Google ad linked to this thread:

Try The Ultimate Edge System Free & Break Through Your Life Challenges!
www.tonyrobbins.com/breakthrough

On Mon, Jul 23, 2012 at 11:33 AM, Jim Devine <[email protected]> wrote:
> also, doesn't the nervousness about the imminent walk on the "hot
> coals" create a layer of sweat around one's feet?
>
> On Mon, Jul 23, 2012 at 11:30 AM, Gar Lipow <[email protected]> wrote:
>> It is interesting that Robbins could not even run the old scam right.
>> Firewalking is one of the oldest scams in the world, and it works via
>> physics rather than woo woo. It is coal ash walking rather than firewalking.
>> The reason people don't get burnt is
>>
>> A) Coal are allowed to cool down to a temperature where they are  hot but
>> not as hot as fire.
>>
>> B) Coal is light and does not have great thermal conductivity
>>
>> C) The coal has been allowed to burn down to the point where a layer of ash
>> insulated feet from the coal
>>
>> D) People walk briskly so that feet are not in contact with the ash for very
>> long. This last is critical.
>>
>> Oh - to make the trick at all impressive, it is always done in the dark so
>> that the glow of the coal shows through the layer of ash.
>>
>> I once took part in firewalking when attending a magic show. No pretense it
>> was not a trick other than the same sort of patter used when pulling flowers
>> out of a wand.  Quite honestly, knowing the risks of something going wrong
>> (which I did not at the time) I probably would just watch today.
>>
>> A pretty cromulent explanation  along with some of the physics can be found
>> on Wikipedia. Though it misses the insulating property of ash.
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firewalking
>>
>> You would think someone running such a classic scam would take precautions
>> to make sure it was done right.
>>
>> On Mon, Jul 23, 2012 at 9:26 AM, Jim Devine <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>> from SLATE:
>>> 21 Treated for Burns After Motivational Hot-Coal Walk
>>>
>>> Things didn't go as planned for everyone at a recent Tony Robbins
>>> self-improvement seminar.
>>>
>>> By Cindy Ok | Posted Monday, July 23, 2012, at 11:10 AM ET
>>>
>>> If you play with fire, you're gonna get burned, as the saying goes. So
>>> when thousands of people walk on superheated coals, maybe it shouldn't
>>> come as a shock when more than 20 end up seeking medical treatment.
>>>
>>> The San Jose Mercury News reports that at least 21 people were treated
>>> for burn injuries last week after a late-night firewalking event on
>>> the first day of a Tony Robbins seminar at the San Jose Convention
>>> Center. Several suffered second- and third-degree burns, including at
>>> least three who went to the hospital.
>>>
>>> Robbins’ four-day "Unleash the Power Within" motivational seminar drew
>>> some 6,000 attendants. Participants who chose to do the firewalk
>>> walked across 10 feet or so of hot coals resting on grass in the
>>> nearby park late Thursday night. The New York Times reports that
>>> thousands of those on hand took part in the walk and, despite the
>>> injuries, few seemed to have any regrets.
>>>
>>> "It transformed people’s lives in a single night," Carolynn Graves, a
>>> 50-year-old real estate agent from Toronto who crossed the coals
>>> without injury, told the paper. "It’s a metaphor for facing your fears
>>> and accomplishing your goals."
>>>
>>> The self-help expert has praised the activity as a way to conquer
>>> fears, and his coaching company has stressed it has safely provided
>>> the experience for more than three decades. A representative of the
>>> local fire department, meanwhile, said it discourages people from
>>> walking on hot coals.
>>> --
>>> Jim Devine / If you're going to support the lesser of two evils, you
>>> should at least know the nature of that evil.
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> pen-l mailing list
>>> [email protected]
>>> https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Facebook: Gar Lipow  Twitter: GarLipow
>> Solving the Climate Crisis web page: SolvingTheClimateCrisis.com
>> Grist Blog: http://grist.org/author/gar-lipow/
>> Online technical reference: http://www.nohairshirts.com
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> pen-l mailing list
>> [email protected]
>> https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Jim Devine / If you're going to support the lesser of two evils, you
> should at least know the nature of that evil.
> _______________________________________________
> pen-l mailing list
> [email protected]
> https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l



-- 
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA
95929

530 898 5321
fax 530 898 5901
http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com
_______________________________________________
pen-l mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l

Reply via email to