Abstract
Pain is not a primitive sensory event but rather a complexperception and a process by which a person interacts with theinternal and external environments, constructs meaning, andengages in action. Because folk beliefs are central to meaning,folk concepts of pain play multiple causal roles in a painpatient's interaction with health care providers and others.In every case, the notion of pain is linked to a goal-directedbehavior that is useful to the person. The wide variation inconcepts of pain across individuals suffering with painunderscores the richness and complexity of the pain experience.In some cases involving chronic pain, the patient may form amaladaptive cluster of behaviors around the concept of pain.Patient beliefs and expectations are an important part of manychronic pain syndromes, and patients can benefit fromintervention directed at revising the individual's folk model of pain. Memetics offers a framework for identifying the memesthat patients hold and determining whether patient memes fitor clash with provider memes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aldrich, S. and Eccleston, C., in press: Making sense of everyday pain, Social Science and Medicine.
Andersson, G. B., 1999: Epidemiological features of chronic low-back pain, Lancet 354(9178), 581–585.
Austin, J. L., 1962: How to Do Things with Words, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Blackmore, S., 1999: The Meme Machine, Oxford University Press, London.
Brodie, R., 1996: Virus of the Mind: the New Science of the Meme, Integral Press, Seattle.
Carr, D. B. and Cousins, M. J., 1997: Trends in pain management 1987–1996: An evidence-based survey, Curr. Opin. Anaesthesiol. 10, xliii-xlvi.
Chapman, C. R. and Gavrin, J., 1999: Suffering: The contributions of persistent pain, Lancet 9171), 2233–2237.
Chapman, C. R. and Nakamura, Y., 1999: Pain and consciousness: A constructivist approach, Pain Forum 8(3), 113–123.
Dawkins, R., 1976: The Selfish Gene, Oxford University Press, London.
Dennett, D. C., 1991: Two contrasts: Folk craft versus folk science, and belief versus opinion, in D. C. Dennett (ed.) (1998), Brainchildren, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 81–94.
Elliott, A. M., Smith, B. H., Penny, K. I., Smith, W. C., and Chambers, W. A., 1999: The epidemiology of chronic pain in the community, Lancet 354(9186), 1248–1252.
Jacobson, L., Mariano, A. J., Chabal, C. and Chaney, E. F., 1997: Beyond the needle: Expanding the role of anesthesiologists in the management of chronic non-malignant pain, Anesthesiology 87(5), 1210–1218.
Malle, B. F. and Knobe, J., 1997: The folk concept of intentionality, J. Exper. Social Psychol. 33, 101–121.
Moritz, E., 1990: Memetic science: I. General introduction, J. Ideas 1, 1–23.
Moritz, E., 1995: Metasystems, memes and cybernetic immortality, in F. Heylighen, C. Joslyn and V. Turchin (eds), The Quantum of Evolution: Toward a Theory of Metasystem Transitions, Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, New York.
Plotkin, H., 1993: Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Rorty, R., 1978–1979: Philosophy as a kind of writing: An essay on Derrida, New Literary History X, 141–160.
Rorty, R., 1979: Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ.
Rorty, R., 1982: Consequences of Pragmatism, Univ. of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, pp. 90–109.
Searle, J. R., 1969: Speech Acts: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, UK.
Sullivan, M., 1999: Between first-person and third-person accounts of pain in clinical medicine, in M. Max (ed.), Pain 1999-An Updated Review, IASP Press, Seattle, WA.
Wittgenstein, L., 1958: Philosophical Investigations (Tr. GEM Anscombe), Macmillan, New York.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chapman, C.R., Nakamura, Y. & Chapman, C.N. Pain and Folk Theory. Brain and Mind 1, 209–222 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010079214372
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010079214372