Yes, I'm serious. The externalities are mounting and competent, collaborative stewardship is on the wane. I have no faith in the longevity of these lifestyle improvements over the next century.
He can come across as a bit of a snob for sure. But his message is good IMO, just look at the response I got before yours, too many people are invested in the idea that the world is going to shit that they ignore the positive developments.
No doubt. But there's always room for improvement. We have one party with tens of millions of followers who thought the 50s was the height of human achievement
It’s definitely an impressive physical feat, but these days you can buy your way into having a whole lot of assistance.
Most of those improvements were tied to the harnessing of cheap fossil fuel energy, and so are the mounting consequences.
The industrial revolution was thanks to burning massive amounts of wood and then coal for steam power. We improved our lives by cooking our planet. Let's not talk about the nature destruction we had to do to feed 9 billion people.
Either going the north route (from China) or K2 is a bigger accomplishment. They are both more technical climbs.
I would go further back and say that the improvement of the ship in the 1400s was the turning point. Because, on the 100,000 level, it is about both expanding influence and power, but also about improving connectedness and communication. Obviously we can drill down and get more nuanced, but that is what I see as the problematic starting point. But, one thing that I haven't read much on is how some of these benefits do have drawbacks. Vaccines are great, but what is the cost of having more people live, and live longer? I remember reading "Collapse" (by Jarrod Diamond) many years ago thinking how short sited some places were, like the Mayans and their massive monument building. Or those on Easter Island who kept chopping down trees even when it would have been obvious the harm. Additionally, I heard a recent report/interview with Rhodes' ex wife and a comparison was made between Rhodes and McVeigh. The interviewer basically said Rhodes was able to do what he did because of the internet. Had McVeigh had the internet, what he did would have been much different.
Well, from the pov of people getting killed in wars, the number of wars fought it's a fact, but it's very selective.
You know who one of my favorite comic book artists is? Jack Kirby. Aside from being a major innovator in comics, he was also a badass. He drew recon maps when he was in WW2. But my favorite, was he once got a call from American Nazis saying they were after him (He was Jewish, like a lot of comics artists in that period). Kirby told them that he'd be right there and walked down. They were nowhere to be found.
I’d go with colossal, but ymmv. I agree “a bit” here. However, the takeaway should be: “We’ve done great stuff, so let’s keep on making it better.” NOT “We’ve done great stuff, so let’s pat ourselves on the back and have some margaritas.” Pinker handwaves away today’s bad actors, because he believes that they are just part of preordained march towards progress. For example, he’d probably say that pardoning Nixon was no big deal. He comes across like the kind of guy who would tell a rape victim that they are lucky to have been raped since the Me Too movement.
That actually might be the reason why Nazis were after him. That's the story I remember reading about him. Another I once read was he was willing to take on a local mob. Of course, Kirby was also an old school tough guy. He was two years younger than my great-grandmother and even she was tough in that old school way. Although in Kirby's case, he also grew up being a small time criminal until he discovered comics.
There was a video that just came out of a guy all wrapped-up in an insulated bag being carried down from Mt Everest on someone's back . The whole thing has gotten a bit silly of late. If you're not able to do a climb on your own, then what's the point? Its, certainly not fun. Not inexpensive. Is it just for the bragging?
It is. Bucket list crap. I saw there was a mountaineering ban in Bhutan out of respect for the mountains. Tourism has made Everest a high altitude dump. Disheartening to see the accumulation of garbage at Camp IV on Mt #Everest (8848.86 m). It's high time we address this issue with urgency and commitment. Let's demand stricter regulations, enforcement of clean climbing practices, and effective waste management strategies. Video… pic.twitter.com/KGMlRmUuZk— Everest Today (@EverestToday) May 28, 2023
^ I reckon a lot of the blame for that is on Nepal. Even though there are way more people on Everest than there should be, it can't be all that impossible to clean up a place visited by 35k people per year.
A roadless, snow covered area over 12K feet. That's probably as close to impossible an area to clean up especially for a poor country.
A lot of climbers who likely feel half dead aren't gonna worry about humping down all their gear. So let those brokeass sherpas do it for $50
35k people a year visit Camp IV, or just the Everest Base Camp? Camp IV is way up in the “death zone,” even getting to it is extremely challenging, and so is getting back.