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Our of curiosity, why don't you want to spend time around people who have camped, trekked, or had time off? That seems like a large group of people to exclude f

Our of curiosity, why don't you want to spend time around people who have camped, trekked, or had time off? That seems like a large group of people to exclude from your social circle.

ramraj07 5y ago
Just to clarify a bit I wouldn’t consider a break year by itself as a deal breaker, and I love to travel myself. I just have strong opinions on people who do it frequently (twice a year?), vocally, try hard to sound “hardcore” (camping and trekking) and make it part of their identity. I didn’t start that way but just noticed patterns over a decade of meeting such folks. Some of the reasons include: 1. Many are often trying really hard to find meaning in travel, as if a forest or a mountain trek would suddenly change their outlook in life. Correlated, many of the most depressed folks and people who struggle to find their place in life I know almost all universally “like the outdoors” and would rate a trek in a beautiful path as their ideal past-time. 2. They look down at least subconsciously at the “urban” way of life as if they’ve somehow disconnected themselves from that hypocrisy. Like you realize you burned down a few trees personally (the equivalent) by flying to Hawaii right? The general wisdom seems to be that travel will open your mind to new perspectives and tolerance but I’ve not experienced that personally. The folks who travel seem to do it mostly for pleasure, and rarely Appear to have gained any real insight into any worldly process. In this connected age if you want to understand the ramifications of capital punishment in China you don’t need to travel there to know it. In fact you might get a more unbiased picture if you don’t. An analogy here would be like learning science by making a vinegar volcano or that “heavy pendulum to the face” trick - in principle it’s science I guess? And everyone’s happy to do it, but the kids don’t learn much at all, and clearly given the scientific acumen of the American public which grew up with this stuff they haven’t learned much about what science even stands for. Probably the same with travel.
- bitexploder 5y ago
  Well, I think the appeal of outdoors is certainly very broad. In modern connected society, nature is a great refuge. I think you are conflating a few namely “time in nature”, people who enjoy solitude, and broadening horizons with travel to new places. IDK, I guess I feel, even in my tech and urban circle of friends, there is a great appreciation of nature and that it is pretty healthy. I’m sure some people patch up issues in their life with it. Most of the folks I know aren’t Doing the Instagram, travel, my life is awesome thing. They just go to nature for a nice scene, chill, peace and quiet, read some books, contemplate life. Do it with friends who enjoy it. My take, I love getting deep into nature for solitude and quiet. It’s a forcing function to disconnect. The travel is just a means to new vistas, but we usually drive to places. The point isn’t really to broaden horizons so much as to see new places. I don’t really broadcast my lifestyle. I don’t promote it to others. I just do it. I also enjoy many things only urban and suburban life really offers (martial arts, etc). Anyway, you touch on some good points, but I also think the views are narrow and don’t capture the spirit of why many people are drawn to nature :) Balance in most things tends to lead to a deeper and healthier relationship with those things (nature, travel, etc) over time.
  - ramraj07 5y ago
    From whatever you say I’m sure I’ll get along with you if I meet you in person, so there’s that! I think the most important thing I look for in a genuine person is the complete acknowledgment of all the hypocricies we put up in our lives. Travel etc is just an interesting lightning rod that concentrates such topics (other than dietary choices, but let’s not go there lol). I do definitely judge quickly and summarily. But my thought process is I’m ready to change my opinion on anyone at a moments notice as I learn about them, and I don’t avoid people due to preconceived prejudices, so why not go wild with my judgement? It’s fun, it makes me look for underlying motives, and I’m happy to be wrong more often than not! The moment I say this out loud, I typically don’t keep too many people around, for sure, but I’m not bothered by it that much. The ones that stick around are in the end much more fun for me to hang out with anyways.

Our of curiosity, why don't you want to spend time around people who have camped, trekked, or had time off? That seems like a large group of people to exclude from your social circle.

ramraj07 5y ago

Just to clarify a bit I wouldn’t consider a break year by itself as a deal breaker, and I love to travel myself. I just have strong opinions on people who do it frequently (twice a year?), vocally, try hard to sound “hardcore” (camping and trekking) and make it part of their identity. I didn’t start that way but just noticed patterns over a decade of meeting such folks. Some of the reasons include: 1. Many are often trying really hard to find meaning in travel, as if a forest or a mountain trek would suddenly change their outlook in life. Correlated, many of the most depressed folks and people who struggle to find their place in life I know almost all universally “like the outdoors” and would rate a trek in a beautiful path as their ideal past-time. 2. They look down at least subconsciously at the “urban” way of life as if they’ve somehow disconnected themselves from that hypocrisy. Like you realize you burned down a few trees personally (the equivalent) by flying to Hawaii right? The general wisdom seems to be that travel will open your mind to new perspectives and tolerance but I’ve not experienced that personally. The folks who travel seem to do it mostly for pleasure, and rarely Appear to have gained any real insight into any worldly process. In this connected age if you want to understand the ramifications of capital punishment in China you don’t need to travel there to know it. In fact you might get a more unbiased picture if you don’t. An analogy here would be like learning science by making a vinegar volcano or that “heavy pendulum to the face” trick - in principle it’s science I guess? And everyone’s happy to do it, but the kids don’t learn much at all, and clearly given the scientific acumen of the American public which grew up with this stuff they haven’t learned much about what science even stands for. Probably the same with travel.

bitexploder 5y ago
Well, I think the appeal of outdoors is certainly very broad. In modern connected society, nature is a great refuge. I think you are conflating a few namely “time in nature”, people who enjoy solitude, and broadening horizons with travel to new places. IDK, I guess I feel, even in my tech and urban circle of friends, there is a great appreciation of nature and that it is pretty healthy. I’m sure some people patch up issues in their life with it. Most of the folks I know aren’t Doing the Instagram, travel, my life is awesome thing. They just go to nature for a nice scene, chill, peace and quiet, read some books, contemplate life. Do it with friends who enjoy it. My take, I love getting deep into nature for solitude and quiet. It’s a forcing function to disconnect. The travel is just a means to new vistas, but we usually drive to places. The point isn’t really to broaden horizons so much as to see new places. I don’t really broadcast my lifestyle. I don’t promote it to others. I just do it. I also enjoy many things only urban and suburban life really offers (martial arts, etc). Anyway, you touch on some good points, but I also think the views are narrow and don’t capture the spirit of why many people are drawn to nature :) Balance in most things tends to lead to a deeper and healthier relationship with those things (nature, travel, etc) over time.
- ramraj07 5y ago
  From whatever you say I’m sure I’ll get along with you if I meet you in person, so there’s that! I think the most important thing I look for in a genuine person is the complete acknowledgment of all the hypocricies we put up in our lives. Travel etc is just an interesting lightning rod that concentrates such topics (other than dietary choices, but let’s not go there lol). I do definitely judge quickly and summarily. But my thought process is I’m ready to change my opinion on anyone at a moments notice as I learn about them, and I don’t avoid people due to preconceived prejudices, so why not go wild with my judgement? It’s fun, it makes me look for underlying motives, and I’m happy to be wrong more often than not! The moment I say this out loud, I typically don’t keep too many people around, for sure, but I’m not bothered by it that much. The ones that stick around are in the end much more fun for me to hang out with anyways.