glyphstrip FAQ button
Halo.bungie.org
glyphstrip
Frequently Asked Forum Questions
 Search the HBO News Archives

Any All Exact 
Search the Halo Updates DBs

Halo Halo2 
Search Older Posts on This Forum:
Posts on Current Forum | Archived Posts


Re: Can flood feel pain?
Posted By: hnc <porr24@gmail.com>Date: 5/23/06 11:28 p.m.

In Response To: Can flood feel pain? (Mordrorru)

: Well, can they?

Although pain is an important sensation for an organism, this is only in the context of preservation of bodily tissue. Pain warns us when we are doing something we shouldn't (like the poor girl who was insensitive to pain and has done things like bite off her fingernails and scratch her eyeballs because there was nothing to let her know she shouldn't).

But it doesn't appear that the flood care about the integrity of their bodies the way most organisms do. Ultimately the bodies they hijack and run around in are expendable. The flood, especially inasmuch as it is a hive sort of organism, wouldn't care about the integrity of the bodies it inhabits or even, to an extent, about individual flood organisms. Pain isn't useful to the flood the way it is to normal organisms, and may actually be detrimental to its survival. It would seem, at least superficially, that being able to ignore pain is more important to the survival of the flood than being aware of it. (Although this point is most definitely arguable.)

Others have pointed out that pain is just a bunch of free nerve endings firing and that the sensation of pain is the brain interpreting these firings. While this is true, I think this would tend to support the idea that the flood don't feel pain. The flood wouldn't need to (or may not be able to) interpret the nerve input of the host organism the same way a the host itself would. Although the flood seems to be monitoring and interpreting the input from the host, it may be limited to simply being aware that the host body is firing in such a way that the host would call pain (but without the accompanying sensation "pain").

Others have commented that the flood seem to "flinch" when shot. I don't remember much about this behavior that couldn't be interpreted as a mass (the flood's host) recoiling when struck by another mass (bullets, gun, etc.).

Gravemind's comments about suffering hint that some flood can feel pain. It's also possible that Gravemind is trying to express himself in terms his listeners can understand using concepts he has borrowed from the heads of organisms he has taken over and in doing so had to approximate a concept imperfectly since he had no closer word for his translation.

If I had to guess about whether or not the flood feel pain, I would say no. But I think asking whether or not the flood feel pain might be like asking whether a spider can play a trumpet well. A spider (probably) doesn't even come close to conceiving of what a trumpet may or may not be. Perhaps it's just not an applicable question; maybe the flood have no concept "pain."

At any rate, I don't think there is anything that suggests that the flood MUST feel pain. There's nothing to definitively say that they don't either. Barring somebody finding an inarguable quote from one of the books or someone with Bungie authority stepping in, this one will have to remain speculation.

But speculation is a lot of fun.


Message Index




Replies:

Can flood feel pain?Mordrorru 5/21/06 8:59 p.m.
     Re: Can flood feel pain?j41m3z 5/21/06 9:05 p.m.
           Re: Can flood feel pain?j41m3z 5/21/06 9:16 p.m.
                 Re: Can flood feel pain?Chryton 5/21/06 9:18 p.m.
                       Re: Can flood feel pain?j41m3z 5/21/06 9:27 p.m.
                             Re: Can flood feel pain?Speedhuntr 5/22/06 2:43 p.m.
                       Re: Can flood feel pain?TRIARI 117 6/7/06 8:53 a.m.
                             Re: Can flood feel pain?Raging Aura 6/7/06 10:08 p.m.
     Re: Can flood feel pain?Hikaru-119 5/21/06 9:09 p.m.
           Yes they candiablo98188 5/23/06 3:05 p.m.
           Re: Can flood feel pain?Halofan1991 5/26/06 5:23 p.m.
                 Re: Can flood feel pain?Halofan1991 5/26/06 5:30 p.m.
                       Re: Can flood feel pain?BeastIce 5/26/06 10:34 p.m.
                 Re: Can flood feel pain?Master NOODLE 5/28/06 5:28 p.m.
     Re: Can flood feel pain?Peptuck 5/21/06 9:45 p.m.
           Re: Can flood feel pain?Glovguy 5/23/06 2:37 p.m.
     Re: Can flood feel pain?halofreak1991 5/21/06 9:58 p.m.
     Re: Can flood feel pain?LostRock11 5/21/06 10:28 p.m.
           Like Rambo. *NM*DarkSim 5/21/06 11:14 p.m.
                 Re: Like Rambo.halofreak1991 5/21/06 11:43 p.m.
                       Re: Like Rambo.Sparkamus 5/21/06 11:58 p.m.
                             Re: Like Rambo.Exiled Zealot 5/22/06 12:11 a.m.
                                   Sounds a little like Chuck Norris... *NM* *NM*Coldstream 5/22/06 4:12 p.m.
                                         Pfft. Arnie eats green berets for breakfast. *NM*Barcode711 5/28/06 6:29 p.m.
           Re: Can flood feel pain?Slith 5/22/06 3:18 a.m.
     Re: Can flood feel pain?Metalnight 5/22/06 7:17 a.m.
     Re: Can flood feel pain?Vironex 5/22/06 8:29 a.m.
           Quote: 343 Guilty SparkSF Legend 5/22/06 9:51 a.m.
           Re: Can flood feel pain?Peptuck 5/22/06 9:54 a.m.
                 Re: Can flood feel pain?Mordrorru 5/22/06 12:26 p.m.
           Re: Can flood feel pain?Jillybean 5/22/06 1:05 p.m.
                 Re: Can flood feel pain?opie301 5/22/06 5:06 p.m.
                       Re: Can flood feel pain?Jack Marsh 6/10/06 12:46 a.m.
     Re: Can flood feel pain?Hookedonhalo 5/22/06 3:12 p.m.
           Re: Can flood feel pain?Ryan Broxterman (NO CAPS) 5/22/06 4:41 p.m.
     Only if you break their heart... *NM*Gryphonosiris 5/22/06 4:33 p.m.
     Re: Can flood feel pain?Darth_Marty 5/22/06 5:08 p.m.
     Re: Can flood feel pain?Omega 5/22/06 5:17 p.m.
           Ahah, but . . .Jillybean 5/22/06 5:36 p.m.
                 Well...BS Halo rks 5/22/06 6:57 p.m.
                       Re: Well...opie301 5/22/06 7:33 p.m.
                             Re: Well...Omega 5/22/06 8:03 p.m.
                                   Re: Well...UrsusArctos 5/22/06 8:11 p.m.
                                         Re: Well...Oscar Gordon 5/22/06 9:00 p.m.
                                               Re: Well...Omega 5/22/06 9:42 p.m.
                                                     Re: Well...Jacob Lowe 5/22/06 10:20 p.m.
                       Re: Well...Stephen L. (SoundEffect) 5/22/06 11:18 p.m.
                             Re: Well...UrsusArctos 5/22/06 11:51 p.m.
                             Re: Well...hnc 5/23/06 10:50 p.m.
                 Re: Ahah, but . . .UrsusArctos 5/22/06 7:35 p.m.
                       A litttle OT, but how big is Gravemind? *NM*SPARTAN-034 5/22/06 9:16 p.m.
                             Re: A litttle OT, but how big is Gravemind?UrsusArctos 5/22/06 9:46 p.m.
                             Difficult questionJillybean 5/23/06 4:49 a.m.
                                   Re: Difficult questionStephen L. (SoundEffect) 5/23/06 4:11 p.m.
                                         Re: Difficult questionUrsusArctos 5/23/06 9:38 p.m.
                                               Re: Difficult questionStephen L. (SoundEffect) 5/23/06 10:51 p.m.
                                                     Re: Difficult questionUrsusArctos 5/24/06 12:33 a.m.
                                                           Re: Difficult questionStephen L. (SoundEffect) 5/24/06 3:15 p.m.
                                                                 Re: Difficult questionSPARTAN-034 5/26/06 3:24 p.m.
                       Re: Ahah, but . . .Cain 6/10/06 12:58 a.m.
                             Re: Ahah, but . . .Sparkamus 6/10/06 1:39 a.m.
                 Re: Ahah, but . . .floppysoup 5/24/06 2:53 p.m.
     Re: Can flood feel pain?Mordrorru 5/23/06 3:10 a.m.
           Re: Can flood feel pain?Jillybean 5/23/06 4:57 a.m.
           Re: Can flood feel pain?opie301 5/23/06 11:02 a.m.
     Re: Can flood feel pain?The First Spartan 5/23/06 6:58 p.m.
     Re: Can flood feel pain?hnc 5/23/06 11:28 p.m.
           Re: Can flood feel pain?j41m3z 5/23/06 11:44 p.m.
           Nice *NM*Jillybean 5/24/06 6:47 a.m.
     Retard Strength *NM*floppysoup 5/24/06 2:39 p.m.
           Re: Retard StrengthOmega 5/24/06 2:50 p.m.
                 Re: Retard Strengthfloppysoup 5/24/06 3:03 p.m.
                       Re: Retard StrengthSparkamus 5/24/06 3:07 p.m.
                             Re: Retard StrengthShortRoundMcfly 5/24/06 4:07 p.m.
                                   Re: Retard StrengthLee 113 5/24/06 7:27 p.m.



contact us

The HBO Forum Archive is maintained with WebBBS 4.33.