The Pain Reaction
The inability to feel pain is a serious and rare congenital disorder in which the individual cannot feel pain. Though some argue that one can fake the ability to feel pain, it is nearly impossible to pretend to be in pain as the individual with the disorder will nor even realize that there is some degree of force or action that should result in a reaction of pain (Ranger, 2008).
With reference to the thought experiment on the perfect pretender, even if the student has mastered human behavior it is still not possible that an individual with inability to feel pain can pretend to feel pain every time he or she is inflicted some kind of force that is initially meant to initiate a sense of pain. It is not possible that the individual will perfectly imitate the normal students when they are in pain. The ability to react to pain acts a natural detector to warn the body that the body has been pushed beyond its limits and there is need to elicit some kind of reaction. Perfect imitation of a pain reaction will not be possible. For instance the student though a perfect imitator of human behavior might react with a mere ‘ouch’ if he slams his fingers to the door and move on. This, though an attempt to a reaction of pain will not be effective since in an ordinary circumstance the student will yell out so loudly since the intensity of the pain is severe.
In case of broken limbs the individual with the lack of sensitivity to pain will not realize it as soon as the accident occurs but the student with a sense of pain will instantly notice the broken limbs due to the pain.In a situation where the pain reaction is supposed to be minimal like some one accidentally bumps into another. The pretender might exaggerate the apparent sense of pain. It is therefore not easy to imitate the sense of pain as indicated in the thought experiment of the “perfect pretender”
The reaction to pain involves a complex series of mental activities that the brain engages in which subsequently results into the appropriate reaction to pain. The functioning of the brain involves a series of activities which involves the use of nerves that are spread across the body. It is this nerves that carry messages through to the spine and to the brain thereby reacting an appropriate reaction e.g. an Ouch, scream or yell depending on the intensity of the pain.
This thought experiment that seeks to refute the claims upheld by thought experiment of the perfect pretender on human behavior. Individuals suffering from the disorder of inability to feel pain should be keenly monitored (Ranger, 2008). Imitation of ordinary human reaction to pain does not guarantee them safety as they will still grievously injure themselves without their knowledge. A child with such a condition is a special needs student and needs to be taught on what to do when he sees blood on any part of his body and how to safely conduct their chores without causing harm to their bodies.
Those not in support of the discussed though experiment may claim that ability to imitate human behavior with relation to pain helps the individual to fit in the society and that the ability to imitate occurs over a lengthy period of time such that it is possible to correctly imitate a pain reaction over time.
Reference
Ranger, M. (2008). Temperament and Pain response. Retrieved from http://www.painmanagementnursing.org/article/S1524-9042%2807%2900145-2/abstract on 24th May 2011.
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