Why do we forget the pain once the wound has healed?

There is an old Chinese saying that goes, "The scar heals and the pain is forgotten." When we say this, it usually means a little bit of blame. Why does this happen? Is this a good thing? Today, let's take a look at it from the perspective of evolution. Is "the scar heals and the pain is forgotten" an advantage or a disadvantage?

Let’s start with the conclusion: it is good in terms of evolution.

PS: This article is basically free of professional terms, and is written in plain language. It is also a running account, so please be gentle. In fact, evolution is a very complicated thing, and I myself am also confused about it.

01. Questions about evolution

1. Mutation is random, selection is directed

This is the most common misunderstanding in the theory of evolution. It is not because the air is polluted that the birch looper turns black; it is not because the carbon dioxide on the earth decreases that leaves evolve; similarly, it is not because we think the tail is useless that it degenerates...

On the contrary, these things will appear naturally even if the environment does not change, but the environment plays a screening role.

2. There is no absolute good or bad, only the fittest survive

The world is so colorful. The fiber that we don't absorb is a gift from God in the eyes of many fungi. The poisonous mushrooms that we hate are also delicious in other species.

This means that many functions are meaningful, at least to the species itself.

3. Evolution is a group concept, not an individual concept

This is something that many beginners tend to misunderstand. In layman's terms, everyone is doing well. Even if you mutate into Wolverine, if your genes cannot be inherited, then it has no meaning in evolution.

02. “Evolutionary Game Theory or Countermeasure Theory”

Okay, back to the question. For our species, humans, evolution will choose a stable strategy, which is the "evolutionary game theory or strategy theory" proposed by some scholars. Simply put, the gain of a certain function should be proportional to the input, rather than an investment regardless of cost.

In this case, you should understand that forgetting the pain once the wound has healed is actually a good idea.

First of all, you can't get scars every day, and as advanced organisms, we are almost at the top of the biosphere in terms of stress resistance. We can not only naturally fight against some external factors, such as our own endurance is top-notch among mammals, but we can also use various tools to fight, such as wearing clothes, heating and air conditioning, houses, and transportation.

All this means that we are very flexible and highly capable in responding to external stress.

Secondly, if you keep your irritability and alertness high, then it is not worth it for human beings. For example, you always have to recall the process of being injured, and you are always trembling to prevent accidents. You consume a lot of energy and have no time to focus on your own affairs, so you will naturally be filtered out by nature.

I think those who worry too much will definitely be eliminated by nature.

Okay, that’s just plain words.

03. Hyperthymesia

In fact, there is a disease called hyperthymesia, which is a branch of non-selective memory. The clinical manifestation is that the brain has an automatic memory system. This is a defect of the nervous system, which means that you cannot filter effective information, which increases the workload of the brain. This is unreasonable for the balance of the entire human race.

In fact, the brain has its own logic, although we have not yet interpreted this logic (so the so-called artificial intelligence is still a very basic computer tool, and I think it is not even appropriate to call it artificial intelligence, because it cannot simulate the human brain, and they themselves do not have intelligence). However, we can get a glimpse of this logic.

When it comes to memory, the brain has at least two advantages.

First, selective memory

The brain sifts through information, then sorts it and memorizes it according to its importance. Unimportant short-term memories quickly disappear, while important messages become long-term memories.

However, the brain will not completely forget, the brain will retain the traces left by this information in some way, so your dreams will show a lot of content. Similarly, when you encounter similar things again, you will easily become familiar with them. This is the great brain.

Second, learning ability

The brain learns, and this mechanism has not yet been solved, but our ability to draw inferences from one instance is very strong. We can even learn through simulation (commonly known as education), which means that we don’t need to remember too much content. Today I will eat apples, and tomorrow I will eat pears...

04. When the enemy comes, we will stop him; when the water comes, we will block it with earth.

Finally, let’s talk about an example:

Our immunity, our immunity is a typical balancer

Sometimes when we see people getting sick, we can’t help but ask, why can’t the human body’s immunity be raised to the highest level?

In fact, some typical examples of hyperimmunity, such as rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and lupus erythematosus, are the result of overly strong immunity, and they even begin to attack the body's own organs.

Of course, there are examples of weak immunity, such as AIDS.

Of course, there are always diseases and disasters. In this case, how can we consider a trait to be reasonable? Statistics is used for help.

Here is my favorite distribution, the normal distribution. Basically, most things can be applied to this distribution model. You have to believe that you belong to the middle part, not to the sides.

In the end, we will fight back against the enemy with our soldiers and block the water with our earth!