[some_not_all]

Yeah, I'm aware. Can we frame the concept differently?

Why the projection of "alone with thoughts"? Why seed the concept of existential dread in the mind of the reader of the study results?

How do the researchers know that it was assuredly the terror of the subject's own mind, their internal monologue or what have you, which certainly provoked them to preoccupy themselves with pain?

Answer: they cannot know why the individuals shocked themselves, but only that the shock happened.

[disgruntledphd2]

Totally agreed. I have this dataset open in R at home, and intend to dig into it a bit more. One would expect the meditation participants to be more comfortable.

But to be fair, if I was left alone in a room with a button that would shock me, I would probably push the button at least once.

[ajsalminen]

> But to be fair, if I was left alone in a room with a button that would shock me, I would probably push the button at least once.

That was my thought as well but didn't they provide a sample of how it feels to each participant beforehand so it was not new to them anymore?