>>82848364
Wait until you find out that fungi can act like neurons. Despite slime molds having 'mold' in their name, they're not actually fungi but instead giant amoebas. Behold! The mold shall tug on your heartstrings! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qREuXKvWMqA

In all seriousness though, pain is a really universal thing but it helps to abstract it. We have the habit of empathizing and sympathizing with a lot of these organisms, but their means of feeling pain or processing information are very robotic. Direct, not-so-complex. Pain is itself a very basal necessity for life, as it's just the means of detecting damage and the responses to pain are likewise necessary for survival. Plus if you worry about all of the plants and fungi then you'll just be sad all of the time.

I'm kind of vaccinated now. I got whooping cough as a kid, that wasn't fun, but otherwise I pulled through. I do have my tetanus vaccine up-to-date, but I don't really go out in public if I can help it. Also you don't have to worry too much about needing a vaccine if you never meet anyone in person B^). You haven't gotten sick from anything vaccinatable as a teen/adult though, have you?

I'd be up for hearing about cluster C disorders, I've suspected that I'd qualify for a diagnosis of AvPD for some time now actually. For Tourettes, isn't there a component of it that stems from, well, the brainstem? I swear I remember something like that. I also know that I've heard about people who faked having Tourettes and forcing themselves to do tics actually ended up having those tics remain as more permanent facets of their lives, which is funny and I remember a South Park episode joking about that.

You guys have tons of cool wild life, you and New Zealand. Speaking of your fish though, have you heard of the salamanderfish that you guys have? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepidogalaxias