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© Copyright 1998, Jim Loy
There is a cliche of a skinny man (in a loin cloth, in India) who lies on a bed of nails. I'm sure that people do this. Miracle? No. Mind over matter? Well, yes, in the same way that jumping off a diving board, into a pool of water, is mind over matter. It is frightening, the first time. But it is easy to do.
Let's guess that there are four nails per square inch. Let's also guess that the nails are touching about 500 square inches of the man's skin. They could easily be touching more. Let's also say that the man weighs 150 pounds (probably less). Then, each nail is supporting 1.2 ounces.
1.2 ounces on a nail probably won't pierce the skin, especially tough skin that has been out of doors all its life.