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A new brain implant automatically detects and kills pain in real time

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Re: A new brain implant automatically detects and kills pain in real time

#31

Post by Osiris »

Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #27
krm01 wrote: post #10

I wonder how healthy this actually is. Isn’t pain a signal the brain uses to alert you about a detected problem? Just eliminating the sensation of pain could mean your body would be unable to signal an issue that needs to be resolved.

Complete elimination of pain is probably not a good idea, for sure. But the ability to actively shut off pain once you've acknowledged the problem, or at least numb it down to it not being completely debilitating, could be useful.

I recently had a very large kidney stone and let me tell you... It was bad enough to make me vomit. In cases like this it would be great to be able to self-medicate the pain.

However, I can also see how it could be abused to say "ah, it's not that bad" and not have the problem resolved. In my case, it could lead to permanent kidney damage.

Re: A new brain implant automatically detects and kills pain in real time

#32

Post by echelon »

sturza wrote: post #28

If we're not in pain, we're not alive.

> If we're not in pain, we're not alive.

That's a silly assertion. Pain isn't a hallmark of life--physical, mental, or otherwise. There's no 'merit' to it.

There are plenty of organisms without pain receptors that are definitely alive.

Pain doesn't correlate with how alive we are or the worth of our lives. Chronic pain sufferers would certainly rather not have pain.

Re: A new brain implant automatically detects and kills pain in real time

#33

Post by varispeed »

> What’s especially neat is that the stimulated brain region normally doesn’t generate any sense of euphoria, the downfall of opioids. This means it’s likely to decrease the chance of addiction.

Ok, this is such a nonsense. Addiction is not caused by euphoria - it's caused because people can't stop taking it because of nasty withdrawals. Now, when you are using it for chronic pain, you don't usually feel any euphoria, but pain relief. I've been using prescribed opioids for years and I am really anxious about doctors falling for this kind of messaging. If I had my prescription stopped, that would be the end of life for me.

Re: A new brain implant automatically detects and kills pain in real time

#34

Post by root_axis »

krm01 wrote: post #10

I wonder how healthy this actually is. Isn’t pain a signal the brain uses to alert you about a detected problem? Just eliminating the sensation of pain could mean your body would be unable to signal an issue that needs to be resolved.

Sometimes this would be preferable to the alternative.

Re: A new brain implant automatically detects and kills pain in real time

#36

Post by collyw »

Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #27
krm01 wrote: post #10

I wonder how healthy this actually is. Isn’t pain a signal the brain uses to alert you about a detected problem? Just eliminating the sensation of pain could mean your body would be unable to signal an issue that needs to be resolved.

Complete elimination of pain is probably not a good idea, for sure. But the ability to actively shut off pain once you've acknowledged the problem, or at least numb it down to it not being completely debilitating, could be useful.

Meditation can do this to an extent.

Re: A new brain implant automatically detects and kills pain in real time

#37

Post by hirundo »

If this technique can relieve pain it can likely also cause it, and also cause pleasure. So it has the potential to become a technology for human puppetry. Or for self abuse, as in Larry Niven's wireheads. It isn't hard to imagine various modern regimes willing to implant control devices into prisoners, criminal or political.

Re: A new brain implant automatically detects and kills pain in real time

#39

Post by BoxOfRain »

papito wrote: post #30

There is a neural disorder where people can't feel pain, and it's hell. You live your life wrapped in protective gear.

I'm sure there's a middle ground between our default level of evolutionary baggage and no pain at all though. I wouldn't mind keeping burns and broken bones being painful, but I'd love to do away with minor annoyances like stinging nettles, wasps, and things like that.

Also being able to turn off pain to a specific problematic area would be nice too, I have a permanent headache from a neurological issue and it'd save me a lot on the quantities of CBD that goes into keeping that at bay!

Re: A new brain implant automatically detects and kills pain in real time

#40

Post by collyw »

echelon wrote: post #32
sturza wrote: post #28

If we're not in pain, we're not alive.

> If we're not in pain, we're not alive. That's a silly assertion. Pain isn't a hallmark of life--physical, mental, or otherwise. There's no 'merit' to it. There are plenty of organisms without pain receptors that are definitely alive. Pain doesn't correlate with how alive we are or the worth of our lives. Chronic pain sufferers would certainly rather not have pain.

It's often said about suffering, which pain is a subset of.
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