“And thats when I realized that the only way of winning was by cheating”
July 15, 2023 6:24 AM Subscribe
I built an Exoskeleton to challenge Pro Arm Wrestlers [YouTube] YouTuber Allen Pan “armed” himself with an arm-wrestling exoskeleton and challenged a bunch of people at muscle beach.
Yeah, I did see a bunch of people in the comments expressing similar concerns about how he could very easily have injured himself in a serious way, but thankfully that did not happen, and we instead have some laughs along the way.
posted by Fizz at 6:54 AM on July 15, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Fizz at 6:54 AM on July 15, 2023 [2 favorites]
Yeah, I did see a bunch of people in the comments expressing similar concerns about how he could very easily have injured himself in a serious way, but thankfully that did not happen, and we instead have some laughs along the way.
But isn’t this one of the more problematic manifestations of toxic masculinity? The idea that lolz from your (predominantly) male peer group is far, far more important than the effects on your support group and community resources? Like, medical professionals who have to divert resources away from other people with actual accidents and health crises, and family members who now have to rearrange their schedules to care for you or who feel obligated to give you money they had earmarked for other purposes to pay your bills because you did a thing that had obvious high -impact risks that you did not mediate from the beginning?
I’ve been in familial “bail your stupid ass out a second time” camp, as well as adjacent to volunteer rescue and response people when I lived in the wild west. Those of us who continue to have to take your preventable emergencies seriously and tend to the consequences of your predictability poor, risk-heavy decisions are not laughing so much. It’s frustrating to see people who seem to have no consideration for how their preventable worse case scenario will affect the people obligated to pick up the pieces.
(And “your” not meaning you specifically, Fizz. I don’t know if you personally do stuff like this. I do worry that promoting this stuff feeds into a continuation of a mindset of “it’ll be funny” trumps “there are potential consequences to others if I don’t take recommended precautions”.)
posted by Silvery Fish at 7:26 AM on July 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
But isn’t this one of the more problematic manifestations of toxic masculinity? The idea that lolz from your (predominantly) male peer group is far, far more important than the effects on your support group and community resources? Like, medical professionals who have to divert resources away from other people with actual accidents and health crises, and family members who now have to rearrange their schedules to care for you or who feel obligated to give you money they had earmarked for other purposes to pay your bills because you did a thing that had obvious high -impact risks that you did not mediate from the beginning?
I’ve been in familial “bail your stupid ass out a second time” camp, as well as adjacent to volunteer rescue and response people when I lived in the wild west. Those of us who continue to have to take your preventable emergencies seriously and tend to the consequences of your predictability poor, risk-heavy decisions are not laughing so much. It’s frustrating to see people who seem to have no consideration for how their preventable worse case scenario will affect the people obligated to pick up the pieces.
(And “your” not meaning you specifically, Fizz. I don’t know if you personally do stuff like this. I do worry that promoting this stuff feeds into a continuation of a mindset of “it’ll be funny” trumps “there are potential consequences to others if I don’t take recommended precautions”.)
posted by Silvery Fish at 7:26 AM on July 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
(And “your” not meaning you specifically, Fizz. I don’t know if you personally do stuff like this. I do worry that promoting this stuff feeds into a continuation of a mindset of “it’ll be funny” trumps “there are potential consequences to others if I don’t take recommended precautions”.)I do not tinker in this way, outside my scope of knowledge and I mostly shared this as something kind of amusing but I fully understand the concerns you're expressing. That being said, if we are going to have that conversation, we should probably take it over to MetaTalk.
I think it goes without saying that doing this kind of thing comes with risks if you don't know what you're doing and as evidenced by this creator/engineer/tinkerer, even if you do have the knowledge, it can still result in serious injury and professionals should be consulted and safety should always be considered first and foremost.
posted by Fizz at 7:33 AM on July 15, 2023
I read the first couple comments here about danger and thought "how scary can this really be?" Then I watched the video and hoo-boy that looks really, really dangerous! But what a cool contraption.
Amazing video, lots of fun. The host has a great personality. Thanks for posting.
(Side question from a skinny guy: those big dude arm-wrestler pros in the video... is it likely they are taking steroids?, not impugning or accusing anyone here, but is it even possible to be that huge without, um, help?)
posted by SoberHighland at 7:37 AM on July 15, 2023
Amazing video, lots of fun. The host has a great personality. Thanks for posting.
(Side question from a skinny guy: those big dude arm-wrestler pros in the video... is it likely they are taking steroids?, not impugning or accusing anyone here, but is it even possible to be that huge without, um, help?)
posted by SoberHighland at 7:37 AM on July 15, 2023
By the way, this is the same Allen Pan who:
a) legally and indisputably purchased the trademark on Mythbusters apparel (because it had expired)
b) started selling his own Mythbusters shirts
c) got a C&D letter threatening a lawsuit, and now
d) must stop selling the shirts by July 23rd or he will get sued into oblivion.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 8:28 AM on July 15, 2023 [4 favorites]
a) legally and indisputably purchased the trademark on Mythbusters apparel (because it had expired)
b) started selling his own Mythbusters shirts
c) got a C&D letter threatening a lawsuit, and now
d) must stop selling the shirts by July 23rd or he will get sued into oblivion.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 8:28 AM on July 15, 2023 [4 favorites]
I think it goes without saying that doing this kind of thing comes with risks if you don't know what you're doing and as evidenced by this creator/engineer/tinkerer, even if you do have the knowledge, it can still result in serious injury and professionals should be consulted and safety should always be considered first and foremost.
I appreciate your openness to conversation, Fizz. Thanks. The fact that multiple YouTube commenters noted the dangers does make me wonder if professional consultation happened, or if it was and just not acted on. No way to know. I am deeply interested in the overlapping cultural contexts that drive the production and consumption of something like this….( as well as keenly understanding the costs that other people did not sign on for when things go sideways.) My lived experience gives me a different take on this. So it goes.
posted by Silvery Fish at 8:33 AM on July 15, 2023
I appreciate your openness to conversation, Fizz. Thanks. The fact that multiple YouTube commenters noted the dangers does make me wonder if professional consultation happened, or if it was and just not acted on. No way to know. I am deeply interested in the overlapping cultural contexts that drive the production and consumption of something like this….( as well as keenly understanding the costs that other people did not sign on for when things go sideways.) My lived experience gives me a different take on this. So it goes.
posted by Silvery Fish at 8:33 AM on July 15, 2023
Oh good lord my pointing out the danger wasn't meant as a callout or some complicated riff on toxic masculinity or a call to a nanny culture that tells creative folks they are Doing Something Bad. I'm not going to wring my hands about the possibility that he breaks his arm and diverts Precious Medical Resources to a mishap. I also support mountain climbing, bicycling on public roads, and building rockets / Burning Man art projects / fast vehicles for fun and mayhem. I miss the Survival Research Labs shows.
This exoskeleton is cool. It's also a little dangerous in a way that might not be immediately obvious. Frankly, that danger makes it more cool. It helps that he's only likely to break his own arm here, not hurt someone else.
(I don't have permission to share pictures, but a friend has a neighbor who's about 19 and has been welding together his own full-body mecha suit for the past two or three years. Lots of steel and hydraulics. It actually walks. It looks terrifying to me but I imagine that kid has learned a whole lot building it. And he hasn't hurt himself yet. He's quite aware of the risks and need for safety design.)
posted by Nelson at 8:49 AM on July 15, 2023 [6 favorites]
This exoskeleton is cool. It's also a little dangerous in a way that might not be immediately obvious. Frankly, that danger makes it more cool. It helps that he's only likely to break his own arm here, not hurt someone else.
(I don't have permission to share pictures, but a friend has a neighbor who's about 19 and has been welding together his own full-body mecha suit for the past two or three years. Lots of steel and hydraulics. It actually walks. It looks terrifying to me but I imagine that kid has learned a whole lot building it. And he hasn't hurt himself yet. He's quite aware of the risks and need for safety design.)
posted by Nelson at 8:49 AM on July 15, 2023 [6 favorites]
By the way, this is the same Allen Pan who:
a) legally and indisputably purchased the trademark on Mythbusters apparel (because it had expired)
b) started selling his own Mythbusters shirts
c) got a C&D letter threatening a lawsuit, and now
d) must stop selling the shirts by July 23rd yt or he will get sued into oblivion.
Pan was actually part of the Mythbusters team in the final few years, so it's not just a random bit of trademark squatting. He's also part of a clutch of various oddball makers who get into a variety of comedic engineering nonsense, like Michael Reeves (known for turning a Boston Dynamics dog into Pissbot 9000), I Did A Thing (seen here making the World's Most Dangerous Pool Stick), and William Osman (creating a profoundly ill-advised and fascinating home X-Ray machine). The entire scene has got a very punk-chaotic backyard science vibe, but the people behind it have actually been working in the field for some time now and a lot (but definitely not all) of the dangerous presentation is in the editing for lulz.
posted by FatherDagon at 9:29 AM on July 15, 2023 [6 favorites]
a) legally and indisputably purchased the trademark on Mythbusters apparel (because it had expired)
b) started selling his own Mythbusters shirts
c) got a C&D letter threatening a lawsuit, and now
d) must stop selling the shirts by July 23rd yt or he will get sued into oblivion.
Pan was actually part of the Mythbusters team in the final few years, so it's not just a random bit of trademark squatting. He's also part of a clutch of various oddball makers who get into a variety of comedic engineering nonsense, like Michael Reeves (known for turning a Boston Dynamics dog into Pissbot 9000), I Did A Thing (seen here making the World's Most Dangerous Pool Stick), and William Osman (creating a profoundly ill-advised and fascinating home X-Ray machine). The entire scene has got a very punk-chaotic backyard science vibe, but the people behind it have actually been working in the field for some time now and a lot (but definitely not all) of the dangerous presentation is in the editing for lulz.
posted by FatherDagon at 9:29 AM on July 15, 2023 [6 favorites]
Thanks for that added context FatherDagon and for sharing those other videos. I love seeing people tinker and craft and engineer when its in the context of fun and can i do this or what will this do. It gets to the basic curiosity so many people have with science and the scientific method.
posted by Fizz at 9:42 AM on July 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Fizz at 9:42 AM on July 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
I do love “stupid making” videos from robotics to the blacksmith who built himself a sword/shield/door so he could bust through wooden barricades (some on fire, as I recall). Ill-considered? Mostly. Dangerous? Sometimes. Fun? Hell, yeah.
In the interests of full disclosure, my friends and I made lances so we could joust on bikes. No one died, and we kept our eyes, mostly.
Thanks, Fizz!
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:02 AM on July 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
In the interests of full disclosure, my friends and I made lances so we could joust on bikes. No one died, and we kept our eyes, mostly.
Thanks, Fizz!
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:02 AM on July 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
Does arm wrestling have a regulation form about exactly which muscles / movements are allowed?
An official arm wrestling table is constructed in a way so as to isolate the business end of the arm from the upper arm. There is a pad in which the wrestler rests their elbow. The elbow cannot leave the pad. Here are some of the rules. I'd say this exoskeleton definitely violates the rules.
FWIW, I was watching an arm wrestling match on tv once, and saw a wrestler's arm break. Like, a clean snap. Gruesome.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:30 PM on July 15, 2023
An official arm wrestling table is constructed in a way so as to isolate the business end of the arm from the upper arm. There is a pad in which the wrestler rests their elbow. The elbow cannot leave the pad. Here are some of the rules. I'd say this exoskeleton definitely violates the rules.
FWIW, I was watching an arm wrestling match on tv once, and saw a wrestler's arm break. Like, a clean snap. Gruesome.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:30 PM on July 15, 2023
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I'm a little confused about the physics here. It looks like the joint he's augmented helps him not lose because the elbow is effectively rigid / powered. But to actually win he ends up having to put his whole body weight into it. Does arm wrestling have a regulation form about exactly which muscles / movements are allowed?
posted by Nelson at 6:51 AM on July 15, 2023 [1 favorite]