The Lego Challenge: Welcome to the world of pain
12.4.2017
Translation: machine translated
Sometimes I question the Internet. Is the greatest invention in the history of mankind really that great? Because it stops somewhere. Just like when you step on a Lego brick. Then the greatest toy of all time is also the stupidest thing ever invented. The Lego Challenge combines the internet and stepping on Legos. And it hurts.
I love Lego. I love building things with the bricks. Before me and my best friend build anything, we build a prototype out of the little bricks. We've been doing this since we were about ten years old. I also have criticisms. One of them is the pain you feel when you step on a Lego brick. Jesus Christ, it could hardly be worse. Honestly, I've rarely cursed so well.
Why stepping on Legos hurts so much
Anyone who has ever stood on a Lego brick knows that the pain is unrivalled. Just thinking about it makes my foot hurt.
But why does it hurt so much? The explanation, like many things with Lego, is quite complex. The factors involved are, logically, the nature of a Lego brick and the human body, specifically the foot.
Even if you probably pay very little attention to your feet in everyday life and just assume that they are simply there and function, they are a masterpiece of biology. A foot has 26 bones, usually five toes and is extremely flexible. Relevant to this article, however, is the fact that the foot is one of the most sensitive parts of your body. It's in the same category of sensitivity as your upper lip, your genitals and your fingertips, just so you know what level of sensitivity we're talking about here.
Then there's the nature of a Lego brick. Lego bricks are made of ABS plastic, a terpolymer. This means that the material is made up of three other materials.
- Acrylonitrile gives the brick its stability
- 1,3 Butadiene gives the stone its resilience
- Styrene makes the stone so beautifully shiny
If you now combine your foot with the ABS plastic, you will suffer. The reason for this is that the stones are not only extremely stable, but also extremely small. As you are carrying your entire body weight on the highest point of the ground you step on, you can already see how and where this goes wrong. You have an extremely stable and extremely small Lego brick on which your entire body weight presses with an extremely sensitive part of your body.
Pain. Swearing. Nightmares.
Fun fact: A Lego brick can withstand 432 kilograms before it breaks. So your foot is sure to give way first.
And now: The internet
People have once again come up with a stupid idea under the hashtag #LegoChallenge. Because if you combine the above pain of ABS plastic plus foot with the internet, you get something like this:
Oh. My. God. What are you doing? Are you completely insane?
But rather like this:
If you want to live out your masochism in the form of colourful building blocks, marketing manager Irene Portmann has selected the following particularly painful Lego sets for you
And if you want to take part in the Lego Challenge - for whatever completely unfathomable reason - why don't you send us your video? Just because we don't want to suffer alone. <p
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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