allister,

im asking this in a serious way, and i'm sincerely NOT trying to heckle you, or even argue with your basic stance here. i'm merely confused...

you typed:
"Consider this: which hurts more when applied to the head with equal force, a sharp object or a blunt object? Which is more likely to crack under a given stress, a thin object or a thick one? I don't know about you, but 'common sense' tells me the answer is the latter in both cases. "

did you maybe mean "the former in both cases"? i think that, in the case of low impact, i'd prefer the blunt object. and, i'd expect the thick object to outlast the thin one. perhaps you typed the wrong term. perhaps i'm bereft of common sense. but i am genuinely confused. is this a case of a typo? or do i need to think about this stuff even harder? =)

respectfully,
-rob