How do they know that lobsters feels no pain when they're boiled?

Question

A recent study shows that lobsters feel no pain, even when they're boiled. How do they know that? And why would that be?

Quite fascinating.

http://www.livescience.com/health/080725-pain-facts.html

Answer 1

I read the article and Please Read The Line Carefully -

Lobsters feel no pain, even when boiled, scientists said in a 2005 report that is just one more salvo in a long-running debate.

The report is of year 2005.

Here is an article which appeared in The Guardian, Thursday November 8 , 2007

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/n...

Here is another one -

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story...

So they do feel pain.

Answer 2

Lobsters have a very simple nervous system and lack the receptors that transmit pain signals to their tiny brain.

On the other hand, they do not feel comfort from pleasurable things either.

Answer 3

I don't know why people believe this.  (probably because they are boiled lobster lovers).

I've boiled lobster, and the way they thrash their tails when you dip them in the water, can only lead me to believe that they are not enjoying the feeling too much.  

Now when i eat lobster, I quickly stick a knife in the tender spot between their eyes on their head.  It kills them instantly so they don't suffer as much.  (it's still hard for me though lol)

Answer 4

The "scream" reported heard when they 'hit' the boiling water...is not a scream----it is the sound of steam shooting out of a (consistent) hole in the shell.  I think they know this bcz lobsters have no brain (or it is so smalll it's nearly non-existant) and therefore don't feel.  Which would fall into the aspect of the manner in which lobsters grow new claws when one is ripped off (in battle, by accident, or however).   Crabs do this as well.

Answer 5

i think they feel pain just like an animal feels pain when they get shot or their head cut off.

they lobster cant say

"owww no stop please that hurts oww!!"

so the people who kill them say it doesn't hurt them so they don't feel guilty.

Answer 6

There is no question that lobsters feel pain. All animals, even simple ones like jellyfish or sponges, can feel pain to a certain degree - it is an essential survival mechanism. Lobsters as a species would not have survived very long without it - they would just sit there when attacked and allow themselves to be killed by predators. I suspect this 'study' was conducted by those who are likely to benefit from convincing people that it isn't cruel to boil a lobster alive.

That said, there isn't really a quick and easy way to kill an animal with a tough exoskeleton like a lobster - smashing it over the head or trying to cut its head off would probably cause greater suffering. Dropping it into boiling water kills it quickly, and though it is rather cruel, it's likely less so than any other method. Remember that it isn't put in cold water and then gradually cooked - it goes straight into boiling water, and is probably dead in a matter of seconds. Though it's commonly believed that lobsters 'scream' when dropped in boiling water, this sound is merely the air trapped in the carapace escaping - it isn't actually screaming in pain.

Answer 7

All I know is they're delicious.

And related to centipedes, which don't look very delicious.