– Why do we scream when something painful happens to us?
In: 441
This is all anecdotal because I actually don’t know.
1) it lets others around us know that there’s danger. If it’s because we were attacked, it’ll let others around us know that we either need to flee, fight or or help us.
2) it helps with pain. A few curses shouted out helps with pain. I don’t know how it happens or why but it does. Probably because curses are often times emotional, and emotions are just as physical as pain. Swear it out, you let out the pain.
Most animals signal when they’re hurt. It’s a survival trait because it can scare away a predator which hurt you, summon help, or (for group survival) warn others away. In humans, it mostly summons help, because we’re very group-oriented. In some other animals, like deer, it usually causes the rest of the group to scatter, so most of them survive.
For things like hitting our thumb with a hammer, we still react with a scream because our basic instincts don’t differentiate between damage from a bite or from a hammer. They just go right from pain to scream. And, for some reason we don’t totally understand yet, screaming also seems to reduce the amount of pain we feel.
Let’s imagine you’re playing with your favorite toy, and suddenly, you accidentally hit your toe against the hard edge of the table. Ow! That hurts a lot, doesn’t it?
So, when you feel that pain, a special message gets sent super fast from your toe all the way up to your brain, like a little speedy race car. Your brain is kind of like the boss of your body, and it decides what you should do about the pain.
Sometimes, your brain tells you to cry or scream. That’s because making noise is one way your body can tell other people, “Hey, I’m hurt! I need help!” Even if you’re alone, your body might still do it, just in case there’s someone nearby who could come and help you.
So Tldr and eli5
Making noise when hurt helps us so that the rest of the group is alerted and will help us recover. So we are more likly to survive
So fort of evolution happens. Not with a goal it just happens and whatever proves more advantageous or less bothersome will get more offspring.
When we try to explain why sth in nature developed the way it did we try to find a evolutionary benefit in the sense I described. This benefit happened not by design or by any goal but just by the fact that it provides slightly better odds at spreading your genes, so our explanation is assigning a cause to sth we ultimately just now about that it was advantageous but not why specifically.
That non eli5 Disclaimer said.l a slightly less non eli5
A reasonable cause to why this proved useful in humans is that we are social animals. By signaling that we are hurt we not only warn the rest of our group that here is some danger they have to look for but we also signify that we need immediate care. And since we are social it’s likly that our group will provide that care.
Imagine being silent like the prey animals. For them it’s useful to be silent as to not show weakness, that will lead to attention. But we are hunters we will actively defend ourselfs so that is a lesser concern. But if we were silent while being bitten by a snake we would have to actively warn others that here is a undetecated threat. By screaming the whole group is on watch out immediately and will find the snake and prevent being bitten.
Also let’s assume we got hurt but do not make that know. We won’t receive any care and would have to endure our wound silently or would need to actively tell someone. But by screaming and singing and stuff the others will notice immediately and we will receive care and survive that with more likly hood than otherwise.
Guess my loud screams not just for show, but for the survival of the pack! Sorry to scare you, guys.
If you scream when your safety is threatened, you are more likely to survive long enough to pass on your genes.
Add a few million years of evolution and bingo.
Doesn’t everything with vocal chords scream out when in pain?
Many animals scream when injured. It may have evolved as a tactic to scare or startle the attacker, allowing escape.
It’s a reflex instinct.
We’re not exactly herd animals but close enough.
It lets the rest of the ‘herd’ aware of a couple things.
1. There is a danger. Serving as a warning.
2. You are hurt and may need help. Serving as a call for help.
I saw a study with people holding their hands in ice water split into three groups. People that had to stay quiet pulled out first on average. Those that were allowed to yell were able to withstand for longer. The third group was able to yell swear words and was able to last longer than the yellers without swearing. Yelling increased the pain threshold for those in the study.
Now if I’m able to guess I’d bet we notice over time that we feel better when we yell and train ourselves to do it subconsciously.
Latest Answers