After a few minutes of fiddling around trying to find out where things went, I realized my finger had a big 4mm deep gouge in it with blood filling up and skin hanging over top. But I didn't feel this pain, when I broke the piece of metal.. because of the smashing sounds that went off while everything hit the ground.

Sound, inhibits pain? I only found the blood a few minutes later, and the pain really only started pinching me harshly when I looked at my finger. It did occur to me that I touched my finger lightly and maybe nudged it.. but I didn't feel any gouging or deep slashing into my skin.. because of the loud sounds of smashing tools hitting the ground at the time.

When I started looking at my finger and when I saw the gouge and the big deep inner piece of skin hanging out that it ripped, I started imagining how the tool and metal could have slashed and knived my skin so badly... and only then, only at this point, I started to imagine how painful that could be.. a tool doing that sort of thing to a human finger. But I never felt any of these things I was starting to imagine, in reality!

I only started putting images in my head after I realized I had gouged the finger.. I only started putting skin scraping and kniving sounds in my mind of what it would have sounded like to have skin stabbed and ripped into. But I heard none of these sounds in actuality, while the incident occurred!

It is therefore my theory, that sound inhibits pain, and actual pain is far less than perceived pain. For if I had left my finger floating in the air without looking at it, and for if I had not seen the blood come out of my finger, and for if someone had hidden my finger from me, and for if I did not feel or see my skin hanging out, I would have thought that it was a small nudge, and maybe a bruise.

I even began typing this article, at that moment I saw the blood, as I was stunned and needed to trap this thought immediately - otherwise my brain would have played tricks and started feeding me images of what I felt instead of what I actually did feel.

Now I must go to the sink, and possibly get a band-aid.. if the blood doesn't dry hard enough and quick enough.

Also, a hug is a far more effective than painkillers they use in hospitals - but that is for another article. This little incident, fortunately, doesn't even require a hug, as I have some programming to do and I don't have the time or a person within a kilometer that would fit.