5 ms·

In my experience, going down is far tricker (and riskier) than climbing up. Especially when carrying things. So that theory doesn't sound right either.

• Jenk 5y ago
  He was specifically thinking of food/drink. Coming down would be empty, going up is full. He also said it'd be servants doing this, which is also why the stairs were always so small.
• 101008 5y ago
  My experience is the same, from stairs to mountains, descending is much harder (maybe because we are tired of going up?). Anyway, I can see that intuitively, one can imagine that you need help to go up when you are carrying stuff.
  • jamincan 5y ago
    I think it is due to the fact that going down stairs requires eccentric muscle contraction which is harder on the joints and also harder to control.
  • deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  • bipson 5y ago
    Don't over-interpret: It is just way easier the way we are built, kids learn climbing stairs (and other things) way before they can safely walk stairs downwards. The smarter ones go backwards. Standing on a step and stepping down is just ... complicated ... and requires considerably more body control. The risk of toppling forwards and falling down the stairs (or the couch) is considerably higher than "stumbling the stairs upwards".
    • bluGill 5y ago
      Yeah, if you look at body mechanics it quickly becomes obvious that our body has a much less advantageous position for down.
  • ReactiveJelly 5y ago
    I don't think it's because of being tired. A few hypotheses come to mind: 1. Walking on your toes vs. on your heels 2. What happens if you slip 3. Lean If you're facing into the stairs, your toes are gripping the next step. Maybe the extra degree of freedom from your ankle makes it easier to get a steady foothold. Whereas if you're facing away, on narrow steps, your toe may be off the step. If you try to balance on level ground on the balls of your feet vs. on your heels, you can tell heels are harder. If you're going up and you slip, your moving foot just slides onto the same step as your static foot. If you're going down and you slip, your feet are now separated by 2 steps instead of just 1. All things that move across ground move best if they lean into the direction they're walking. If you're walking down stairs, leaning forward means leaning away from the stairs. Going up, you're just leaning into the stairs as if you're rock climbing. Also it's likely our bodies are just better at leaning forward safely than backwards. I heard a quote somewhere that "If you go down facing it, it's a ladder. If you go down facing away, it's stairs." Some narrow stairs might be better treated as just strange ladders. 2 of the possible causes would be mitigated.
  • themaninthedark 5y ago
    To add to the sibling comments, momentum is also a factor. When you are going up, if you slip, your momentum will carry you into the slope. If you are going down and slip, your momentum will carry you into space. Then gravity will take over.