It occured to me yesterday while constructing some things in my studio, that the process of nailing can be seen to be a reverse system of natural hunting/gathering, tribal grooming and therefore stress relief.

The situation of nailing that I found myself in was such: squatting on the ground with pieces of timber and ply that needed to be nailed to it. First you grab a small handful of tacking nails and insert them in your mouth, one by one you remove the nails and hammer them into the wood. This process in itself is quite meditative and soothing.

If we look at the model of a monkey, neanderthal or early tribal forebears of contemporary humans, their lives on a day to day basis were made up with a similar process - but in reverse.

In the instance of picking berries for example, they might very well squat next to a bush, pick and feed them into the mouth one by one - then move to the next bush. Similarly in a social grooming situation as seen in primates, one would squat behind the other and pick through the hair on the others back, find a flea or insect and pop it straight into the mouth.

This gathering/seeking then hand to mouth action is inherent as a major activity that would make up a large portion of any given day in lower evolved species or species that have fallen by the way side.

Modern humans somewhere along the lines, decided to reverse this process, spending all of their day squatting in front of pieces of timber, feeding nails into their mouth and joining things together to be a species of constructors. But in contemporary society, this is peculiarly absent - except within lives of official or hobby 'constructors'. I feel the benefits of returning to this pseudo-state of hand to mouth repetition may well be immense to those who are having trouble within society - ie disgruntled officeworkers, lawbreakers, forms of mania, psychotics etc.

Of course this repetition may well have been replaced with forraging through a pack of nuts or crisps etc, but as seen with grooming and this instance nailing, the process does not require food to be the sole motivation. There is also squatting involved to complete the picture.

In more extreme circumstances Nailing Therapy may help mental patients to feel more a part of their own species. Thus they may be ushered into an area at the sound of a bell, where lumps of wood attached to the ground with soft hammers and rubbery nails, so as to prevent psychotic episodes, are strewn about the room. But this may well be of little value considering the level of care required.

Thus the target market could be business/office workers, whereby as a part of any day a regiment of squatting and nailing is important to restore a natural balance. Special kits could be designed, marketed via late night television info-mercials and billboards. The program suggests one hour per day of repetitve nailing whilst squatting in an area of your house or at add-ons to gyms. Special nails that are hygenically designed with a minty taste are safe to insert into your mouth and nail into Nailing Therapy Brand 'Timberlets' that can be easily disposed of after the therapy.
-- benfrost, May 10 2005

Man's ancestor, squatting and hammering http://chem4823.usa...mages/2001-ape.jpeg
[ldischler, May 11 2005]

Screwing things while squatting is stress-relieving also.
-- FarmerJohn, May 10 2005


Give me chainsaw therapy any day.
-- DrCurry, May 11 2005



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