Steven Byrnes provides an explanation here, but I think he’s neglecting the potential for belief systems/systems of interpretation to be self-reinforcing.
Predictive processing claims that our expectations influence what we observe, so experiencing pain in a scenario can result in the opposite of a placebo effect where the pain sensitizes us. Some degree of sensitization is evolutionary advantageous—if you’ve hurt a part of your body, then being more sensitive makes you more likely to detect if you’re putting too much strain on it. However, it can also make you experience pain as the result of minor sensations that aren’t actually indicative of anything wrong. In the worst case, this pain ends up being self-reinforcing.
Steven Byrnes provides an explanation here, but I think he’s neglecting the potential for belief systems/systems of interpretation to be self-reinforcing.
Predictive processing claims that our expectations influence what we observe, so experiencing pain in a scenario can result in the opposite of a placebo effect where the pain sensitizes us. Some degree of sensitization is evolutionary advantageous—if you’ve hurt a part of your body, then being more sensitive makes you more likely to detect if you’re putting too much strain on it. However, it can also make you experience pain as the result of minor sensations that aren’t actually indicative of anything wrong. In the worst case, this pain ends up being self-reinforcing.
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/BgBJqPv5ogsX4fLka/the-mind-body-vicious-cycle-model-of-rsi-and-back-pain