6 ms·

Headphones are fantastic nowadays. Make your eardrums bleed without bothering anyone. While we're at it, I hate rock cairns too, aside from those used to actu

Headphones are fantastic nowadays. Make your eardrums bleed without bothering anyone. While we're at it, I hate rock cairns too, aside from those used to actually help people by marking routes. I didn't go to the forest to see trash, graffiti, rock cairns, or other man-made creations.

randycupertino 5y ago
> I hate rock cairns too In my local nextdoor.com thread there was a GIANT flamewar over rock cairns and inspirational painted rocks along hiking trails. "But think of the children!" who like painting rocks and leaving inspirational messages!! I briefly thought about painting and leaving some "demotivational rocks" around until I realized I'd have to actually collect, paint and distribute rocks to make that happen.
- ldiracdelta 5y ago
  Reminds me of https://emblazeyourtrail.com/products/cairn-crusher?variant=39340224413740 https://emblazeyourtrail.com/products/cairn-crusher?variant=...
  - randycupertino 5y ago
    See, that would be an excellent graphic for a demotivational rock!
- Cthulhu_ 5y ago
  Demotivational rocks sound great. "You don't matter. Give up.", that level of nihilism. But at the least they could use paint or crayons that just wash off after a bit of rain.
speedybird 5y ago
Can you explain the hate for rock cairns to me? I don't hike so I'm not creating them, but to me they seem to violate the letter of "leave no trace", but not the spirit.
- Spooky23 5y ago
  Ultimately parks belong to all of us. People putting up these things are really planting a flag out of a sense of pride. The problem with emotional acts is that it provokes different responses in people. An innocent stack of rocks gets bested by a bigger one. The bigger stack gets bested by a wider one. The wider one gets trumped by a painted one, and so on. Look at the example of Mt Everest. Many parts of it are a high altitude garbage dump, turning a unique place into a sort of monument to the throngs of bored dentists looking for a thrill.
- avidiax 5y ago
  They destroy the natural environment. Perhaps not as much as if you cut down the trees and built a cabin, but you are still changing the natural landscape in a way that sticks out like a sore thumb.
  - nzmsv 5y ago
    So only non-human animals are allowed to interact with the environment? Humans are not part of nature?
    - npteljes 5y ago
      Yes, I think this is the idea. That people go out in the nature, and want to see as few man-made stuff (or other people) as possible. I think it's especially bad in places where otherwise the nature seems undisturbed.
      - nzmsv 5y ago
        This concept is a bit weird if you think about it though. This is about Homo sapiens enjoying a model (according to Homo sapiens) of a world where Homo sapiens does not exist. This model world is confined to precise borders defined by Homo sapiens and other Homo sapiens are expected to play along and maintain this illusion. We Homo sapiens call that "nature" and love to drive there in our cars and walk around.

randycupertino 5y ago

> I hate rock cairns too In my local nextdoor.com thread there was a GIANT flamewar over rock cairns and inspirational painted rocks along hiking trails. "But think of the children!" who like painting rocks and leaving inspirational messages!! I briefly thought about painting and leaving some "demotivational rocks" around until I realized I'd have to actually collect, paint and distribute rocks to make that happen.

ldiracdelta 5y ago
Reminds me of https://emblazeyourtrail.com/products/cairn-crusher?variant=39340224413740 https://emblazeyourtrail.com/products/cairn-crusher?variant=...
- randycupertino 5y ago
  See, that would be an excellent graphic for a demotivational rock!
Cthulhu_ 5y ago
Demotivational rocks sound great. "You don't matter. Give up.", that level of nihilism. But at the least they could use paint or crayons that just wash off after a bit of rain.

speedybird 5y ago

Can you explain the hate for rock cairns to me? I don't hike so I'm not creating them, but to me they seem to violate the letter of "leave no trace", but not the spirit.

Spooky23 5y ago
Ultimately parks belong to all of us. People putting up these things are really planting a flag out of a sense of pride. The problem with emotional acts is that it provokes different responses in people. An innocent stack of rocks gets bested by a bigger one. The bigger stack gets bested by a wider one. The wider one gets trumped by a painted one, and so on. Look at the example of Mt Everest. Many parts of it are a high altitude garbage dump, turning a unique place into a sort of monument to the throngs of bored dentists looking for a thrill.
avidiax 5y ago
They destroy the natural environment. Perhaps not as much as if you cut down the trees and built a cabin, but you are still changing the natural landscape in a way that sticks out like a sore thumb.
- nzmsv 5y ago
  So only non-human animals are allowed to interact with the environment? Humans are not part of nature?
  - npteljes 5y ago
    Yes, I think this is the idea. That people go out in the nature, and want to see as few man-made stuff (or other people) as possible. I think it's especially bad in places where otherwise the nature seems undisturbed.
    - nzmsv 5y ago
      This concept is a bit weird if you think about it though. This is about Homo sapiens enjoying a model (according to Homo sapiens) of a world where Homo sapiens does not exist. This model world is confined to precise borders defined by Homo sapiens and other Homo sapiens are expected to play along and maintain this illusion. We Homo sapiens call that "nature" and love to drive there in our cars and walk around.