
Women don't sense pain in the same way men do - evo_9
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2010/11/when-it-comes-to-pain-women-may-not-feel-the-same-as-men.ars
======
shubber
Best comment: "Overall, the paper isn't fantastic. There are some additional
experiments and better controls that might have made for a more convincing
case." It's so nice not to see science journalism gushing about their
misunderstanding of the results.

~~~
farnsworth
Agreed- I had to read that sentence twice.

Tomorrow on cnn.com: "Scientists say women don't feel pain"

------
shib71
This is how science reporting should be done. Not only does he intelligently
explain the core findings of the research, and he also examines its quality.
More of this please.

~~~
clint
We do it every day ;) <http://arstechnica.com/science/>

------
ciupicri
One of the reasons for which women tolerate pain better than men is that they
have to give birth. Even if some women manage to do it without pain killers,
it's still not a walk in the park.

~~~
elptacek
This was my first thought, as well. But after re-reading the article, it's not
clear to me that women have a higher tolerance for pain, just that we require
two types of receptors to be active to feel relief from morphine, and that the
"complex" of proteins fluctuates with the estrous cycle. I can say that
certain painful acts in the context of my multiparous experience have resulted
in a flood of pain relief from somewhere within my person shortly after the
onset of pain. Things that I was not aware my body could tolerate became
tolerable. All very strange.

------
yequalsx
During our hunter/gatherer phase it seems to me that men who could feel pain
more easily had an advantage in combat against animals. Knowing you're
seriously hurt gives you a strong signal to retreat. Being able to withstand
pain in the heat of battling an animal might lead to more recklessness and
therefore a shorter lifespan.

~~~
ars
The trouble with your idea is that you could reverse it and it would make just
as much sense. (Being able to get injured and still be able to succeed, etc.)

~~~
yequalsx
It's not really succeeding if you keep going with a serious injury that leads
to death. In those times infections from gashing wounds were much more likely
to be fatal than they are today.

------
ptrick
Slapping your wife is now justified.

~~~
mtinkerhess
Domestic abuse isn't a subject to make light of.

~~~
ptrick
You're fun at parties. I can tell.

------
danbmil99
I don't get it -- can I beat my wife, or not?

