No, I’m not looking for answers like “because Britney did a cover of ‘I love Rock and Roll’” I mean, why do people scream when pain is being inflicted upon them? Is it to notify all in earshot of the pain? Is it to let whatever is causing the pain know that it’s actions aren’t appreciated and to please stop? I realize these are consistent with the Britney song but I think you know what I’m getting at.
Thanks in advance
I think notifying others of the danger that caused the pain is the main reason. Part of it is to get other people to come and help us (like a baby crying when something’s wrong) and part of it is to alert others to the danger so they can protect themselves, like some animals do. And I bet other people can think up some more reasons for it.
Obviously just a WAG, but a good loud scream could also scare away some attackers (in addition to the above).
I am bit more curious why some people scream in , um , let’s say pleasure.
Using mind over matter, I can ‘localise’ any pain I am feeling and channel my attention away from it. As a result, I can easily suffer from pain that others would scream their lungs out at. I can’t really ‘test’ my limits though, because there is no way I can subject myself to large amounts of pain with damaging myself in some way.
Hey Royalsampler, go stay with Stu Hart for a weekend if you want to test your limits for pain but not really get damaged (y’all see “wrestling with shadows” when they talked about Stu practically torturing guys in his basement?)
Another vote both for the alerting others and surprising the attacker enough to get away… ever grab a wild rabbit? You’d let it go REAL fast the first time you hear one of them scream!!
Well I don’t think humans instinctively scream out in pain to attract more lions.
Maybe as a release, and in a small way, to distract ourselves from it? Just thinking of what it’s like trying to fight the urge to scream, there’s a building sensation. Screaming seems to release that pressure in a way.
most excruciating pain. It served as a release. the pain seemed to go out with the scream. And I felt I could stand infinite pain if allowed to scream. The whole process is a mystery to me, and one that I prefer not to explore any more.
Evolution. Perhaps we scream out in pain to scare our attackers. Perhaps it is to sound the alarm to other humans in the area so that they may come to our assistance. But the answer is evolution.