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Alex Honnold's next summit: the rest of his life

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Re: Alex Honnold's next summit: the rest of his life

#21

Post by [deleted] »

snarf21 wrote: post #19
reascenda wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought he was an asshole. Quite apart from how he came across in the film exposing yourself to utterly needless danger is a very bad way to treat people who love you.

I get that perspective. Let me ask this: Do you feel the same way about the people in your life who smoke? or eat fast food? or don't exercise daily? or text while driving? I know you can say those are an accumulation of small dangers but it isn't like Honnold never climbed once and decided to free solo the hardest cliff in the world. Do you feel the same about race car drivers? NFL players? We all have our identity…

[deleted]

Re: Alex Honnold's next summit: the rest of his life

#22

Post by gadders »

Excel_Wizard wrote: post #7
Ididntdothis wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I watched the movie with my girlfriend I thought that he was refreshingly honest with his feelings. My girlfriend on the other hand thought that he was just a selfish prick. Pretty interesting.

Was it a thought along the lines of him being selfish because his death (at any time) could leave his family without him?

There was also that whole bit about how he thought he should break up with her because he didn't belay him properly or something.

The guy has done some amazing feats, but he definitely seems as if he is on the spectrum.

Re: Alex Honnold's next summit: the rest of his life

#23

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

reascenda wrote: post #18
navigatesol wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I came away sympathetic — recognizing a kindred spirit who’s capable of a lot, but had a hard time fitting in with the world If there's one thing I've learned about HackerNews, it's that everyone here is an exceptional but misunderstood genius. > while everyone else just saw a very impressive asshole. I don't know a single person who came away from this film with the impression that Alex Honnold is an asshole. Seem…

I thought he was an asshole. Quite apart from how he came across in the film exposing yourself to utterly needless danger is a very bad way to treat people who love you.

It's his life, if he chooses to do this instead of joining the military or being a firefighter or some traditionally acceptable form of risking your life, that's fine. He is not obligated to live the way 'the people who love him' want him to.

Re: Alex Honnold's next summit: the rest of his life

#25

Post by gameswithgo »

balfirevic wrote: post #16

It's interesting to see some negative reactions to what Alex did. His actions bring to forefront a belief which doesn't seem to sit well with many: his life is his own. And our lives really are, ultimately, our own. Well, at least until we bring kids into the world. We can certainly choose to give up part of this autonomy, but we shouldn't demand it from anyone else.

I've been fascinated for a long time by how people get angry at others for taking risks. Ride my mountain bike slowly on a side walk without a helmet? It invokes ANGER in others. Why? Is it an evolutionary trait built into pack animals perhaps? That would make sense. But still, leave me alone! =)

Also, yes internet I understand that falling from a mountain bike at a slow speed can impact your head just as hard as falling from a high speed, that isn't the point, or even entirely true.

Re: Alex Honnold's next summit: the rest of his life

#26

Post by rtkaratekid »

klhugo wrote: post #6

As a (very) amateur climber myself, I admire Alex. But the litle I know about psychiatric illness, I could clearly see that Alex is in depression - and that is, IMHO, one of the strongest motivations of him to free solo. In other words, soloing makes him forget the real pain. In case it goes sideways, he just does not care much.

As someone with personal experience with psychiatric illness and having a degree in psychology and neuroscience, being trained on recognizing and treating disorders, I'd recommend avoiding attributing a clinical diagnosis to people without knowing more of the story.

As a climber who's met Honnold and many other extremely high-end climbers, it's a pretty common thread that they don't feel 100% alive except for when they climb. You may be able to argue that they're all depressed people trying to get their fix, but I don't think that's true. The thing is though, it can be hard to explain this phenomenon to people who don't have some sort of hobby that gives their life such purpose. I really enjoy my life outside of climbing, I honestly do. But it's the stories of adventure and hardship (even if self-imposed) that really enrich my life and have made me who I am. Honnold is similar, just a lot more so.

Re: Alex Honnold's next summit: the rest of his life

#27

Post by gameswithgo »

navigatesol wrote: post #11
thrav wrote: post #4

Anytime I discussed Free Solo with anyone, including my wife, my feelings about Alex couldn’t have been more opposite from theirs. His bit about empathy and the fact that he’s, “just learning [his] lines” is probably relatable to many here. His comments about deciding to solo mostly because he wasn’t comfortable asking anyone to climb with him, and didn’t want anyone to see him do something stupid, while ranking in t…

> I came away sympathetic — recognizing a kindred spirit who’s capable of a lot, but had a hard time fitting in with the world If there's one thing I've learned about HackerNews, it's that everyone here is an exceptional but misunderstood genius. > while everyone else just saw a very impressive asshole. I don't know a single person who came away from this film with the impression that Alex Honnold is an asshole. Seem…

>but nothing in today's world surprises me.

there is no time in the world when it wasn't full of crazy.

Re: Alex Honnold's next summit: the rest of his life

#28

Post by Ididntdothis »

gadders wrote: post #22
Excel_Wizard wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was it a thought along the lines of him being selfish because his death (at any time) could leave his family without him?

There was also that whole bit about how he thought he should break up with her because he didn't belay him properly or something. The guy has done some amazing feats, but he definitely seems as if he is on the spectrum.

“as if he is on the spectrum.”

Which makes him relatable to me and probably quite a few other programmers.

Re: Alex Honnold's next summit: the rest of his life

#29

Post by aikinai »

gameswithgo wrote: post #25
balfirevic wrote: post #16

It's interesting to see some negative reactions to what Alex did. His actions bring to forefront a belief which doesn't seem to sit well with many: his life is his own. And our lives really are, ultimately, our own. Well, at least until we bring kids into the world. We can certainly choose to give up part of this autonomy, but we shouldn't demand it from anyone else.

I've been fascinated for a long time by how people get angry at others for taking risks. Ride my mountain bike slowly on a side walk without a helmet? It invokes ANGER in others. Why? Is it an evolutionary trait built into pack animals perhaps? That would make sense. But still, leave me alone! =) Also, yes internet I understand that falling from a mountain bike at a slow speed can impact your head just as hard as fal…

Because in the real world the consequences of your actions aren’t confined to yourself.

Reckless behavior increases the impact on anyone involved in an accident with you, mentally impacts anyone that might see your brains splatter, increases insurance premiums, uses hospital resources, etc.

Re: Alex Honnold's next summit: the rest of his life

#30

Post by balfirevic »

pen2l wrote: post #10
klhugo wrote: post #6

As a (very) amateur climber myself, I admire Alex. But the litle I know about psychiatric illness, I could clearly see that Alex is in depression - and that is, IMHO, one of the strongest motivations of him to free solo. In other words, soloing makes him forget the real pain. In case it goes sideways, he just does not care much.

> In case it goes sideways, he just does not care much. I don't think it's that. In some video online it covers Alex getting a brain scan, to determine if the part responsible for fear is maybe broken. It turned out that it wasn't, it was just that Alex was such an experienced climber that he knows with full confidence what he has to do and what his limitations are. Him failing doesn't really factor in the calculus o…

Wasn't the conclusion that his fear response is greatly attenuated?

http://nautil.us/issue/39/sport/the-strange-brain-of-the-wor...

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