7 ms·

I don't know, but it's an interesting thought. What drives someone do to this? I'm in awe of it. It seems to me that it has to be tied to finding meaning in

I don't know, but it's an interesting thought. What drives someone do to this? I'm in awe of it. It seems to me that it has to be tied to finding meaning in life one way or another. I have to wonder though, how long does it take for the afterglow of such a massive accomplishment to wear off and to start asking yourself "what now?"

maxxxxx 8y ago
I have the same thought when I see presidential campaigns. I don't think a balanced person would put themselves and their families through that. You have to be some kind of crazy to do this. Maybe we need these extreme people, but I am not sure we should take them as something to aspire to.
- samatman 8y ago
  I think about this a lot. We would have better leadership if it wasn’t such an objectively terrible job.
  - arethuza 8y ago
    That's an interesting point about Henry Worsley - he was clearly an excellent leader but he couldn't rise in the UK military (and I suspect this is the case with many organisations) because above a certain point the job is about politics rather than leadership.
eismcc 8y ago
Having been part of the Ironman community for a while now, I can say endurance folks are definitely different than your average person. Often very humble, they like meaningful, big, challenging goals that redefine “normal.”
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  Do they get a kick out of overcoming suffering,.doing something really difficult or what drives them? In the end they don't achieve anything useful. I can relate to it somehow. When I did kickboxing I sometimes wondered why I let myself get beat up for no money, fame or any other reward. Never really understood my motivation other than that I had it.
  - NikolaeVarius 8y ago
    Because it's interesting.
    - ForHackernews 8y ago
      Is it interesting? It sounds mind-numbingly dull trudging across 921 miles of ice.
      - gameswithgo 8y ago
        well you go up and down some mountains, see strange ice formations that don't exist anywhere at all, get to tweet out sappy tweets every evening, go where no/few men/women have gone before and all.
        maxxxxx 8y ago
        You make it sound like a nice stroll in the park, not something that exhausts you to and beyond and your limit and tries to.kill and harm you every day.
        deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
      - staplers 8y ago
        More interesting than browsing HN 365 days of the year..
avip 8y ago
There's an interview with Alex Honnold where he says he was already thinking about his next challenge during the last stretch of El Capitan. I personally can't understand these ongoing Bernoulli experiments, surely something in these people's mind differs profoundly from mine.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- weej 8y ago
  They do - their amygdala. "fMRI testing at the Medical University of South Carolina tilted the scales toward precisely that explanation — an underactive amygdala, not a negligent mother — by confirming that Honnold’s fear circuitry really does fire with less vigor than most." https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/09/opinion/el-capitan-my-el-capitan.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/09/opinion/el-capitan-my-el-...
- ohazi 8y ago
  Honnold seemed pretty down to earth during his last few interviews. He seemed very willing to acknowledge that he doesn't have a good idea of what might be next for him, and that El Cap may end up being his last "big" challenge. Granted, his perspective may have changed with a little more time for reflection.
- wallflower 8y ago
  If you have not yet seen "Free Solo", it is an interesting movie because it delves into the relationship between him and his "I just want to be happy" girlfriend which touches on some of his mindset to pursue perfection.
barce 8y ago
If you look at the history of it, it puts him in the same league as the polar explorers of the "heroic age." I think the what now part is two parts: write a book about it; do the motivational speaker circuit.
badrabbit 8y ago
What now? Time for sun cost fallacy Thinking a lot does that. It's not just searching for meaning of life and a higher purpose but also realizing how this is the only life you get to have and it is very short. I'd compare people who do this to suiciders,they've both contemplated their current lives intolerable and found a way out: One way is through it,the other is around and both routes are one-way.
- kakarot 8y ago
  Sun cost fallacy is when I don't put on SPF protection thinking it won't be that bad out on the beach today.
  - badrabbit 8y ago
    Ha! Nice one,will fix typo if it lets me.
justinator 8y ago
What drives someone do to this? It's fun.
tertius 8y ago
It's all about the process not the end goal.

maxxxxx 8y ago

I have the same thought when I see presidential campaigns. I don't think a balanced person would put themselves and their families through that. You have to be some kind of crazy to do this. Maybe we need these extreme people, but I am not sure we should take them as something to aspire to.

samatman 8y ago
I think about this a lot. We would have better leadership if it wasn’t such an objectively terrible job.
- arethuza 8y ago
  That's an interesting point about Henry Worsley - he was clearly an excellent leader but he couldn't rise in the UK military (and I suspect this is the case with many organisations) because above a certain point the job is about politics rather than leadership.

eismcc 8y ago

Having been part of the Ironman community for a while now, I can say endurance folks are definitely different than your average person. Often very humble, they like meaningful, big, challenging goals that redefine “normal.”

maxxxxx 8y ago
Do they get a kick out of overcoming suffering,.doing something really difficult or what drives them? In the end they don't achieve anything useful. I can relate to it somehow. When I did kickboxing I sometimes wondered why I let myself get beat up for no money, fame or any other reward. Never really understood my motivation other than that I had it.
- NikolaeVarius 8y ago
  Because it's interesting.
  - ForHackernews 8y ago
    Is it interesting? It sounds mind-numbingly dull trudging across 921 miles of ice.
    - gameswithgo 8y ago
      well you go up and down some mountains, see strange ice formations that don't exist anywhere at all, get to tweet out sappy tweets every evening, go where no/few men/women have gone before and all.
      - maxxxxx 8y ago
        You make it sound like a nice stroll in the park, not something that exhausts you to and beyond and your limit and tries to.kill and harm you every day.
        deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
    - staplers 8y ago
      More interesting than browsing HN 365 days of the year..

avip 8y ago

There's an interview with Alex Honnold where he says he was already thinking about his next challenge during the last stretch of El Capitan. I personally can't understand these ongoing Bernoulli experiments, surely something in these people's mind differs profoundly from mine.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
weej 8y ago
They do - their amygdala. "fMRI testing at the Medical University of South Carolina tilted the scales toward precisely that explanation — an underactive amygdala, not a negligent mother — by confirming that Honnold’s fear circuitry really does fire with less vigor than most." https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/09/opinion/el-capitan-my-el-capitan.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/09/opinion/el-capitan-my-el-...
ohazi 8y ago
Honnold seemed pretty down to earth during his last few interviews. He seemed very willing to acknowledge that he doesn't have a good idea of what might be next for him, and that El Cap may end up being his last "big" challenge. Granted, his perspective may have changed with a little more time for reflection.
wallflower 8y ago
If you have not yet seen "Free Solo", it is an interesting movie because it delves into the relationship between him and his "I just want to be happy" girlfriend which touches on some of his mindset to pursue perfection.

barce 8y ago

If you look at the history of it, it puts him in the same league as the polar explorers of the "heroic age." I think the what now part is two parts: write a book about it; do the motivational speaker circuit.

badrabbit 8y ago

What now? Time for sun cost fallacy Thinking a lot does that. It's not just searching for meaning of life and a higher purpose but also realizing how this is the only life you get to have and it is very short. I'd compare people who do this to suiciders,they've both contemplated their current lives intolerable and found a way out: One way is through it,the other is around and both routes are one-way.

kakarot 8y ago
Sun cost fallacy is when I don't put on SPF protection thinking it won't be that bad out on the beach today.
- badrabbit 8y ago
  Ha! Nice one,will fix typo if it lets me.

justinator 8y ago

What drives someone do to this? It's fun.

tertius 8y ago

It's all about the process not the end goal.