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Measure for Measure Episode 5: Scoville

Ministry of Ideas

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Is Capsaicin Really a Chemical Weapon?

Capsaicin produces pain but no damage. It's just picked up by any part of our skin that happens to have pain receptors Which is why your fingers your skin like you're even your eyeballs Mercifully without taste buds can still feel spiciness. You know like the sensation of spiciness does not exist outside of the mammalian brain Are you saying it like that because it totally trips us out to think about an experience that feels like pain But actually isn't pain sure? I mean there are all kinds of subjective experiences that humans are trying to measure as a way of like communicating with each other.

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