Why do people say "ow"?

>>7664475
Goddamn, I can hardly deal with this apsergers autist shit so early in the morning.

Why do people make that sound? Clear enough?

Do other languages say something other than "ow" ?

>>7664481
Yes.

>>7664475
>why do people always ask retarded questions on /sci?
Why do people always give retarded answers on /sci/?

Obviously he's asking why vocalized pain is "ow" in particular.
Think about the shape of your mouth when you saw "ow".
It's apparently a nearly default sound if you aren't trying to articulate anything specific.

>>7664475
>"ow" is a fucking an onomatopoeia
Unless "ow" is putting its dick in a word based on the sound it's naming, you must surely have meant: "ow" is a fucking onomatopoeia, which is still incorrect.

on·o·mat·o·poe·ia
ˌänəˌmadəˈpēə,ˌänəˌmädəˈpēə/
noun
noun: onomatopoeia

the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (e.g., kekoo, sizzle ).
the use of onomatopoeia for rhetorical effect.

Sure, you could call a minor injury an "owie" by naming it after the sound "ow", but we don't SAY "ow" when injured because it sounds like some other sound.

>>7664473
Only real answer you're probably going to get:

A publication in the journal of pain showed that when subjects were allowed to say "ow" repeatedly they were able to keep their hand submerged in ice water for an average 3.5 minutes longer than subjects who remained quiet.

Similar studies have indicated that swearing not only distracts you from pain, but also literally reduces the effect of the pain stimulus on the brain.

We're not sure why, but speculation goes something along these lines: The main function of pain is to indicate to your brain that your body has been harmed. The verbal response indicates to your brain that you are consciously aware of the bodily harm, and having served the purpose of making you self aware of the harm induced, the amount of pain which you feel is reduced to a lower degree.

At this point a lot of it is a mixture between psychological conjecture and incomplete neuroscience, but I am personally inclined to believe it is a reasonable enough explanation which will probably be verified once the centers of the brain which deal with pain stimulus are better understood.

>>7664473
>>7664475
>>7664485

The amount of autism in here is reaching a critical mass.

>>7664480
>apsergers autist shit
says the guy asking why people say "ow" on a science and math board.

anyways, it's just an instinct, how else do you signal pain to your group if you can't use language? go step on any animal and they will screech at you.

it's the same reason people cry for emotional reasons, it's a signal to the group that you're hurt and need attention. think of humans like the animals they are and things make a ton more sense.

>>7664485
it's the word from a sound humans make when in pain. "ow" is english specific you dolt.

also fuck off with your verbatim dictionary copy, you're not smart because you can use google.

>>7664475
>why do people always ask retarded questions on /sci?

Quit being an asshole. It's a perfectly legitimate question.

Also, you don't even know what an onomatopoeia is, so don't call others stupid.

>>7664525
Yeah, see that's what I was thinking at first as well, but it seems there's also evidence to support >>7664497 so...

File: albrecht einzfrueml.jpg (46KB, 500x403px) Image search: [Google]

46KB, 500x403px

>>7664500
Did you mean
>ow-tism

>>7664574
You. I like you.
:3

>>7664485
>Unless "ow" is putting its dick in a word based on the sound it's naming
>can't into use of "fucking" as emphasis and not always as a verb

>>7664776
>I didn't notice the extra "an" in this retards' post >>7664475
...but I'm comfortable nit-picking others

>>7664788
>nit picking grammar as a debate tactic
Step it up senpai

>>7664788
>implying
Why would he repeat what's been said
When wiseguy is providing new fuckups

>>7664473
It goes back to Auschwitz and the painful things that happened there. People used to say "au" out of respect for what happened and to show that they could relate to those who suffered during the holocaust. Due to the constant changing of language, today people know it as "ow".

>>7664497
>Vocalization is a sign that self-awareness has been achieved
>not social alerting
Why are psychologists so much stupider than biologists?

Animals cry to get other animals' attention, but obviously humans cry in order to self-actualize reality.

>>7664887
Work on your reading comprehension. I said the verbal response, as in the fact that the vocal chords are being used.

If hearing the word "ow" was the stimulus I was referring to I would have said auditory recognition.

>>7664481
...have you never heard someone yell "yow!" or "ayy!", "oof!", "mamma!", "motherfucker!", et al?

>>7665101
I read fine. Work on your comprehension comprehension.
>The verbal response indicates to your brain that you are consciously aware of the bodily harm, and having served the purpose of making you self aware of the harm induced, the amount of pain which you feel is reduced to a lower degree.

If that's really the best speculation that scientists could come up with then they're retarded. And if you support that speculation then you're retarded.

The verbal response is a reaction to perceived harm and the relief one feels upon producing a verbal response is tied to a biological social function that assumes the verbal response may be heard by others and they may come to help. This is an extremely obvious thing that psychologists would easily see if they could step out of their own field for even a second.