Static damage to a chip may not result in an immediate failure. It may manifest as lessened performance, unreliability, or a shortened lifespan. I've seen this

Static damage to a chip may not result in an immediate failure. It may manifest as lessened performance, unreliability, or a shortened lifespan. I've seen this demonstrated in training videos for the electronics industry. (I think EEVblog has a static demo up on YouTube). The semiconductor industry (i.e., the companies like Intel that made the parts on your circuit boards) spends many millions, if not billions, of $ a year on static-protective mitigations. They're pretty smart folks and also very cost-conscious. They would not be spending all this money if it were pure voodoo. However, parts mounted on a circuit board are much more resilient than loose chips. I, too, use the "touching metal" method but am very careful about it.