It was, after all, a test of his limits, right?
I have so little sympathy for the testosterone-laden, macho assholes who do that kind of shit. You know what? Modern civilization and its technology was created for a reason, and that reason is that the wilderness sucks, and it will kill you if it possibly can. We created roofs and air conditioning precisely so that dumbfucks like you wouldn't have to suffer the mind-bending desert heat like your ancestors had to you.
In fact, I'm pretty sure if I told your nomad ancestors about air conditioning, tents, and bottled water, and then I told them that you'd voluntarily not used them, gone out into the desert, and died, they'd wonder, rightly, what the fuck was wrong with you.
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No. What the fuck is wrong with the guide not issuing "emergency" water, when clearly it was an emergency? They said he was 200ft from water -- but that's just when he died. You think that giving him water 1 sec before his body gives up is enough? What the fuck is "emergency" water for then?
I get the waivers, but what the fuck ever. Where's the humanity in letting someone die when you're squirreling the goddamn WATER?
Well, yeah...clearly the guides were dumbfucks too. Mostly I object to the ridiculousness of the whole endeavor. It's idiotic to put your life in danger in pursuit of some adolescent notion that modern society has made you "soft."
You're just saying that cuz a mountain man you are not. You'd be eaten by a tiger in a second.
:P
You could say the same thing for any extreme sport. Or hunting for that matter. Or, even endurance running.
Just because modern society does give us a bunch of luxuries doesn't mean that there isn't any good in learning how to survive without them. The real question is if that program really teaches you anything aside from "yes, you can really be stubborn enough to kill yourself, especially with our help."
I never maintained otherwise. :) Doesn't mean my argument doesn't hold true.
"You could say the same thing for any extreme sport. Or hunting for that matter. Or, even endurance running."
...and, indeed, I would. I think they're dumb. If people do them because they enjoy them, fine. But to the degree that people believe there's deeper meaning behind doing them, I think it's kind of ridiculous. Or, at the very least, misguided.
The world has so many more interesting and pressing challenges. There's no need to essentially regress to challenge yourself. How do you use the realities of modern life to challenge yourself (instead of bravely foregoing having a tent)? How do you overcome your self-centeredness and ego and challenge yourself in ways that matter to _other_ people?
I just have a lot of trouble with the idea that people need to introduce entirely artificial challenges to feel fulfilled. There are enough real ones out there to keep all of us occupied for thousands of years. If you don't see them or don't feel they affect you and challenge you, your problem is first and foremost is that you are self-absorbed, not that you haven't "pushed your limits."
Just because the guy signed up for this thing doesn't say anything about what he's done in the rest of his life.
Why should having a "regressive" hobby that reinforces your mortality and your bare humanity necessarily mean that otherwise you are NOT selfish and are actually doing something to affect the rest of the world?
You've made a very strange generalization. I get your argument in the extreme (e.g. people who shun all modern conveniences to live in the woods), but not in the norm. I know some very very smart people who do a lot of amazing things in their lives -- who have real impact, yet they're nuts about running, or rock climbing, or camping...
Oh, and ps - why aren't you in medicine?
Let me try to explain more clearly:
There is a certain arrogance/insensitivity/condescension to the idea of imposing artificial constraints on yourself when those constraints are very real to other people in the world. There are people out there who really do have to fight the elements, who don't have access to clean water, and who have to struggle just to survive. I think it trivializes those people's experiences and lives to leave your air conditioned home, drive in your expensive car up to the mountain, have some eggs benedict and champagne, and then mimic those conditions as an exercise in "personal growth." Not as a way to understand those people but because you think the experience is novel or quaint.
It's condescending and insensitive in the same way that going apple-picking with the kids is insensitive when, in the next grove over, immigrants spend their entire day picking apples just to survive.
It's condescending and insensitive in the same way that it would be to go on a mock slave ship, put on shackles and grab and oar, and have your picture taken.
I say this as someone who has struggled with a real medical problem (a chronic urological condition) that is a constant challenge to deal with and make a productive life around on a daily basis. I do find it, to a degree, arrogant and insensitive when healthy people find it necessary to give themselves what amounts to a temporary, artificial disability to achieve some kind of personal-growth-in-a-weekend-package experience.
As I said, there are too many real challenges in the world to spend your time overcoming artificial ones. It's not that I expect everyone to spend all their time saving the world. It's that I think when people do want to challenge themselves, they should tackle real adversity and not contrived adversity.
Got it. I can understand where you're coming from, and not to belittle your point, but it seems like your argument is the parallel one for the arrogance/insensitivity of people who diet/eat too much/are vegan/etc....
There's definitely something to be said for the idiocy in artificially limiting yourself and not realizing all the great things that you have been given health- or technological advancement-wise.
Or to be said for an exercise like that could teach you how much you *do* have... or help you understand the suffering of others.
Dunno. Seems like these extreme things are ways to show people either a previously unknown discipline or that their limits aren't as firm as they thought.... But coming from someone with a history like yourself, I can see how this could be insulting -- being as they're taking that base ability essentially for granted.
I hope that if I do things to challenge myself physically that you won't take it as an insult or that I'm taking what I have for granted. :/
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