this post was submitted on 21 Apr 2026
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That is very educational, more than I was hoping for. Thank you!
I've heard that saying over and over throughout my life, too, (by laymen, never actual electricians lol) and I was always confused by it.
I was always trying to think "Okay is there some crazy high-voltage-low-amperage shock source you can sustain and be fine?" I guess I thought the difference was between something like, a taser vs. a home electrical socket.
Is the survivability of shocks mainly in how much resistance there is in the body? Like if the volts get backlogged enough they become amps -> generate heat -> "fry" what they're passing through?
I really need to revisit electrical education. Especially because I wanna make neat gadgets...๐
But yeah it sounds like the saying is pedantic, like "It's not the fall that kills you. It's the impact."
Something obvious to utter in a way that makes you sound deep and profound to dumb people. LOL
Kind of, but they are misunderstanding the saying. It refers to the fact that if the available supply of current (maybe it should say power?) is sufficiently limited, it is possible for a person's body to conduct hundreds of thousands to millions of volts without pain or injury.
That said, high voltage behaves different and there are a lot of factors that make it unsafe.