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The unsettling truth about the ‘Mostly Harmless’ hiker

wired.com

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Re: The unsettling truth about the ‘Mostly Harmless’ hiker

#41

Post by alfl »

tppiotrowski wrote: post #37

The article talks about his ability to be friendly to strangers but abusive to his long term acquaintances. I have observed this pattern and curious if anyone knows what drives this? My personal theory is that you have some sort of obligations to long term acquaintances but you owe nothing to strangers on the trail. It's this feeling of obligation that leads you to resent people over time.

Could be politeness as a response to social uncertainty followed by aggression once things are more clear. Like how some people fight with loved ones because they can’t just walk.

Re: The unsettling truth about the ‘Mostly Harmless’ hiker

#42

Post by lqet »

jasonv wrote: post #34

Does anyone remember a Wired (?) story from the earliest days about a teenager who got mixed up in a geek subculture and disappeared into sewers under the city? A quick search on their site didn't really yield what I think I remember.

> disappeared into sewers under the city

This might interest you: I watched the quite disturbing documentary "Dark Days" a few years ago about homeless people living in subway and sewage tunnels under New York. They had built small apartments down there and even had electricity.

Here are the first 10 minutes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh4s78Db5OQ

Re: The unsettling truth about the ‘Mostly Harmless’ hiker

#43

Post by goodcanadian »

blakesterz wrote: post #4

Somehow I read this and I'm not sure what the actual Unsettling Truth was, but it still was interesting, I learned a few new things, and I've been following this one pretty close. The more I read about this the more I'm reminded of Chris McCandless. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_McCandless

I think the "unsettling truth" was that he turned out to be a flawed human being rather than the person that people who didn't even know him built him up to be in their imaginations.

Re: The unsettling truth about the ‘Mostly Harmless’ hiker

#44

Post by guerrilla »

c22 wrote: post #19
edmundsauto wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For fans of the hitch hikers guide series, the name isn’t unusual. It’s the name of one of the books.

It's an unusual name for a person.

Much like c22. It was just a trail name.

Re: The unsettling truth about the ‘Mostly Harmless’ hiker

#45

Post by bagacrap »

tppiotrowski wrote: post #37

The article talks about his ability to be friendly to strangers but abusive to his long term acquaintances. I have observed this pattern and curious if anyone knows what drives this? My personal theory is that you have some sort of obligations to long term acquaintances but you owe nothing to strangers on the trail. It's this feeling of obligation that leads you to resent people over time.

[flagged]

Re: The unsettling truth about the ‘Mostly Harmless’ hiker

#46

Post by dkarl »

Maybe Rodriguez’s story is similar to Cody’s. He was alone in a vast, unfamiliar city. He’d destroyed his relationships. He left his apartment in anger. And then, as he traversed the mountains, walking through sugar maple and oak, hickory and poplar, stepping over roots and rocks, he tamed his demons too. The many people who met him didn’t sense the dark, brooding, sometimes dangerous person who left Brooklyn.

People who decide to commit suicide sometimes appear to others to be feeling a lot better in the time between the decision and the final act. It can look externally like an upswing, like they've gained a new perspective and things aren't weighing on them as heavily. It sounds like he was conscious that his behavior was bad for other people, and he didn't believe he could change. That's a terrible position to be in: to feel you can't fully function in the presence of others but to feel their absence keenly as well, to be incapable of being with others without hurting them, but also incapable of being alone. I can't imagine how bad it would have to be to starve yourself to death, but I can't help wondering if that's what he did.

Re: The unsettling truth about the ‘Mostly Harmless’ hiker

#47

Post by lolbrels »

tppiotrowski wrote: post #37

The article talks about his ability to be friendly to strangers but abusive to his long term acquaintances. I have observed this pattern and curious if anyone knows what drives this? My personal theory is that you have some sort of obligations to long term acquaintances but you owe nothing to strangers on the trail. It's this feeling of obligation that leads you to resent people over time.

I think introverts have a tendency to shut down when relationships get too involved and outside of their comfort zone. Shallow acquaintances are usually just to make an impression and there are no pre-conceived notions so it's easier to be more comfortable having a quick interaction with someone you'll never see again. Maybe because it feels fresh and there isn't any baggage.

I didn't particularly like the ex-girlfriends responses regarding him because I think speaking ill of the dead is lame when they aren't there to give their side of the story. Also, it sounded like she has issues of her own - which for someone who is already suffering with mental illness, trying to care for another person who also has mental illness is just a fool's errand. But often time these sort of relationships happen where there is so much negativity but due to illness both parties continue with it despite that.

Re: The unsettling truth about the ‘Mostly Harmless’ hiker

#48

Post by at-fates-hands »

tppiotrowski wrote: post #37

The article talks about his ability to be friendly to strangers but abusive to his long term acquaintances. I have observed this pattern and curious if anyone knows what drives this? My personal theory is that you have some sort of obligations to long term acquaintances but you owe nothing to strangers on the trail. It's this feeling of obligation that leads you to resent people over time.

Agreed.

Its the idea that the more you learn about people and have to be around them, you start to judge them and then realize they aren't like you, so you push them away and crater relationships on purpose so you can be alone and unencumbered by other people's problems. It sounds to me like he did just that. Easier to have short-term relationships and human contact when you need it, but not long enough where you start to get bitter about having to continue being around people you don't like.

He created a world that seemed to fit his personality better than what he had been doing most of his life. It must have been beneficial in some way if he continued doing it for so long.

Re: The unsettling truth about the ‘Mostly Harmless’ hiker

#49

Post by mlang23 »

ajkjk wrote: post #39
mlang23 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What an absurd story. Wikipedia lists one travel, in fact the first and last one. How sad. And why the heck do you venture out into the bushes only to live in a abandoned bus? I mean, yeah, how convenient. I can see that. But it is also weird.

What's absurd about it?

I would imagine that someone inclined to live in the bushes by themselves would be interested in/wanting to build their shelter themselves, or at least use something that has natural origin. At least that is how I imagine it. What did you achieve if you leave civilisation behind only to use something a shelter which wouldnt exist without civilisation?

Re: The unsettling truth about the ‘Mostly Harmless’ hiker

#50

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

Sounds like he was HFA (High-Functioning Autistic), with some extra Trauma Sauce.

It can be quite difficult for folks like this (Disclaimer: IR1) to find happiness. Crowds, high-stimulus environments, external expectations can be quite chafing.

It can also be tempting to latch onto external things and people, to try to heal something that can't really be healed; but only mitigated (long story, but I went through that kind of thing, myself). I can understand anger, when they don't "fix" us.

I can also relate to the "sleep it off" thing. It would be sort of like Miranda, in Serenity.

It's a really sad story. There are quite a few people like that.

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