Explore the biological and psychological factors that influence how we experience pain and how our nervous system reactions to harmful stimuli. -- In 1995, the British Medical Journal published a report about a builder who accidentally jumped onto a nail, which pierced straight through his steel-toed boot. He was in such agonizing pain that any movement was unbearable. But when the doctors took off his boot, they discovered that the nail had never touched his foot at all. What’s going on? Joshua W. Pate investigates the experience of pain. Lesson by Joshua W. Pate, directed by Artrake Studio. Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletter Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreon Follow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebook Find us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitter Peep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-mysterious-science-of-pain-joshua-w-pate Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Jose Arcadio Valdes Franco, Brandy Sarver, Guy Hardy, Tu-Anh Nguyen, Karl Laius, Madee Lo, JY Kang, Marc Bou Zeid, Abhishek Goel, Charles A Hershberger, Coenraad Keuning, Robert Seik, Heidi Stolt, Alexis Hevia, Todd Gross, Brady Jones, Christina Salvatore, Zhong Ming Zenny Tan, Karisa Caudill, Bruno Pinho, Derek Drescher, Mihail Radu Pantilimon, Amin Shahril, Mohamed Elsayed, Barthélémy Michalon, Chumi Ogbonna, Karlee Finch, Mohammad Said, jj5252, Kelvin Lam, Mauricio Basso, Athena Grace Franco, Tirath Singh Pandher, Melvin Williams, Tsz Hin Edmund Chan, Nicolas Silva, Raymond Lee, Kurt Almendras, Denise A Pitts, Abdallah Absi, Dee Wei, Richard A Berkley, Tim Armstrong, Daniel Nester, Hashem Al, denison martins fernandes, Doug Henry, Arlene Spiegelman, Michał Friedrich and Joshua Wasniewski.