Pain has an evolutionary history that helps us understand its survival value. For humans, this evolutionary history is centered around our powerful social capacities. Because these social capacities involve evaluating and responding to pain, we argue that human pain has an essentially social nature.
Sullivan MD, de C Williams AC. The social nature of human pain. Pain. 2024 Apr 19. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003250. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38718198.