Although I think you're a pretty intellectual person, I do admit you're in the wrong here. Saying that you don't need to be in ice water to know what it feels like is the lesser equivalent to saying that you don't need to have been shot by a bullet to know what it feels like to be shot by a bullet.
I may have put my hand in it for a few moments before and if memory recalls, I don't recall being that painful. I can't imagine quickly dumping a bucket over my head would put me in terrible pain.
Like I said, people have done some pretty weird and even disgusting (and yes, 'painful') stuff for fun before.
So you know something doesn't hurt despite the fact you've never done it? Seriously go to a bath tub run the cold tap till its full grab a big bag of ice and tell me if it isn't painful. Hell ice water is used as a tolerance test for a lot of studies why would they do that if it isn't painful?
http://m.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-cold-pressor-test.htm
lol wow. Maybe most people are just wussies. And how does any of that prove that people won't do something like this for fun (which was my whole original point?) You don't think someone will try something like this just to test their durability?
And why is any of this relevant anyhow? It's not like any of the people being asked to take the challenge are being asked to dump their entire head underneath a water full of ice-cold water for one minute or swim around in it for a hour or something. All you're doing is pouring a large bucket of water on yourself and then within seconds the worse part (when the water is first rushing down on you) is over. You're drenched in cold water but I can't imagine it puts you in terrible pain. And I'm willing to bet that 99.9% of people doing this have never experienced it before either, so even if it ended up being "painful" to them, they wouldn't know it before doing it, which is part of the fun in taking the challenge.
Then why is ice water used as a fucking endurance test for soldiers?
Don't know, don't care. Debating how painful it is or isn't isn't the point anyway. I said a lot of people were taking the challenge for fun and from what I can see, they are. You can tell by how many of them (all?) pump themselves up for it in a giddy matter before the water is dumped on them.
These are some clear examples of someone having fun doing it. I imagine most people who do this would react like this.
