If you’ve ever stepped on a LEGO piece, you know that it hurts. But did you know it probably hurts more than walking over hot coals or broken glass?
You could take this fellow’s word for it…
Leave it to the Smithsonian to give us a detailed, scientific answer, which is as much about why glass and coals are less bad than you think than why LEGO is worse. Glass, first of all, while it can be nastily pointy and jagged, is likely to break under your weight. It’s usually in pretty small pieces for “glass walks” anyway, and the pressure of your feet is likely to grind it down even further. This is also how sideshow carneys eat glass–they crunch it down with the pressure from their teeth, eventually grinding it into small enough grains that it’s not likely to cut their throats.
Hot coals simply aren’t good conductors of heat, so as long as you don’t linger too long, you can move from coal to coal before the burning temperature transfers to your foot. You might have noticed the coals people “firewalk” on are rarely aflame, but usually just smoldering.
LEGO, however, is made of plastic so hard it can withstand almost 950 lbs before buckling. With the bricks having zero give whatsoever, it’s the skin on your foot that’s going to budge first. Kids, who are usually less heavy than you, feel less pain when they do it because they’re exerting less force.
“Piece of Resistance” was a joke in the first LEGO Movie, but as it turns out, thanks to the laws of physics, every bit of LEGO is a piece of considerable resistance. Withstanding it makes you special.
Does this clear everything up? Are you prouder of your footsies now? Build up your thoughts and showcase them in comments.
Image: YouTube/Beyond the Brick
