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This is more like “rich westerners chasing FOMO feels”. I have a hard time supporting politically that we owe deference to a minority experiencing shallow nove

This is more like “rich westerners chasing FOMO feels”. I have a hard time supporting politically that we owe deference to a minority experiencing shallow novelty and calling them life dreams, given the externalized costs foisted on society as a whole. There are peaks closer and the difference in sensory experience is marginal. This is just “more money than I can spend so I’ll shovel it a little at everything.” Which is politically indefensible given how society is manipulated to enable it.

bitreality 7y ago
It's more that Everest is the highest peak in the world. If there was another mountain 10m higher than Everest, Everest would get 5-10% of the traffic it currently does. How many people know the second highest mountain in the world? It's K2, most people have at least heard of it. How about the third highest? Kangchenjunga. Never heard of it, had to Google it. So for people who want a recognizable achievement, Everest is pretty much the top. Not just in climbing, but any physical achievement. Unless Nepal restricts the number of climbers, it will only get worse.
- gamblor956 7y ago
  K2 and Kangchenjunga are also much harder to get to than Everest. For example, the Indian government does not permit access to Kangchenjunga, and the northern routes from Nepal are in (relatively, for Nepal) remote areas. K2 is so remote that there was no local name for it (hence, the designation K2).
- orpep90nxkfo 7y ago
  It’s a subjective life goal, is my point. The article says so many people are doing it, the techniques are so well known, there’s little new info to glean in the activity itself, so it’s basically Xbox achievements for people with excess money as far as my subjective take on its value. Our economy is so ridiculously hung up on gamifying FOMO and statistics to satisfy yet another gameified endeavor in financial economics. And we rip tons of resources out of the ground each year to support our generation diddling their novelty button. All I mean is I’m pretty done supporting the marketing BS of a bunch of aristocrats.
saalweachter 7y ago
I say "lifetime dream" because, within that context, $50,000 is probably a good, achievable budget for the lifetime dream of probably north of a billion people in the world. Maybe two billion; I haven't looked at world demographics lately. $50,000 is enough to do any one of starting a small business, or owning a classic car, or getting a masters degree in a subject you enjoy, or to own a boat or a tiny prop plane, or take a year or two off to try to write the next great novel, or buy a small plot of land in the wilderness to put a cabin on, or take a pretty fantastic round-the-world trip, or serve as a down payment on a small house in much of the US, maybe a fixer-upper depending on your location, or to throw a really amazing wedding. Or to climb Mount Everest. Any one; if you aren't a rich asshole, you only get to pick one (or if you're a rich SWE, like 4-5). But, like, a lot of people can scrimp and save and take out a second mortgage and do one. I understand why you think wanting to climb Mount Everest is a stupid dream, and I'm sure that a hearty number of the climbers are rich assholes who don't bat an eye at dropping $50k on something they don't really care about. And heck, most of the people who do dream of climbing Everest aren't in the physical shape to actually go and do it. But still, it's a pretty common dream of a lifetime, of the right scale that a huge number of people are able to attempt it.

bitreality 7y ago

It's more that Everest is the highest peak in the world. If there was another mountain 10m higher than Everest, Everest would get 5-10% of the traffic it currently does. How many people know the second highest mountain in the world? It's K2, most people have at least heard of it. How about the third highest? Kangchenjunga. Never heard of it, had to Google it. So for people who want a recognizable achievement, Everest is pretty much the top. Not just in climbing, but any physical achievement. Unless Nepal restricts the number of climbers, it will only get worse.

gamblor956 7y ago
K2 and Kangchenjunga are also much harder to get to than Everest. For example, the Indian government does not permit access to Kangchenjunga, and the northern routes from Nepal are in (relatively, for Nepal) remote areas. K2 is so remote that there was no local name for it (hence, the designation K2).
orpep90nxkfo 7y ago
It’s a subjective life goal, is my point. The article says so many people are doing it, the techniques are so well known, there’s little new info to glean in the activity itself, so it’s basically Xbox achievements for people with excess money as far as my subjective take on its value. Our economy is so ridiculously hung up on gamifying FOMO and statistics to satisfy yet another gameified endeavor in financial economics. And we rip tons of resources out of the ground each year to support our generation diddling their novelty button. All I mean is I’m pretty done supporting the marketing BS of a bunch of aristocrats.

saalweachter 7y ago

I say "lifetime dream" because, within that context, $50,000 is probably a good, achievable budget for the lifetime dream of probably north of a billion people in the world. Maybe two billion; I haven't looked at world demographics lately. $50,000 is enough to do any one of starting a small business, or owning a classic car, or getting a masters degree in a subject you enjoy, or to own a boat or a tiny prop plane, or take a year or two off to try to write the next great novel, or buy a small plot of land in the wilderness to put a cabin on, or take a pretty fantastic round-the-world trip, or serve as a down payment on a small house in much of the US, maybe a fixer-upper depending on your location, or to throw a really amazing wedding. Or to climb Mount Everest. Any one; if you aren't a rich asshole, you only get to pick one (or if you're a rich SWE, like 4-5). But, like, a lot of people can scrimp and save and take out a second mortgage and do one. I understand why you think wanting to climb Mount Everest is a stupid dream, and I'm sure that a hearty number of the climbers are rich assholes who don't bat an eye at dropping $50k on something they don't really care about. And heck, most of the people who do dream of climbing Everest aren't in the physical shape to actually go and do it. But still, it's a pretty common dream of a lifetime, of the right scale that a huge number of people are able to attempt it.