[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Perhaps not directly related, but at least in the same ballpark is this
anthropological observation. I recall watching a film shown by Ronald
Melzack, the pain guy, possibly when I took a course from him as an
undergraduate at McGill, but more likely much later when he gave an
invited lecture at Bishop's.
In order to illustrate the varieties of painful experience and that what
is painful in one culture may not be considered painful in another, he
showed some extreme examples. One was of an African suffering some
ailment, possibly depression. The treatment administered by the native
practitioner (can I call him a witch doctor?) was, apparently without
administering any drugs to relieve pain, to incise the patient's scalp
in the midline, peel it back on both sides, and vigorously scrub the
skull with a scraper. The patient endured this calmly and willingly while
sitting under a tree, obligingly holding a pan to catch the blood
dripping off his head. It was, as you might expect, hard to watch.
I believe that the video you are talking about can be found here:
http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/2008/02/post_4.php
I blogged about it last Valentine's Day (shudder):
http://ahp.yorku.ca/?p=317
Regards,
Chris
--
Christopher D. Green
Department of Psychology
York University
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
Canada
416-736-2100 ex. 66164
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.yorku.ca/christo/
"Part of respecting another person is taking the time to criticise his
or her views."
- Melissa Lane, in a /Guardian/ obituary for philosopher Peter Lipton
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