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Conductivity Not An Issue
Another theory physicists have proposed is the Conductivity Theory. The analogy used to illustrate this idea was that of reaching into an oven to remove a hot cake pan. The air inside the oven is the same temperature as the metal cake pan, yet one can reach an unprotected hand into the oven without injury. However, if you were to grab the pan itself, the result would usually be a burn. The reason for this is that the air is a poor conductor of heat, while the metal pan is a better conductor. Physicists theorized that the coals were poor conductors and that was why a firewalkers foot was not burned in the coalbed, regardless of its temperature.
In 1994, physicist Bernard Leikind visited the Firewalking Institute and tried to dramatically illustrate this concept by strapping two sirloin steaks to his feet and then walking across a bed of coals while The Discovery Channel filmed the event. The steaks seemed to be unaffected by the coalbed. He then placed a metal grill in the coals and, when it was glowing red, he placed the same steaks on the grill and the metal instantly seared the meat. He felt this sufficiently demonstrated that mental state had nothing to do with the phenomenon of firewalking. He emphasized that it would not be possible for humans to walk on the glowing, red grill without injury.
As soon as he said this, a number of people from our staff walked on the grill without harm.
The grill was so red-hot, the weight of people walking on it bent the softened metal and left impressions of the firewalkers feet on the grill. We keep the grill with its molded footprints as a souvenir to help debunk the conductivity theory.
When a physicist experiments with fire, the objects of observation are usually not living, conscious subjects. Rules of conductivity can be applied in these instances. However, human beings are dynamic, self-regulating organisms thus research into firewalking is really outside the physicists realm of training. People who research the mind and body are more qualified to propose theories on firewalking than scientists who simply deal with static matter.
It has always been my belief that a person's state of mind is the crucial factor when exploring the science of firewalking. Just because a physicist can walk on the coalbed without harm does little to dismiss the idea that mental state is important. His belief in his theory gives him the confidence to walk on the coals. The confidence itself is a mental state. I suggested to Dr. Leikind that we blindfold him and lead him in various directions near the coalbed so that he would have no way of preparing himself mentally before actually stepping onto the embers. He refused. He also refused to walk on the metal grill, so I assumed that at some level he too must have realized there was more to the phenomenon than the conductivity of the coals and simple physics.
In fact, after years of insisting that firewalking was rather safe due to the low conductivity of the coals, with temperature being irrelevant, on May 9, 2000, Dr. Leikind finally signed a statement saying, "Any claim that the temperature of the coals is not important... is simply preposterous;" and adding, "it is my opinion that firewalking is an abnormally dangerous or 'ultrahazardous' activity."
Yet someone in America recently walked on coals measured at 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit without injury! Obviously, physicists still do not fully understand the process.
Typical firewalks that are open to the public involve coalbeds ranging between 1,200 and 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Dr. Ron Sato, faculty member of the Stanford University Medical School and director of a nearby burn unit, says that human flesh momentary exposed to 1,200 degree heat should sustain third-degree burns to the epidermis and dermis, charring the entire thickness of skin to a blackened carbon residue. Dr. Sato has treated people who have accidentally stepped on glowing coals and were so badly burned that they required skin grafts. When commenting about people who voluntarily firewalk without injury, Dr. Sato says, "There's no logical explanation."