50 Mildly Infuriated People Shared What Caused This Emotion (New Pics)

Life is never as simple as one might want it to be. Even though most of us have a decent grasp of physics, as far as our own bodies are concerned, the universe still finds ways to remind us that even the most tiny little things can end up causing a lot of pain. Take, for example, the simple papercut.

The word alone is normally enough for most folks to have a visceral reaction. Some might shudder, others cringe at the idea of running a finger along the edge of a sheet of paper. For those who have never had to go through this, congrats. Simply put, the edges of paper, while fragile, are quite sharp and, as it turns out, we tend to have to manipulate paper with our hands.

One might ask, why do papercuts hurt that much? After all, there is nothing “mild” about one. Most would see it as the main tragedy of the day. In short, it’s a case where our own bodies work against us. Papercuts, mercifully, are often very shallow. The downside is that this means the finger’s pain receptors are exposed to the air without blood to help limit the pain.

Not to mention, your fingers tend to have a lot of sensory receptors, after all, we can obtain a huge amount of information from just touch. In general, this is a good thing most days. However, when cut with a piece of paper, all those helpful little receptors are screaming at our brain that, actually, there is a major issue going on here.

To add more insult to injury, most commercial paper is treated with chemicals such as bleach. One doesn’t have to be a medical expert to realize just how uncomfortable, say, bleach can be if it gets in a wound. At the very least, the humble papercut serves as a reminder that even the smallest things can find a way to inflict a lot of discomfort.