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Stuff like this seems a bit... selfish? to me. Why risk falling, and people having to see that/having to clean that up? For a bit of adrenaline and publicity? M
by squigz 9mo ago
Stuff like this seems a bit... selfish? to me. Why risk falling, and people having to see that/having to clean that up? For a bit of adrenaline and publicity? Meh.
- komali2 9mo agoThe Taipei tourism bureau disagrees. Many here as well. The more eyes on Taiwan, the better. I'm grateful Alex was willing to risk his life for this spectacle, now potentially millions will have at least some concept of Taipei and Taiwan in their minds.
- squigz 9mo agoThat a government would be willing to risk this for publicity isn't really changing my mind. "Come to Taiwan; you may or may not watch someone plummet to their death while here" doesn't appeal to me, personally anyway. Anyway that guy that did it with safety equipment a few years back made the rounds in the news too, so not sure this was necessary in that regard.
- mvdtnz 9mo agoDon't watch then. Clearly enough people around the world found some kind of value in it. If you didn't, just jog on.
- komali2 9mo agoC'mon, didn't some guy do a skydive from nearly outer space? Do you criticize the country he landed in? Or red bull for sponsoring it or the many other extreme sports? Injury and death happens in rock climbing even when tethered. Not often but it does happen, that's the nature of the sport and it's the same as BMX, skateboarding, motocross, any kind of racing. It's also the same as just living - go look up Taiwan traffic deaths. There's so much more dangerous things happening here and wherever you live, it just seems silly to criticize someone for doing an extreme sport publicly. There's like one injury per NFL game ffs...
- squigz 9mo agoIf Baumgartner - or any athlete/governing body for a sport - forewent safety measures to make it a better spectacle, then yes, I would be criticizing them!
- komali2 9mo agoThey all forgo the safety measures of "don't smash into each other's heads" despite repeated studies showing NFL players frequently have long term brain damage from the sport. It's an extreme sport and a thrilling thing to watch. The danger is exciting and makes his accomplishment all the more stunning. I think it's really cool that there are humans willing to push the limits of the human experience like this.
- SecretDreams 9mo agoDid he do this climb with no safety equipment for Taiwan or for Alex? I'm with the OP - watching people so willfully put their lives in danger isn't my cup of tea. I'm just glad he didn't die.
- komali2 9mo agoYou put your life in danger every time you get behind the wheel of a car. Statistically more danger than a free solo climber.
- schoen 9mo agoPer trip!?
- kelnos 9mo agoFalse equivalence. It's by no means required to free climb a skyscraper. While you might say it's also not required to get behind the wheel of a car, the difficulty in getting places (like a job, for example) without doing so in many locations makes it more or less required.
- komali2 9mo agoWell then rather than criticize a guy for doing an extreme sport, perhaps we can direct our energy inwards towards why we allowed ourselves to design such a fatal society.
- andrew_lettuce 9mo agoExcept, using your malleable logic the response is easy, this is Honnold's job.
- pengaru 9mo agoSome people drive to their jobs, some people climb shit as their jobs... where's the problem?
- tempestn 9mo ago