DragonOfTheAerie
Vala
In trying to create a standard unit of measure for pain to use in my WIP, I quickly realized exactly why it has never been done before.
Pain isn't a measurable quantity, and everyone experiences it differently. Also, it's as much in your head as it is a physical reality. There are too many factors to take into account. It would have to be something like intensity times sensitivity times duration times...I don't know, then you would have to take into account the healing process for any injury inflicted, and just anticipating pain can make it worse. Things get foggy fast.
I'm thinking about my profound fear of needles right now. I was doing a first aid class once and we were all finding out our blood types. I had opted out weeks ago due to the finger prick. My classmates thought this was ridiculous. One of them told me, "It's not going to hurt THAT much,"
The thing i have had to explain over and over and over is that the pain isn't what i'm worried about! It's the needle itself. The *idea* of being hurt/punctured (euuugh!) is what makes it so terrifying. The point? Regardless of how painful something *actually* is, it'll be more or less bearable depending on your perception of it.
All that said...I really want to be able to pull this off. It's not plot-essential, really, but it would be the best kind of creepy. In case you're wondering why, it's for punishment. Instead of giving a specific number of lashes, or whatever, for crimes, I thought of the idea of literally inflicting a specific amount of pain...and it was such a weird and unsettling idea, I loved it.
A lot of the complications could be eliminated if there was a way to inflict pain without actually inflicting injury of any kind. In a fantasy world, it's pretty plausible. But, that makes it rather difficult to make it appropriately scary. I rather prefer the blood and nasty details--because in the scene I'm using this i'm going for an effect of shock and horror rather than . I'm content with it being inexact as long as i can avoid breaking suspension of disbelief.
I feel really evil writing this...
Pain isn't a measurable quantity, and everyone experiences it differently. Also, it's as much in your head as it is a physical reality. There are too many factors to take into account. It would have to be something like intensity times sensitivity times duration times...I don't know, then you would have to take into account the healing process for any injury inflicted, and just anticipating pain can make it worse. Things get foggy fast.
I'm thinking about my profound fear of needles right now. I was doing a first aid class once and we were all finding out our blood types. I had opted out weeks ago due to the finger prick. My classmates thought this was ridiculous. One of them told me, "It's not going to hurt THAT much,"
The thing i have had to explain over and over and over is that the pain isn't what i'm worried about! It's the needle itself. The *idea* of being hurt/punctured (euuugh!) is what makes it so terrifying. The point? Regardless of how painful something *actually* is, it'll be more or less bearable depending on your perception of it.
All that said...I really want to be able to pull this off. It's not plot-essential, really, but it would be the best kind of creepy. In case you're wondering why, it's for punishment. Instead of giving a specific number of lashes, or whatever, for crimes, I thought of the idea of literally inflicting a specific amount of pain...and it was such a weird and unsettling idea, I loved it.
A lot of the complications could be eliminated if there was a way to inflict pain without actually inflicting injury of any kind. In a fantasy world, it's pretty plausible. But, that makes it rather difficult to make it appropriately scary. I rather prefer the blood and nasty details--because in the scene I'm using this i'm going for an effect of shock and horror rather than . I'm content with it being inexact as long as i can avoid breaking suspension of disbelief.
I feel really evil writing this...