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

A New Jersey couple survived the Alaskan wilderness on a homestead

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–56 of 56 posts

Re: A New Jersey couple survived the Alaskan wilderness on a homestead

#51

Post by IncreasePosts »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #42
IncreasePosts wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would call it more of an honest statement about what happened there, as opposed to an overly positive one. Having said that, I do have a long-standing issue with the relatively small group of people who try to go their own way from society without a modicum of understanding about what kind of work and skills will be required. As well as an issue with the larger group of people who cheer on these folks and either en…

That makes sense, and I share your sentiment about the naiveite and idiocy for some of these people. that is to say, I think the dream of self-reliance is a noble one, but simply holding a noble ideal doesnt make someone praiseworthy. Execution speaks volume. I think what I was most reacting to was your statement "wasting their time producing nothing much of a value". I took this to mean value to the greater communit…

That's fair - when I talked about value I was only talking about what they themselves valued, not any value to a larger group. If they succeeded, the homestead could provide them value even if literally no one else in the world knew it was there.

They were trying to build a house, but they failed miserably. Because they lacked some very basic skills, and the ability to plan. I think most people should realize that building a 5 story A-frame as your first home, by yourself, in the wilderness, is not the easiest of tasks. Maybe try a 1 story A-frame first? Or a log cabin.

Re: A New Jersey couple survived the Alaskan wilderness on a homestead

#52

Post by financltravsty »

IncreasePosts wrote: post #38
s1artibartfast wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Im honestly curious where this hostility is coming from? Ideas of value are obviously subjective.

I would call it more of an honest statement about what happened there, as opposed to an overly positive one. Having said that, I do have a long-standing issue with the relatively small group of people who try to go their own way from society without a modicum of understanding about what kind of work and skills will be required. As well as an issue with the larger group of people who cheer on these folks and either en…

Do you not see the irony in your post? Just like the people you lambaste, you also do not have a level-headed opinion, based on a 3rd party account and not personal experience.

I would put "getting my values from editorialized stories and school teachers" as one step below "getting my values from Reddit and Twitter" on the "how divorced from reality are my sensibilities" scale. Better, but not great.

Re: A New Jersey couple survived the Alaskan wilderness on a homestead

#53

Post by operationlllll »

IncreasePosts wrote: post #38
s1artibartfast wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Im honestly curious where this hostility is coming from? Ideas of value are obviously subjective.

I would call it more of an honest statement about what happened there, as opposed to an overly positive one. Having said that, I do have a long-standing issue with the relatively small group of people who try to go their own way from society without a modicum of understanding about what kind of work and skills will be required. As well as an issue with the larger group of people who cheer on these folks and either en…

Everyone is the hero of their own story, and everyone is an idiot in some way. I think you took the wrong message from that book. But college kids are often idiots, so it’s ok!

Re: A New Jersey couple survived the Alaskan wilderness on a homestead

#54

Post by runsfromfire »

ramesh31 wrote: post #29
s1artibartfast wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Im honestly curious where this hostility is coming from? Ideas of value are obviously subjective.

There's an obsession with the old ways. As if they were better. As if sitting in a cabin in the woods and breaking your back every day to not die of starvation is some kind of accomplishment. It's not.

why isn’t that an accomplishment? who are you to decide what other people get validation from?

Re: A New Jersey couple survived the Alaskan wilderness on a homestead

#55

Post by Turing_Machine »

IncreasePosts wrote: post #12

Sounds like they didn't survive the Alaskan wilderness on a homestead, and instead survived in a city or in a provided structure while occasionally heading out into the wilderness and wasting their time producing nothing much of a value.

Maybe their value system is different to yours.

Re: A New Jersey couple survived the Alaskan wilderness on a homestead

#56

Post by IncreasePosts »

financltravsty wrote: post #52
IncreasePosts wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would call it more of an honest statement about what happened there, as opposed to an overly positive one. Having said that, I do have a long-standing issue with the relatively small group of people who try to go their own way from society without a modicum of understanding about what kind of work and skills will be required. As well as an issue with the larger group of people who cheer on these folks and either en…

Do you not see the irony in your post? Just like the people you lambaste, you also do not have a level-headed opinion, based on a 3rd party account and not personal experience. I would put "getting my values from editorialized stories and school teachers" as one step below "getting my values from Reddit and Twitter" on the "how divorced from reality are my sensibilities" scale. Better, but not great.

Please, do point out the irony, since I clearly don't see it. I never claimed someone needed to have personal experience in this area to make a judgement. Everyone during the discussions was judging McCandless as he was presented in the book. Whether it was heavily editorialized or not is irrelevant, because everyone who was making the judgements were working with the same information. It could have been 100% fabricated, and it would still be ridiculous (in my opinion) to call him a hero.
Post reply on HN