This finding is known as an empathy gap , and it helps to explain why doctors underestimate their patients ' pain and why patients themselves underestimate how painful upcoming procedures will be . Three GOP presidential candidates say waterboarding is not a form of torture . The Associated Press contributed to this report. Illicit torture or an acceptable interrogation practice ? asks Loran Nordgren . Nordgren : People who do n't experience something ca n't estimate just how painful it is . People who volunteer to experience waterboarding see it as torture , Nordgren says .
Three GOP presidential candidates say waterboarding is not a form of torture . The Associated Press contributed to this report. Illicit torture or an acceptable interrogation practice ? asks Loran Nordgren . Nordgren : People who do n't experience something ca n't estimate just how painful it is . People who volunteer to experience waterboarding see it as torture , Nordgren says .