The Sidewalks Will Melt Your Tennis Shoes
And, apparently, your brain.
Tony Robbins, Guru of Rampant Raging Guruism, held a seminar in Dallas. He asked people to walk on hot coals. In Dallas. In the summertime. Hell, how does he think they got there?
So people who had given him money got a chance to walk across hot coals. Now I wanna tell you something. I’m a native Texan and, Honey, I would not walk across hot coals even to get barbeque. Do you hear me? Not even barbeque.
Approximately 40 participants attending a Tony Robbins seminar downtown suffered minor burn injuries late Thursday after walking across hot coals in what is being described as a motivational event.
Trainers for Robbins’ motivational seminars told News 8 walking on coals is a very emotional experience for people, and that participants were doing something they didn’t think was possible.
But we saw just how painful a reality that exercise was for a large group of people attending the “Unleash the Power Within” seminar in Dallas Thursday night.
I don’t know this for a fact but I imagine poking yourself in the eye with a ballpoint pen would be very emotional, too, because holy-crap-that’s-painful is an emotion. It’s just that I wouldn’t do that and I sure as tarnation wouldn’t pay somebody to talk me into it.
I’m figuring that Trump University was full so the spill-over crowd of idiots went to this seminar.
Write this down somewhere: do not walk on hot coals. They are very hot.
Thanks to everybody for the heads up.
I’ve never done it, but I do understand the science behind it. You’re walking on coals with a layer of ash over them, which serves as insulation. You’re also supposed to dip your feet in cold water, for more insulation. Then walk briskly–do not run, do not slow down, do not stop–over the coals and off them. If you run, you will push your feet into hotter layers and get burned. If you slow down, you will get burned. If you stop–well, you get the idea.
From what I read, these fire-walking idjits did a lot wrong. You should not slow down to take a selfie. You will be burned, and so will the people behind you, who have to slow down because you did. You should not slow down because someone on the sidelines is taking your picture. You should not run, but some people did. They got hurt.
It’s not magic. It’s not mind-over-matter. It’s science. You should know that going in.
1Is there a choice here? I’d walk on hot coals to avoid a Tony Robbins seminar or Trump U.
2PKM … Ahhhh … ha … ha … ha !!!
3Tony Robbins, on a hot summer day?
4I’ll take a pit full of Baskin Robbins instead, please, any flavor. Or all of them. It’s a pit after all, not a waffle cone.
I had neighbors across the street from me in Eugene, Oregon some 30 years ago set up a walk across hot coals event. I participated by watching. I was too scared to try it even though I saw many people doing it successfully – everyone of about 30 people was fine.
5And just where would I put this on my LinkedIn profile?
6That Other Jean is correct- it’s physics. To make it look more spectacular it’s done at dusk. Even though the coals have cooled enough to have a thick layer of insulating ash, it looks blazing hot in the semi darkness. And no, you never run and never slow down.
7I still wouldn’t do it.
That’s stupid.
8That’s nucking futs…
9Well, at least it was truth in advertising. The seminar was motivational. Much like the Repub primary it motivated people to do something incredibly stupid.
10Yeah well – Robbins WILL have the great comeback, “They weren’t motivated ENOUGH! If they’d been truly dedicated, they wouldn’t have been burned!”
I’m taking bets on whether he will get on the Sunday shows this weekend or waits till Monday [my money’s on Sunday, just so you know.]
The equivalent, in a revival tent, would have been, “They didn’t have enough FAITH!”
Yep. It’s always the victim’s fault though I must say it’s particularly difficult to feel sympathy for THESE victims.
11From what I read, the problem, apart from the selfie-takers, was the “assistants” Robbins used — they kept adding hot coals, which ruined the ash layer. I’d leave off the istants part, and just call them asses. Robbins is one of the expensive self-help gurus; $1,000-$3,000 a pop for these seminars.
When I was working as a colonic therapist, the owner of the place was a huge star f*cker. She bumped one of my client’s appointments to accommodate Tony Robbins. I was pissed.
12What a LOVELY job zyx- and as a bonus, we now know more about Tony Robbins than we ever wanted to know! Oy!
13No way Jose or Faye! There are so many other choices in life to make one feel invincible, but sadly they lack the flacking that people like Robbins can lend; you know, like volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity project, or at a soup kitchen, etc. etc.
There was also some idiot who did a sweat lodge thing with the point being very like the coal walking. Someone died and the idiot still did not get the message.
14I’d like to see Robbins and his ilk walking over hot coals while being investigated by congress, at least by the consumer protection bureau.
15@ Zyxomma–
So Robbins’ assistants didn’t know what they were doing, Robbins himself didn’t stop them, and nobody told the fire walkers how to behave, pretty much guaranteeing somebody would get hurt? For this participants are paying thousands of dollars? I hope they sue his socks off—and never trust another self-help guru again.
16NPR said the problem was that people were stopping to take selfies. Seriously.
17If you need to pay a snake oil purveyor to teach you to “self-help,” it may already be too late for any kind of help. Robbins helps himself to fools’ money.
18The physics involve the famous MAILLARD reaction. Meat will not begin to cook until the moisture is removed. Anyone who has ever watched Cook’s Country knows about this. Sweaty or wet feet should do it. Thanks PBS.
19Considering the target audience, let’s dare’em to lie down and roll in it next.
20It was an IQ test.
21I give him one free pass ti be idiotic, he bought some nuns in San Francisco a new building for their homless soup kitchen right before their greedy landlord raised their rent and was about to evict them.
Does not make what he does OK, but he’s not the worst one out there.
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