"Why humans feel pain has been the subject of theological debate, philosophical schisms, psychoanalytical edicts, and mumbo jumbo for centuries. Pain was the punishment for wrongdoing in the Garden of Eden. Pain was the price one paid for not being morally perfect. Pain was a self-affliction brought about by sexual repression. Pain was dished out by vengeful gods, or was the result of falling out of harmony with nature…The purpose of pain is to warn the body about possible injury. Millions of free nerve endings alarm us; whenever they’re hit, we feel pain."
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Essayists from the United StatesWomen authors from the United StatesWomen academics from the United States20th-century poets from the United StatesScience authors from the United States
Original Language: English
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Chapter 2 “Touch” (p. 106; ellipsis represents the elision of the etymology of the word "pain")
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Diane_Ackerman
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Diane Ackerman
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