Do fish feel pain?

[johnny potatoes]

To be honest, I believe all animals feel pain, but not like we do. My dogs will sometimes go at it and one or the other will end up with an inch long gash on its face or a deep puncture wound. It doesn't seem to phase them in the least. If it was me it'd be a different story. How do I know dogs feel pain? I've stepped on their feet and can tell by the reaction it hurt but only for a second or two. But when I stub my toe it hurts for days.

 

[Grinch]

I recall people like that when I was in school. People who sat in a chair making up theories, cherry picked from various sources, performed no actual studies, math or tests, and ignored existing research.

We used to call them philosophers and theologians, appellations that they wore with honor. They knew and admitted that they cherry picked. They weren't trying to prove anything.

Now I guess we call those people scientists.

I understand your point, and don't disagree. Cherry-picking and aimless data mining are certainly problems that scientists need to be careful to avoid. That said, every practicing scientist I know has pet-theories about how unexplained phenomena might work, they just don't put pen to paper until they have proceeded through the scientific method to eliminate other possible explanations. In that regard Key is putting the cart before the horse.

But Key is certainly not doing something so egregious as this: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017...ics-harm-fish-should-be-retracted-report-says

 

[skjl47]

every practicing scientist I know has pet-theories about how unexplained phenomena might work, they just don't put pen to paper until they have proceeded through the scientific method to eliminate other possible explanations

Hello; back when I taught the various sciences, biology, physical science, geology, general science, I would often start a course with an activity dedicated to the proper use of the scientific method. An early step being to have a general discussion about a proposed topic with anyone putting a "theory" on a list. Sort of brainstorming. This was followed with refinement into a testable hypothesis.

 

[Ang]

It seems like the question should be "what is the pain tolerance of _______?" Not "do they feel pain?" They must feel something or they would swim into a jet of boiling water and just hang out while they cook.
But pain tolerance is a little more specific and can certainly be very different depending on species. That's why a cat can have it's uterus removed and still want to play the next day, but a human would be in bed for a couple weeks.

 

[Grinch]

Hello; back when I taught the various sciences, biology, physical science, geology, general science, I would often start a course with an activity dedicated to the proper use of the scientific method. An early step being to have a general discussion about a proposed topic with anyone putting a "theory" on a list. Sort of brainstorming. This was followed with refinement into a testable hypothesis.

This is often how it works in practice as well, though not always. It really depends on how much flexibility the senior researcher gives their students. If you're working in a lab that focuses on fundamental research you are often free to develop your own ideas/projects so long as they are directly related to the PI's interests. If you're working in a lab that does applied research the head of the lab is usually hyper-focused on a single project/question/issue and there is little freedom to pursue tangential questions/ideas.

It seems like the question should be "what is the pain tolerance of _______?" Not "do they feel pain?" They must feel something or they would swim into a jet of boiling water and just hang out while they cook.
But pain tolerance is a little more specific and can certainly be very different depending on species. That's why a cat can have it's uterus removed and still want to play the next day, but a human would be in bed for a couple weeks.

Fish definitely "feel" in the sense of sensory perception. But whether or not they "feel" in other ways is much harder to figure out. For instance, do fish get "sleepy" when they are fatigued? Do they get "mad" when you don't feed them?