# Which one hurts more, eating the hottest pepper in the world, or getting beaten up? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 24, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-one-hurts-more-eating-the-hottest-pepper-in-the-world-or-getting-beaten-up/686897 "2014-04-24T21:37:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Slippery\_Sid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@Slippery\_Sid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slippery_Sid)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-one-hurts-more-eating-the-hottest-pepper-in-the-world-or-getting-beaten-up/686897/1 "2014-04-24T21:37:51Z")
This is less of a factual question, and more of a discussion. Because there are so many variables, such as your sensitivity to capsaicin and how bad you get beaten up. Let’s assume two situations. In both of these situations, you can’t fight back or defend yourself because you are small, weak, and nerdy like me. So you just have to lay down and take it: 1. You are a homosexual in a ghetto neighborhood and getting beaten up by a pack of maybe 5 strong muscular homophobics. (i say this, because a beat down from rival drug dealers or a loan shark would probably be far, far more severe and lethal than just some annoyed homophobics.) 2. You are getting beaten up by 1 strong male who just hates you for no reason. Your bones will be broken. The hottest pepper in the world is the carolina reaper. Only 7 generations old, it’s a newly made hybrid. The closest i’ve ever gotten is salsa made of the 2nd hottest pepper in the world, the trinidad scorpion. And man that is a test of your ability to tolerate pain. If getting beaten up hurts more than that, \*\*\*\* it, I’m done. Living the rest of my life hiding in an underground shelter. The carolina reaper is hotter than pepper spray, with an average of 1,569,300 scoville heat units and peak levels of over 2,200,000 scoville heat units. For reference, a habanero is 100,000-300,000 SHU. A jalapeno is 2,500-5,000 SHU. Sriracha sauce is 1,000-2,500 SHU. Merely eating 800,000 SHU hot sauce is described as “pliers clamping down on your tongue” and “10 grit sandpaper on the tongue, as hard as you can” even when TRAINED hot pepper eaters eat it. Don’t underestimate the pain either; it’s unfathomable and impossible to imagine if you’ve never experienced it.\ On the other hand, the pain from a hot pepper, while unbearable, will go away in 30 minutes. But a broken bone is a pain for months. I’ve never been beaten up, but I’m growing some trinidad scorpion peppers and I want to be ready, in case I wander in the wrong neighborhood and get beaten up. Need an idea of what it’s like. ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-one-hurts-more-eating-the-hottest-pepper-in-the-world-or-getting-beaten-up/686897/2 "2014-04-24T21:42:15Z")
How long did the pain from the trinidad scorpion pepper last? ---
**Author:** ![Slippery\_Sid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@Slippery\_Sid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slippery_Sid)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-one-hurts-more-eating-the-hottest-pepper-in-the-world-or-getting-beaten-up/686897/3 "2014-04-24T22:00:28Z")
It lasts for maybe 10 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-one-hurts-more-eating-the-hottest-pepper-in-the-world-or-getting-beaten-up/686897/4 "2014-04-24T22:04:31Z")
Well I can guarantee the pain from a good beating is gonna last a LOT longer than 10 minutes. And once again I gotta ask - why are you bringing homosexuality into this? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-one-hurts-more-eating-the-hottest-pepper-in-the-world-or-getting-beaten-up/686897/5 "2014-04-24T22:06:40Z")
I really think this calls for an experiment, with the OP as the test subject. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-one-hurts-more-eating-the-hottest-pepper-in-the-world-or-getting-beaten-up/686897/6 "2014-04-24T22:14:05Z")
My ER copay is $75. I’ll take 30 minutes of cost-free soul-searing pain, Alex. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-one-hurts-more-eating-the-hottest-pepper-in-the-world-or-getting-beaten-up/686897/7 "2014-04-24T22:18:34Z")
> [@Slippery\_Sid](#): > > 1. You are a homosexual in a ghetto neighborhood and getting beaten up by a pack of maybe 5 strong muscular homophobics. (i say this, because a beat down from rival drug dealers or a loan shark would probably be far, far more severe and lethal than just some annoyed homophobics.) > [@Which one hurts more, eating the hottest pepper in the world, or getting beaten up?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-one-hurts-more-eating-the-hottest-pepper-in-the-world-or-getting-beaten-up/686838/11): > > **Moderator Action** > > General Questions is for factual questions. This isn’t factual. > > I would move this to IMHO or Great Debates, but I’m pretty sure that the unnecessary racist and homophobic remarks are just going to derail the entire thread. So instead I am just going to close this. > > Feel free to start a new thread in the appropriate forum (IMHO if you just want to poll what others think, GD if you want to argue about it), focusing only on the pain issue and the two choices, and without the racist and homophobic remarks. **Moderator Warning** **Slippery Sid** , the first time you started a thread like this, **engineer\_comp\_geek** told you that you could start a new thread, but without the homophobic aspect. I don’t see what the homophobia (or the fact that it’s in a ghetto) has to do with the comparison to hot peppers. This is an official warning for violating moderator instructions, and for trolling. If you continue to play this game, you may find your posting privileges in jeopardy. Colibri Moderator