The Tragic End of Natalia Nagovitsyna's Ordeal on Pobeda Peak
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The tragic tale of Natalia Nagovitsyna's ill-fated Pobeda Peak climb has sparked a heated debate about the value of risking one's life for adventure, with some commenters expressing callousness towards those who die in such pursuits, while others argue that this nonchalance is itself callous. The discussion took a nuanced turn as participants drew parallels between high-risk climbers and drug addicts, questioning whether both are driven by a similar desire for thrill-seeking. While some saw the comparison as apt, others countered with examples like Alex Honnold, a renowned climber who defies the addict analogy. As the conversation unfolded, it became clear that empathy is a complex issue, with some arguing that rescuers' lives are also put at risk by reckless adventurers.
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These people want to do things that they know are extremely dangerous, and some times die. I don't empathize. Compare to those people who die by no fault of their own. Drunk driver, war, etc. Am I callous to believe that the two are not equally deserving of our empathy?
For my part, there’s a big part of me that still is moved by Tennyson: “As tho’ to breathe were life!”
It is a specific sort of mentality on their part and frankly my experience with them is that they neither need nor appreciate any white-knighting for their safety. If they wanted a safe job, they could easily switch to pushing papers around, there is no shortage of such jobs in the modern world.
That said, as you say, broadcasting that one does not care without even being asked is already an attitude and I wouldn't like to be in any sort of relationship with a person which spontaneously emits such messages.
I've always thought that a good comparison was drug addiction. Ultimately, what's the difference between someone who engages in high-risk extreme sports and someone who just sits at home doing meth in the basement?
They are both doing dangerous, unnecessary things to manipulate their brain chemistry, without creating or learning anything useful or affecting anything in the larger world around them. Why is one considered heroic and adventurous, and the other criminal or at best pathetic?
I'm not saying that pleasure-seeking for its own sake is inherently bad or wrong, but how would you compare and contrast the behavior of a drug addict and a high-risk climber, if you were explaining it to an alien anthropologist?
the argument is probably that today's extreme sports risk takers were last epoch's explorers who helped humanity conquer the planet.
But there was nothing left to discover on that mountain peak, except how much frostbite sucks.
I suppose in some sense it's still just manipulating one's own brain chemistry, but it seems a very distinct kind from adrenaline junkies.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Honnold [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Solo
Not quite the same, but Youtuber Ally Law (known for climbing cranes and tall structures) started doing it specifically because he used to be terrified of heights and now seems to not have a problem with it
Climbing some random mountain in Russia, though... that's not "Holy fuck, what's this guy made of?!" but "Yeah, a bunch of other people already did that, and it was cool, I guess, except for the ones that died."
There is an appalling number of people in these sports who die young, e.g. Ueli Steck (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ueli_Steck), recently Felix Baumgartner (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Baumgartner). Many of them had already see friends and family die in these sports (as had Natalia Nagovitsyna), so it's not like they were not aware of the dangers.
Why do you want us all to compare them to other people who died? You are not callous. You are angry and emotional over others having interest in the story.
Climbers know they risk death in pursuit of their accomplishments. I am positive it is one of the ways they challenge themselves.
These aren’t kids you are talking about. As the article says, this climber’s husband died while she was climbing with him in 2021. She absolutely knew the risks. I do not believe she would have wanted sympathy. “Normal” people can’t relate, and have “normal” responses. I’ll imagine my own eulogy for her, but this article isn’t it.
I just don't understand these challenges but at least it's a self resolving problem.
She died while doing what she loved/ was obsessed with and there are certainly worse deaths.
The funny thing is this behavior was observed in animals (rats, as they are commonly used in experiments) in labs. So, it's not human specific.
On Mars atmosphere is about 1%, or close. Still helicopter did fly. Correctly saying 'helicopters designed for dense atmosphere cannot fly in thin'.
It is possible to build a drone specifically for these cases. Which will be able to lift 200kg off Everest. With long, wide blades. It's not that expensive and not a rocket science onymore.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didier_Delsalle