As you probably already know: To speed response and thus reduce injury, pain signals are routed first to the spinal cord, rather than to the brain (meaning that there is a shorter pathway requiring less time for the nerve impulse to travel). Here's a very simplified explanation.
Regards,
Also, the water inherent in the finger (better if licked first) forms a “Crooks Layer” of steam which briefly protects the finger.
Thanks for the interesting article. In my personal experience however, there is often a delay from the time when one is seriously injured and the time when one realizes what has happened or is still happening... This time period is far longer than a reflexive response. The delay is even longer when someone has their full concentration on any type of task. And of course, when you get whacked hard enough in the head everything often goes haywire especially if you are experiencing the results of a concussion.
I have led a life where relatively serious injuries were a common occurrence especially in my childhood. It is a minor miracle that I survived into adulthood especially with all my limbs still intact.
My mother was once telling my wife how the house we lived in when I was a toddler had a tall set of concrete stairs that went down to a sidewalk. She said that in the summer that I repeatedly rode my tricycle down the steps and would pick myself up at the bottom and continue on. My wife asked if they ever put up a baby gate. She said that they did but that I figured out how to get it open immediately. My mom said that at that point they figured that I would learn, but that it took a while.
I may have told you previously... as I got older, I took up more risky behaviors such as jumping out of trees and off of higher and higher structures. I constructed bicycle and motorcycle jumps, and also rudimentary kites and hang gliders that we towed behind the tractor in an attempt to make it aloft. When I could afford it, I bought a used professionally constructed hang glider and was eventually able to jump off of cliffs and soar with it. Fortunately, before I managed to kill myself, I found others with more experience, and they taught me how to fly more safely. And I eventually transitioned into general aviation where safety is a high priority.
But, I must admit that there seems to be something missing in my brain that normally prevents others from doing stupid things. It seems to be a hereditary trait from my father’s side of the family that has caused a disproportionate number of my male ancestors to die young from traumatic injuries. Now that I am older, experiences have taught me to become much more cautious. I have not hurt myself in a stupid way that I can recall in months.