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There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

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Re: There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

#141

Post by pge »

skrebbel wrote: post #103
wwwater wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like very much how you describe this thing with words like "triggers" and "disappearing into network", that feels exactly this way for me too. Where is this place, where you can hike for a week without seeing any other human?

Nunavut, Patagonia, Lapland, Siberia, etc etc etc

You don't need to go to an exotic place, there are significant wilderness areas all over the US (eg. Boundary Waters in Minnesota). If you choose less traveled areas, there's a good chance you can go a week without seeing anyone.

Re: There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

#142

Post by gcb0 »

KhanMahGretsch wrote: post #137
kisstheblade wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes but people who go on reality shows are the type that really can't function alone and without constant attention from others.

Alone is a televised contest, not a "reality show" as we've come to know them, so your comment does not apply. The contestants (especially those who make it to later stages) are highly-skilled survivalists.

still feel like a reality show to me.

and talking to a camera and pointing a camera to myself most of the day without even a mirror or comb nearby would make me double anxious.

Re: There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

#143

Post by sizzzzlerz »

avenoir wrote: post #87
sizzzzlerz wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Moving to Alaska doesn't work either. See Chris McCandless. Of course, where he chose to live (and, eventually, die) didn't have nearby houses to steal from. He just thought he could live off the land. In Alaska. In winter. Without the necessary tools or skills. That, my friend, is truly nuts.

I think Richard Proenneke is a better example of someone who survived in the vastness of Alaskan wilderness for decades. His survival story is truly fascinating and level-headed compared to McCandless who was a hippie vagabond more than anything else.

I've seen those films of Proenneke. Unlike McCandless, he had mad skills in a seemingly infinite number of disciplines. He also planned things out but, and here's the kicker, he had friends on the outside who'd arrange to have supplies flown in to him so he was hardly living in isolation. Even so, he was a pretty amazing guy.

Re: There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

#144

Post by gcb0 »

KhanMahGretsch wrote: post #138

This looks like a good thread to recommend one of my favourite YouTube channels, "Primitive Technology", which features all manner of tools and dwellings built caveman-style. It's creator is a hacker in the truest sense; his forge-blower contraption, for instance, is simply ingenious. Don't forget to turn on captions, the subtitles describe what he's doing :) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAL3JXZSzSm8AlZyD3nQdBA

it's actually the worst thread :)

The article is not about some outdoorsman that built furnaces and such. he didn't even lit a fire or dug a latrine!

this is the story of a man that just didn't want to be seen. he camped 3min walk from cabins, and stole books and food everywhere he could.

Re: There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

#145

Post by wwwater »

atemerev wrote: post #119
skrebbel wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nunavut, Patagonia, Lapland, Siberia, etc etc etc

Any serious mountain range (e.g. Alps or Pyrenees in Europe), if you are good enough in mountaineering (it looks on the surface like everything is inhabited, but there are huge patches of mostly untouched wilderness everywhere). However, you have to be in a pretty good physical condition and have some training to do that, which is probably not the case for most HN readers, including myself :)

I really like to hike in Alps, but I don't know how to find these uninhabited places. For sure there are things for more experienced mountaineers, but on these routes there are also people, just more experienced ones.. Besides, I don't want a technically difficult route, I want a route without people..

Re: There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

#146

Post by DannyDaemonic »

icebraining wrote: post #104
DannyDaemonic wrote: post #20

There's an evolutionary advantage to having people who are isolated from the rest of the community. And not just in terms of sickness transmission. Things such as war, famine, and natural disasters can wipe out whole population groups.

He was still living near and reliant on other people for food and energy supplies. If shit really hit the fan and those disappeared, it's not clear he would survive either.

When I said isolated I meant it in exactly that fashion. Isolated and withdrawn, but close enough to still fall back into society if the need - due to internal or external reasons - arose. Someone removing themselves from even the remote chance of human interaction is unlikely to have any evolutionary advantage. And unless I'm reading the article wrong, he did eventually rejoin the masses after 27 years.

I guess was talking about people who feel the need to withdraw in general. I think we've all met a person or two like this, who prefered to be alone. Some just take it further than others.

Re: There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

#147

Post by tray5 »

stordoff wrote: post #94
tray5 wrote: post #17

My personal theory for explaining hermits throughout history is simple, these people had/have aspergers. I have aspergers myself, and I can very easily see someone who has aspergers who for whatever reason no longer wants to socialize anymore getting up and doing their own thing out in isolation. I don't truly believe that any neurotypical person, and for that matter many aspies could do it, but if you're brain is wi…

> these people had/have aspergers [...] and simply have no interest exhausting the effort I don't think it _necessarily_ needs to be aspergers for that. I have OCD regarding, e.g., remembering exactly what people said, and it makes social situations exhausting.

Interestingly enough OCD and ADHD have a huge comorbidity rate with aspergers/autism. My personal belief is that OCD and ADHD are just different manifestations of autism. I.e. neurodiverse vs. neurotypical behaviours

Re: There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

#148

Post by KhanMahGretsch »

gcb0 wrote: post #144
KhanMahGretsch wrote: post #138

This looks like a good thread to recommend one of my favourite YouTube channels, "Primitive Technology", which features all manner of tools and dwellings built caveman-style. It's creator is a hacker in the truest sense; his forge-blower contraption, for instance, is simply ingenious. Don't forget to turn on captions, the subtitles describe what he's doing :) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAL3JXZSzSm8AlZyD3nQdBA

it's actually the worst thread :) The article is not about some outdoorsman that built furnaces and such. he didn't even lit a fire or dug a latrine! this is the story of a man that just didn't want to be seen. he camped 3min walk from cabins, and stole books and food everywhere he could.

However tenuous the connection, my post is related to both tech and the OP.

However irrelevant it may be, somehow I'm certain it will not be the most nuisance caused in this thread today :)

Re: There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

#149

Post by marcosdumay »

a_imho wrote: post #114
reitanqild wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not necessarily agile. I think this is cargo cult software engineering: "collaboration", "teamwork" and "agile". Wasn't Agile about doing less work? Less unrealistic plans. Less meetings - including informal. Shorter meetings - mostly just daily standup - what I did, what I'm doing, any blockers.

Agile is defined as http://agilemanifesto.org/ Scrum with its artifacts/ceremonies like standup is a specific interpretation.

Scrum with its rigid artifacts/ceremonies is a complete negation of the basis of what's on the manifesto.

Re: There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

#150

Post by [deleted] »

pm90 wrote: post #47
white-flame wrote: post #15

It baffles me that people think it's so shockingly outlandish that there are people who don't reactionarily buy into the tribalistic pressures around us to simply act like everyone else. Humanity is not homogeneous, yet some notions like these are always projected out to be considered an immutable, inescapable constant. I can only guess that's that same fear of being different shining through. I presume that on sites…

There are very real evolutionary pressure on humans to be social and pliant and buy into the notion that society is a net good, whether it be a tribal one or a more modern version. Just think about it: the outliers get ostracized and more often than not don't pass on their genes to the next generation. Until very recently, we had extremely tribal behavior among human societies as well. So it makes sense that most peo…

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