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How Chris McCandless Died

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Re: How Chris McCandless Died

#101

Post by glibgil »

billybob255 wrote: post #88
jere wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>he went into the Alaskan bush unprepared and died of malnutrition. If he brought a map he could've walked to safety when he started to realize his plight. Did you actually read the article? That's not what it says. It suggests he became paralyzed by a neurotoxin, an event which no one could have foreseen at the time. Having a map wouldn't have cured his paralysis. I'm not even convinced he was lost.

The article specifically states that ODAP bears no no risk of toxicity unless someone is suffering from malnutrition, stress, or acute hunger.

No one should ever eat ODAP. It is too risky. Now the world knows (and in a very high profile way). No one should ever have to ask themselves if they are well-fed enough to eat wild potato seeds. You should never eat them.

Re: How Chris McCandless Died

#102

Post by glibgil »

bostonpete wrote: post #96

Am I reading this correctly: "EXTREMELY WEAK. FAULT OF POT[ATO] SEED." McCandless wrote "POT SEED" and the author inferred that he meant potato seed? Is that a given...? Also, doesn't this author seem a bit sloppy? First, he asserts in an 8400-word article that McCandless died from sweet pea seeds, which he shrugs off because he was on a tight deadline. Then he says he made a "rash" decision to suggest in his book th…

It is a given. McCandless meant to write potato seed. Krakauer wasn't sloppy. He was right. He knew that wild potato seeds killed McCandless. He just didn't know how. Krakauer pursued the analysis himself to determine what toxin was present in the seeds. That's not good enough? Man, everyone's a critic.

Re: How Chris McCandless Died

#103

Post by Evgeny »

Call me a cynic, but this is about the guy who went to live into the wilderness underprepared and full of noble ideas and died, either from poisoning or from hunger.

Now he has his own wikipedia page and inspires people.

I mean, wouldn't one rather admire someone who tried a similar thing, but was prepared and succeeded?

Re: How Chris McCandless Died

#104

Post by chris_wot »

drcode wrote: post #69
grecy wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Luckily there are plenty of people that don't agree with you, who are willing to try and push the limits of what humanity can do. We're all going to die, you know. Stats on deaths with/without oxygen: http://faculty.washington.edu/hueyrb/pdfs/jama.pdf

Given that over a thousand people have climbed Everest at this point, it seems to me that climbing Everest is about the most boring/pretentious thing I could imagine doing (compared to all the other interesting things you can do in this world)

You're joking. It's still an amazing feat of endurance. People still die making the attempt. And there are 7 billion people in the world. So that means that 0.0000000142857143% of the world have done the climb.

Re: How Chris McCandless Died

#105

Post by chris_wot »

rdtsc wrote: post #85
grecy wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It certainly is a very dividing topic. I estimate that the comments on my personal trip to the bus [1] are split 50/50 between people that admire Chris' story, and people that think he was a dumbass. I think the argument boils whether Chris was unprepared (mentally and equipment-wise) to go into the Alaskan wilderness. If you read "Into the Wild", and the newer "Back to the Wild" book which has entries from his diary…

> Those people are not considered dumb asses. Wait. Why exactly are they not considered dumb asses? I sure do consider them that.

Such a stupid insult.

Re: How Chris McCandless Died

#106

Post by jlgreco »

grecy wrote: post #99
jlgreco wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Awesome, thanks!

You're welcome. I'm interested in your username. Does that indicate your name? My last name is Grec, and I'm always on the lookout for more :)

Close, mine's got an "o" on the end of it. ;) It's a fairly common Italian surname meaning "Greek".

Re: How Chris McCandless Died

#107

Post by kamaal »

emilsedgh wrote: post #36
lrm242 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Give me a break. The guy was most certainly not an independent thinker. Nor was he a critical thinker. Nor did he have any respect for the challenge he was taking on. He was an angst ridden teenage boy captured in an twenty something's body that never learned the difference between fantasy and reality. Most importantly, he never learned that in the real world there are consequences for stupid actions.

Your comment sounds like he harmed other people with his stupid actions. He was harmless to everyone but himself. And the consequence, he paid it with his life. The nobel part is that he actually left everything behind while most of us are drowning into urban life. He wasnt a hero in traditional sense of 'saving, helping' other people. He is a hero who had what it takes to leave society behind while we cannot let go…

>>The nobel part is that he actually left everything behind while most of us are drowning into urban life.

You make it look like its a sin to live in a city.

Re: How Chris McCandless Died

#108

Post by kamaal »

base698 wrote: post #30
untog wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

he chose to live a meaningful life instead of being another sheep. Can you say the same for your own life? Yeah, I can. Most of us can. 'Sheep' is such an over-used term that covers so much. Getting a full time job for a company doesn't make your a 'sheep', you can still leave a happy and meaningful life. People say (though I have no personal experience) that having children is the most meaningful thing you can do in…

I don't believe sheep is overused when a huge population of people are pursuing material gains for people who don't care. The short list of what this leads to: depression, hopelessness, addiction, dietary diseases, and other first world problems. All trying to keep up with the Joneses. There are more meaningful pursuits.

>>people are pursuing material gains

What is so wrong with that?

>>The short list of what this leads to: depression, hopelessness, addiction, dietary diseases

Do you think poor people don't fall ill? Or that when they fall ill they don't need pay hospital bills?

>> There are more meaningful pursuits.

Like? Care to give examples?

Re: How Chris McCandless Died

#109

Post by Casseres »

drcode wrote: post #69
grecy wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Luckily there are plenty of people that don't agree with you, who are willing to try and push the limits of what humanity can do. We're all going to die, you know. Stats on deaths with/without oxygen: http://faculty.washington.edu/hueyrb/pdfs/jama.pdf

Given that over a thousand people have climbed Everest at this point, it seems to me that climbing Everest is about the most boring/pretentious thing I could imagine doing (compared to all the other interesting things you can do in this world)

What have you done that less than a thousand people have done? I'm always interested in learning about awesome things to do.

Re: How Chris McCandless Died

#110

Post by _mulder_ »

foxylad wrote: post #90
grecy wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It certainly is a very dividing topic. I estimate that the comments on my personal trip to the bus [1] are split 50/50 between people that admire Chris' story, and people that think he was a dumbass. I think the argument boils whether Chris was unprepared (mentally and equipment-wise) to go into the Alaskan wilderness. If you read "Into the Wild", and the newer "Back to the Wild" book which has entries from his diary…

> Even worse, you go by yourself. This. A lone human is many, many times more vulnerable than even a couple. There is a reason why we tend to stick together. In this particular case, the article seems to be trying to exonerate McCandless because the poison that killed him was unknown at the time. But if he'd gone with someone else, or even organised someone to drop in occasionally, he'd have survived. His loner insti…

It seems you've failed to understand why Chris McCandless went to Alaska in the first place. I'll give you a clue, it wasn't because of it's bustling social scene.

What about Dick Proenneke [0], another notable 'Alaska Loner'. He spent 30 years living 'Alone in the Wilderness'. Albeit in the relative safety of a cabin he'd built and he did have semi-frequency supply drops.

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Proenneke

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