Foetuses ‘cannot experience pain’:

Foetuses cannot feel pain because it requires mental development that only occurs outside the womb, says a report in the British Medical Journal.

Dr Stuart Derbyshire, of the University of Birmingham, said a baby’s actions and relationships with carers enabled it to process the subjectivity of pain.
…
Dr Derbyshire, who is linked to pro-choice groups, said there were various stages of a foetus’ gestation at which certain parts of the body’s pain “alarm system” developed.

He concludes that pathways in the brain needed to process pain responses and hormonal stress responses are in place by 26 weeks.

But he says the crucial factor is the environmental difference between the womb - where the placenta provides a chemical environment to encourage the foetus to sleep - and that of a newborn baby, who is exposed to a wide range of stimuli and environments.

“Pain is something that comes from our experiences and develops due to stimulation and human interaction.

“It involves concepts such as location, feelings of unpleasantness and having the sensation of pain.

So, it follows to my ignorant lay-man’s mind that if one were to raise a child in a controlled environment, and carefully manage the “human interactions” and “relationships with carers” that enable it to “process the subjectivity of pain,” it should be possible to train the child to regard pain sensations as actually pleasurable — to the point perhaps where amputating the little tyke’s arm would inspire him or her to laugh rather than scream.

But doubtless this would require further studies, and it strikes me that Dr. Stuart Derbyshire is just the man to conduct them.

It was raining from the first
And I was dying there of thirst
So I came in here
And your long-time curse hurts
But what’s worse
Is this pain in here
I can’t stay in here
Ain’t it clear that–

I just can’t fit
Yes, I believe it’s time for us to quit
When we meet again
Introduced as friends
Please don’t let on that you knew me when
I was hungry and it was your world.

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