Comment by ams6110
10 years ago
I would think "indifferent" is a stretch, but would agree it's something that almost everyone experienced themselves or in their immediate circles.
Another difference is that generally, "pain and suffering" was not seen as deserving financial compensation. That changed at some point last century also, maybe as it became more rare and thus more shocking to judges and juries.
Pain and suffering were well established as part of compensatory damages by the early 19th century. My theory for why they became more common was the industrial revolution. In agrarian societies, it's rare for someone to get hurt in a way that could've been prevented by someone else exercising more care.