Pain 2
Today I made an ugly mistake. I took the careless working style a bit too far.
I was widening a hole on a small 3D-printed part with a 12 mm drill on the drill press and held the piece only with my left hand.
At one point I got a bad feeling about it. I had learned in University to keep my hands away from sharp tools spun by a machine with high torque.
At one point, I couldn't hold the piece anymore and it turned my index finger into the drill. Immediately it started wrapping around the drill and I managed to pull it away and switch off the machine just in time.
The bending of my finger and the cut caused a sharp pain accompanied by immediate panic. I was lucky. I sustained only a light cut and the finger was not broken.
A while later it didn't hurt anymore at all. Even now, the pain has completely disappeared.
Apparently pain is a more complex sensation than I had assumed. It depends on context.
In this case, an immediate reaction was necessary to prevent more severe injury. So the pain was sharp and fast and caused an immediate release of adrenaline to facilitate my fast reaction. I checked my finger and realized it was still okay.
Whereas last year I sustained a small injury during an abrupt movement of my finger that already had a defined end. During this movement I poked a shard of glass fiber deep under my fingernail. But there was nothing to prevent.
It just happened. And so the pain response was comparatively low. I just noticed it.
Isn't that amazing?