Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

George Wilson, The Man Who Walked His Life Away

deadspin.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 46 posts

Re: George Wilson, The Man Who Walked His Life Away

#11

Post by scottlocklin »

tedunangst wrote: post #9

I suppose this is a nitpick, but what kind of timekeeping was available for this? > He kept walking, one step at a time, and hit 50 miles with four minutes and 43 seconds to spare. My understanding of the time is that pocket watches very rarely had second hands, or maybe not even minute hands. And certainly wouldn't be expected to maintain such accuracy over a period of ten hours. What else would be available in a pr…

Watches were used for navigation. They also had both minute and second hands in those days; you can verify the latter by looking at them on ebay.

Re: George Wilson, The Man Who Walked His Life Away

#12

Post by cjsawyer »

sandspar wrote: post #6

You see people like this sometimes. I met a guy who practically lives on his bike. Like the guy in the article, he's sort of an outcast. Yet when he's not riding, he's walking around with his helmet on his head. It's like he's a tool that can only do one job, but is fantastic at it. I wonder how many luminaries throughout history have been similarly specialized. It seems like a type of beneficial obsession.

Makes sense to me. If you spend your whole life mostly doing one thing then you’ll end up amazing at that thing. When you compare to everyone else, even across generations, you’ll still be ranked among the best because most people never focus that intensely.

Re: George Wilson, The Man Who Walked His Life Away

#13

Post by gambiting »

moksly wrote: post #4

That was an interesting read, but man oh man what a harsh life, and, what a dreadful family. Can you even imagine going through even a tiny bit of that without breaking?

This is just an observation more than an opinion - you know how it's common knowledge that women had no power not that long ago and were kept under the boot of men?

His wife not only cheated on him, when he found out she arranged to have him arrested and thrown in prison, and then was seeking to imprison him for life. As far as the article says, absolutely nothing has happened to her as a consequence of this.

Re: George Wilson, The Man Who Walked His Life Away

#14

Post by Stratoscope »

mncharity wrote: post #7
b_tterc_p wrote: post #5

The culture of the past feels so unrelatably foreign that it really feels like a fictional world. Can you imagine hearing that some dude is walking really far and going to see an improvised carnival with an entourage of “bodyguards” with whips keeping people away from some guy walking thousands of laps around a track?

> The culture of the past feels so unrelatably foreign that it really feels like a fictional world. One idea for teaching history is to emphasize that which you, as a time traveler, would find startlingly strange ("wait, WAT?!?"). A 1700's British officer, traveling with American militia, is utterly boggled... the American officer, he is talking with his men , asking them what they think !?! A WWII American officer,…

You have described many strange and fantastical worlds. And yet you claim these have actually existed? Surely, you must provide some proof!

Re: George Wilson, The Man Who Walked His Life Away

#15

Post by arethuza »

mncharity wrote: post #7
b_tterc_p wrote: post #5

The culture of the past feels so unrelatably foreign that it really feels like a fictional world. Can you imagine hearing that some dude is walking really far and going to see an improvised carnival with an entourage of “bodyguards” with whips keeping people away from some guy walking thousands of laps around a track?

> The culture of the past feels so unrelatably foreign that it really feels like a fictional world. One idea for teaching history is to emphasize that which you, as a time traveler, would find startlingly strange ("wait, WAT?!?"). A 1700's British officer, traveling with American militia, is utterly boggled... the American officer, he is talking with his men , asking them what they think !?! A WWII American officer,…

One of my favourites: at the height of the British Empire, a private rises on merit to become Chief of the Imperial General Staff - rising from the lowest rank to the very highest.

The equivalent is impossible today.

Edit: Correction.

Re: George Wilson, The Man Who Walked His Life Away

#16

Post by growlist »

sandspar wrote: post #6

You see people like this sometimes. I met a guy who practically lives on his bike. Like the guy in the article, he's sort of an outcast. Yet when he's not riding, he's walking around with his helmet on his head. It's like he's a tool that can only do one job, but is fantastic at it. I wonder how many luminaries throughout history have been similarly specialized. It seems like a type of beneficial obsession.

We used to celebrate eccentricity in Britain, but these days sadly it's often under attack.

Re: George Wilson, The Man Who Walked His Life Away

#18

Post by [deleted] »

growlist wrote: post #16
sandspar wrote: post #6

You see people like this sometimes. I met a guy who practically lives on his bike. Like the guy in the article, he's sort of an outcast. Yet when he's not riding, he's walking around with his helmet on his head. It's like he's a tool that can only do one job, but is fantastic at it. I wonder how many luminaries throughout history have been similarly specialized. It seems like a type of beneficial obsession.

We used to celebrate eccentricity in Britain, but these days sadly it's often under attack.

[deleted]

Re: George Wilson, The Man Who Walked His Life Away

#19

Post by baud147258 »

mncharity wrote: post #7
b_tterc_p wrote: post #5

The culture of the past feels so unrelatably foreign that it really feels like a fictional world. Can you imagine hearing that some dude is walking really far and going to see an improvised carnival with an entourage of “bodyguards” with whips keeping people away from some guy walking thousands of laps around a track?

> The culture of the past feels so unrelatably foreign that it really feels like a fictional world. One idea for teaching history is to emphasize that which you, as a time traveler, would find startlingly strange ("wait, WAT?!?"). A 1700's British officer, traveling with American militia, is utterly boggled... the American officer, he is talking with his men , asking them what they think !?! A WWII American officer,…

> The opulence of Versailles... human excrement is cleaned off hallway floors not once, but twice a day

I'm pretty sure they had developed latrines by that time period

Re: George Wilson, The Man Who Walked His Life Away

#20

Post by Ntrails »

arethuza wrote: post #15
mncharity wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The culture of the past feels so unrelatably foreign that it really feels like a fictional world. One idea for teaching history is to emphasize that which you, as a time traveler, would find startlingly strange ("wait, WAT?!?"). A 1700's British officer, traveling with American militia, is utterly boggled... the American officer, he is talking with his men , asking them what they think !?! A WWII American officer,…

One of my favourites: at the height of the British Empire, a private rises on merit to become Chief of the Imperial General Staff - rising from the lowest rank to the very highest. The equivalent is impossible today. Edit: Correction.

> The equivalent is impossible today.

I am not convinced that is true. In many ways the barriers to being an officer are far less pronounced today than they were in the days of the Empire.

Post reply on HN