Althouse: "A woman who was born without the ability to feel physical pain has been hurt for the first time, and seemed to enjoy it..."

December 5, 2015

"A woman who was born without the ability to feel physical pain has been hurt for the first time, and seemed to enjoy it..."

"A group of scientists treated the 39-year-old woman, who has a rare genetic anomaly, with a drug called naloxone...."

Then they burned her. She loved it. I get it. I have mostly lost my sense of smell, and I haven't noticed any bad smell in a few years. I sometimes feel that I'm smelling something, but nothing ever stinks. If something did, I'd be absolutely delighted.

18 comments:

Bob Ellison said...: I sometimes ask people which of two senses-- sight or hearing-- they would choose to give up, if they had to choose. Most people say hearing. I say sight. If smell were in the mix, I'd give that up right away. Touch would be difficult. Taste...there's a movie about a chef who loses his sense of taste but soldiers on. Humor...pain...; 12/5/15, 9:38 AM
MisterBuddwing said...: Ah, yes, kind of like when Data the Android got that emotion chip on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and tried alcohol for the first time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keOU2iF626k; 12/5/15, 9:46 AM
Michael K said...: It's interesting that an opioid receptor blocking drug got the effect of allowing her to feel pain. That suggests that something else is going on. That drug is used to treat opioid intoxication, such as overdoses.; 12/5/15, 9:46 AM
Robert J. said...: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keOU2iF626k; 12/5/15, 9:47 AM
Ipso Fatso said...: "I get it. I have mostly lost my sense of smell, and I haven't noticed any bad smell in a few years." Ann Althouse

Which is precisely the reason you married Meade!!!! Sorry, I couldn't resist. Hey, I'm here all week, try the veggie sausage.; 12/5/15, 9:47 AM
Rick67 said...: Interesting, and I'm sorry(?) to hear your sense of smell has been disappearing. In September I fell off a ladder, among other things severe head and brain injuries, and about a week after getting home noticed I cannot smell anything. At first I thought "hunh, weird, kind of funny" but it's starting to get old. Gas leaks, burning toast, milk going bad, rosemary bushes, incense at Vespers - can't smell them. One of my cousins, who's in his 40's, revealed he never had a sense of smell (think it's called congenital anosmia), we were close once, somehow never knew that. Thanks for sharing your experience.; 12/5/15, 9:57 AM
Meade said...: "Hey, I'm here all week, try the veggie sausage."

Already have. Bad odor. Plus it's sticky, tacky, and slimy to the touch.

(Sorry, couldn't resist.); 12/5/15, 10:51 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I'm sorry to hear about your head injuries, Rick.

I read somewhere about a woman who had anosmia and then hit her head and she became able to smell. I wish I knew exactly how to hit it the right way....; 12/5/15, 11:08 AM
Wince said...: It depends on who dealt it: Our own farts smell pretty good.

Also reminds me of Britain's powerful pre-war joke.; 12/5/15, 11:09 AM
Amadeus 48 said...: Meade is a prince. No problem there. BUT...
Does this explain Althouse's vote for Obama in 2008? She couldn't smell a rat?
I know, I know--McCain lost her. But hoo boy!! The last seven years! Something stinks!; 12/5/15, 11:19 AM
Anonymous said...: "I'm gonna hurl myself against a wall! Cause I'd rather feel bad than not feel anything at all." --Warren Zevon; 12/5/15, 11:35 AM
Drago said...: Its interesting to note that much of what we taste is driven by our sense of smell. If you spend time with winemakers they will tell you that smell is the most important sense when it comes to food.

They are not saying that taste buds are not "responsible" for taste. Rather that we often mean smell or olfaction when we speak of taste in day to day conversation.

This is driven by orthonasal olfaction (smells heading up your nose from outside the body) as well as retronasal olfaction (the odor compounds that are created from foods\drinks that travel up the back of the throat past the olfactory system.); 12/5/15, 11:41 AM
Unknown said...: I've come to regard my diminishing sense of smell as more of a blessing than a curse. My wife has an especially strong sense of smell so I usually know what I"m "missing out" on.; 12/5/15, 11:51 AM
Heartless Aztec said...: Yeah my shit doesn't stink anymore either. That said, putting my girlfriend's head under the covers for an in bed stank fart torture doesn't work either as she's lost her sense of smell too. While no man is ever far away from his inner 12 year old some things are not beyond the passage of time. Sigh...; 12/5/15, 1:04 PM
TreeJoe said...: A diminishing sense of smell is one of the earliest indicators of cognitive impairment onset.

First you lose smell, then you don't get enjoyment from food, lose weight, and memory starts to slip.; 12/5/15, 3:33 PM
BN said...: " I wish I knew exactly how to hit it the right way...."

Yeah, don't we all?; 12/5/15, 11:06 PM
BN said...: "Humor...pain..."

Meaning... of... life.; 12/5/15, 11:08 PM
Carnifex said...: About a decade ago i got very ill. Lost my hearing for 3 days. Absolute quiet. Some of the best days I ever had. If it weren't for music, I would be happy going deaf.; 12/6/15, 12:36 AM