The Inconveniently Unpleasant Importance of Being Able to Feel Pain

Life Noggin narrator Pat Graziosi humorously explains that while pain is usually inconvenient and unpleasant, it is of vital importance in understanding what’s going on in terms of health and/or danger. Blocko also warns that not being able to feel pain can be dangerous as well, whether it’s due to chronic disease or due to addictive pain killers.

One is called CIPA, or the congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis. The condition has two main defining characteristics: the inability to sense or feel pain and temperatures, and decreased or absent sweating. It can be common for people with CIPA to unintentionally injure themselves…Most people do feel pain though, and one way doctors try to treat pain is with painkillers. This can sometimes be troublesome since painkillers are often based on compounds that can be addictive.