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"And to return to Alex Honnold, perhaps the most important lesson a free-market loving economist should draw is that sometimes people will do extraordinary thin
by a1pulley 7y ago
"And to return to Alex Honnold, perhaps the most important lesson a free-market loving economist should draw is that sometimes people will do extraordinary things without the motivation of money."
My dad likes to visit the same coffee shop every morning, where he sees more or less the same people. He likes to show his friends pictures of his son on big routes in Yosemite or the Andes, preferring the ones with dangling-portaledge or freezing thousand-yard-stare shock value. They almost invariably ask, "does he get paid for this?" I ask him how he restrains himself from asking, "have you ever done anything for fun?"
- MiguelVieira 7y agoThat reminds me of a sticker I saw on someone’s mountaineering helmet once: “My dream vacation is your worst nightmare”.
- simonebrunozzi 7y agoYour dad and you both sound like nice and smart people. I smiled when reading the last sentence.
- X6S1x6Okd1st 7y agoIt may be my bias, but I've met plenty of people trained in economics that are really not particularly motivated by money, but rather by doing things they find fun and interesting. One of them recently was sailing around BC looking for new sea to summit ascents. There's essentially no hope that their activities will yield them any money.
- Mikeb85 7y ago> sometimes people will do extraordinary things without the motivation of money Spending money and doing things will always be more fun than earning money. People earn money to spend it on pursuits like rock climbing, even if climbing the rock itself is free, buying the equipment and taking time off to climb it costs money, so those extraordinary things were done thanks to an earlier motivation to make money.
- nlfwhulsdhouv 7y agoRock climbing has a very long and storied history of climbers living on absolute scraps to get by, just so they can climb more. This persists in the culture to this day. Yvonne Chouinard, depicted in the article, was one of those climbers. He tells stories of eating catfood and stealing leftovers from the hotels in Yosemite Valley to survive. While you're right that making money helps people live an easier life more able to do extraordinary things, climbing culture exemplifies those extraordinary things are possible without it. Much of the development of modern climbing was done with almost no money. Read Steve Roper's "Camp 4".
- cc81 7y agoI like Alex Honnold's answer to "Do all rock climbers live in vans?" https://youtu.be/kDUeh8nyLT0?t=159 https://youtu.be/kDUeh8nyLT0?t=159
- bdamm 7y agoClose on the timing mark, this one did it for me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDUeh8nyLT0&t=129 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDUeh8nyLT0&t=129
- hodgesrm 7y agoOr google 'dirtbag climbing'. Fred Beckey was one of the masters. I heard a story that he didn't even have an address for much of his life.
- golemiprague 7y agoSometimes is far from always, most people are not too excited about their job but they still wake up every morning to work. Most of them don't do extraordinary things, they do mundane and boring things which must be done to sustain the human race. They definitely do it for the money and no other reason. The few who make their hobby their main pursuit are few and far between and many time this hobby turns into their job.
- bumblebee4 7y agoMaybe it's just their way of saying that they are impressed? As in: Your son seems to be so good that others for sure want to sponsor him.