I recently got a comment on my post Body Hacking: My Magnet Implant that I wanted to share. It comes from a reader who is also named Dan:

I know a lot of people really like these things and that’s cool but I thought it would be informative to have a dissenting view (as far as I can tell, I’m the only guy on the net who doesn’t love this thing). I got one of these 6 months ago. It was really cool at first but the novelty has since worn off. A side effect of the implant is that I now DESPISE all things magnetic (you have no idea how many magnets are in a damn iMac! and guitar amps are HELL!).

I also really don’t care about feeling magnetic fields any more. Seriously, it’s just annoying at this point. Hurray! (sic) My finger buzzes when I turn on the microwave. You no doubt read that “an engineer can use it to see if a wire is live…” Well yeah but most live wires that need testing don’t have current going through them so you can’t feel those. Although I have tried, I haven’t found any practical application for Plutarch (yeah, it has a name).

FYI you can’t feel current off regular 120v power cords, only adapters which was a total bummer for me. Also, mine migrated to the middle of my finger and it hurts to put any pressure on it so stuff like rock climbing is out for me for now – I think I am an outlier [with regard to] the magnet moving. If you really want one then go nuts, it’s pretty consequence-free and it really is fun for a while and the sixth sense really is a unique experience.

P.S. don’t mention the magnet on a first date

I agree with about 90 percent of this comment. As with anything, the novelty of a magnet implant will eventually wear off and the magnet can be really annoying around other magnets. I have to hold my iPad mini in a certain way to avoid messing with my magnet and I’m constantly finding new things that annoy me by messing with my magnet.

Also, I still haven’t personally found a practical reason for the implant. All the use-case examples I gave in my previous post is a paraphrase of things I’ve heard from other people with magnet implants.

I wanted to share this comment because I don’t want my article to glorify magnet implants in any way. Instead, my goal was (and is) to provide an objective view on the procedure as well as provide an account of my own personal experiences. If you do choose to get a magnet implant yourself, keep in mind that once the novelty wears off, you’ll mostly be filled with neutral feelings towards your magnet, with occasional bouts of annoyance and a few interesting discoveries along the way.

However, I do find that bringing it up on a “first date” is a great way to separate the curious from the close minded.

Related Posts:

• Body Hacking: My Magnetic Implant
• Simulating a Magnetic Implant
• ABC News Reports on my Magnet Implant