity. I have some personal experience with this in an ex-friend who takes a lot of pain killers and has done a lot of terrible things to me and others apparently in part because he feels no pain over anything he does and hence no guilt. Possibly there is more going on there, but his successful avoidance of pain seems to be a significant contributor to his alienation from society. Life is suffering. No suffering, no life. Putting bounds on that might make some sense, but eliminating it could erase much more.

buu700 5y ago
who takes a lot of pain killers and has done a lot of terrible things to me and others apparently in part because he feels no pain over anything he does and hence no guilt Out of curiosity, what is this conclusion based on? Going off of only what you've said here, insofar as there is a relationship between the painkillers and his antisocial behavior, I would be more inclined to believe any of the following before the idea that a lack of pain somehow directly harmed his morality: * The condition at the root of his pain also has negative neurological/mental effects * The fact that he suffers from serious chronic pain (as opposed a lack thereof) impairs his mental state * Side effects of the painkillers (as opposed to pain relief in and of itself) contribute to his ailing physiological/neurological/mental health
- m0llusk 5y ago
  Good points and it would be difficult to rigorously say either way. What I would add to this is that all these other factors were in play and then after the painkillers came in everything changed and he went off the deep end. If nothing else this is a point worth at least brief consideration. This is not about whether or not I rigorously tracked my ex friend's descent into evil, it is about whether or not being relieved of pain is the consequence free or limited consequence option that it is being portrayed to be. We used to think polluting wasn't a big deal and we used to think that toxic fire retardants in clothes and furniture wasn't a big deal. As it is if you offer me no more pain ever again medical treatments then I will refuse that.

buu700 5y ago

who takes a lot of pain killers and has done a lot of terrible things to me and others apparently in part because he feels no pain over anything he does and hence no guilt Out of curiosity, what is this conclusion based on? Going off of only what you've said here, insofar as there is a relationship between the painkillers and his antisocial behavior, I would be more inclined to believe any of the following before the idea that a lack of pain somehow directly harmed his morality: * The condition at the root of his pain also has negative neurological/mental effects * The fact that he suffers from serious chronic pain (as opposed a lack thereof) impairs his mental state * Side effects of the painkillers (as opposed to pain relief in and of itself) contribute to his ailing physiological/neurological/mental health

m0llusk 5y ago
Good points and it would be difficult to rigorously say either way. What I would add to this is that all these other factors were in play and then after the painkillers came in everything changed and he went off the deep end. If nothing else this is a point worth at least brief consideration. This is not about whether or not I rigorously tracked my ex friend's descent into evil, it is about whether or not being relieved of pain is the consequence free or limited consequence option that it is being portrayed to be. We used to think polluting wasn't a big deal and we used to think that toxic fire retardants in clothes and furniture wasn't a big deal. As it is if you offer me no more pain ever again medical treatments then I will refuse that.