gsmith@brahms.BERKELEY.EDU (Gene Ward Smith) (09/26/86)
In article <782@cbmvax.cbmvax.cbm.UUCP> daveh@cbmvax.cbm.UUCP (Dave Haynie) writes: >> As an aside, someone else mentioned that after a short time, shock would >> have caused Jesus to pass out-- or at least stop feeling pain. I have a >> friend who works as an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) who agrees with >> this, saying that people who lose fingers/hands/limbs usually feel no pain >> because of shock. On the other hand, I've got another friend who has actually >> lost a finger. He said it hurt like hell. >I may have posted on that. There's going to be a period of time starting >immediately with an injury like that, in which the victim wouldn't feel >any pain, do to shock and maybe endorphans (sp?) or other naturally produced >pain killers. This effect will eventually wear off, though I would think that >the blood loss resulting from spikes being driven through one's wrists >would be sufficient to result in unconsciousness during the hour or so of >shock. >Being nailed to a cross seems more like the idea of >being hung from a tall tree. Neither a great way to go, but its more a >show for the public than a torture of the victim. I don't know too much about it, but quite a bit of thought has been given to the question of how painful crucifixion is. The consensus seems to be very. Medical evidence and contemporary (i.e. Roman) accounts indicate it can go on quite a while, and that death is most often from asphyixiation. People who have had themselves crucified (and you thought usentters were strange!) generally can't take it for too long. ucbvax!brahms!gsmith Gene Ward Smith/UCB Math Dept/Berkeley CA 94720 "Last week in a dream I gave a fellow my shirt buttons to differentiate and the fellow ran away with them." -- Engels