[chmod775]

> can cause physical degradation of the chip in some cases.

Not in some cases. Chips always physically degrade regardless of voltage. Higher voltages will make it happen faster.

[account42]

Yes, but usually this happens slowly enough that the chip will be long obsolete before the degredation becomes an issue.

[Pet_Ant]

Why do chis degrade? Is this due to the whiskers I’ve heard about?

[cesarb]

> Why do chis degrade? Is this due to the whiskers I’ve heard about?

No, tin whiskers are a separate issue, which happens mostly outside the chips. The keyword you're looking for is electromigration (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromigration).