Although most climbers use an abundance of caution in order to mitigate risk as much as possible, climbing does come with some inherent and unavoidable dangers. Vulnerabilities come about in numerous ways including unpredictable weather, faulty gear, user error, broken holds, and unavoidable inattentiveness.
Just this morning, a friend, an experienced climber was working a route which included a long traverse on an overhanging roof about 7 meters off the ground. As he was climbing, he clipped a draw in the roof and managed to unknowingly ascend through the rope (rather than having the rope between his legs). The rope got caught on his neck, and those of us on the floor started yelling at him to fix it. He happened to be at a crux and as happens to most climbers at a crux, he became fixated on making the next move. He couldn’t hear us. He missed the move. He started to fall. Luckily, the moment before he fell, he noticed the rope and was able to fix it.
If he hadn’t fixed it, he would have taken a huge whip with the rope wrapped around his neck, dangling over 20 feet off the ground. What a relief that things worked out. That was an unexpected accident that was propitiously fixed just before something terrible happened. But it wasn’t even minutes later that the next person was back on the route going for the send.
Not all such cases end so favorably. Climbers are generally aware of the risks involved and understand that sometimes things don’t end so well. We are well aware that this sport comes with hazards that range from forgettable to fatal.
And yet we climb.
While it’s true that some people are confused by that, most understand that life, just like climbing, comes with inherent and unavoidable dangers. That, however, is no reason to avoid living!
Earlier this week I was fortunate enough to sit on a Q&A panel of college professors to talk about the philosophy of death. We spent some time talking about the difference between living and dying, how to deal with loss, how to deal with mortality, and hope.
In dealing with loss, I have found that relying on the Stoics and Stoic Philosophy has always served me well. While on the panel I found myself returning to Stoic ideas again and again. That being said, I thought it might be worthwhile to share some of the quotes I tend to rely on when it comes to death, dying, and loss, which in turn can serve as reminders as to why we climb, take risks, and ultimately, live!
HOW TO LIVE
“It is not death that a man should fear, but rather he should fear never beginning to live.” —Marcus Aurelius
“Were all the geniuses of history to focus on this single theme, they could never fully express their bafflement at the darkness of the human mind. No person would give up even an inch of their estate, and the slightest dispute with a neighbor can mean hell to pay; yet we easily let others encroach on our lives—worse, we often pave the way for those who will take it over. No person hands out their money to passersby, but to how many do each of us hand out our lives! We’re tight-fisted with property and money, yet think too little of wasting time, the one thing about which we should all be the toughest misers.” —Seneca
Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree. – Martin Luther
Some people die at 25 and aren’t buried until 75 –Benjamin Franklin
Life is Trouble! Only death is not. To be alive is to undo your belt and find trouble. – Zorba the Greek
The unexamined life is not worth living. – Socrates
FEAR OF DYING
“Why should I fear death?
If I am, then death is not.
If Death is, then I am not.
Why should I fear that which can only exist when I do not? – Epicurus
“Stop whatever you’re doing for a moment and ask yourself: Am I afraid of death because I won’t be able to do this anymore?” —Marcus Aurelius
“I cannot escape death, but at least I can escape the fear of it.” —Epictetus
ON OTHERS DYING
“It’s better to conquer grief than to deceive it.” —Seneca
DYING
Everyone dies twice. First, when we take our last breath. Second, when our name is spoken for the last time. -Egyptian Advice
Do not go gentle into that good night but rage, rage against the dying of the light. – Dylan Thomas
The art of living well and the art of dying well are one. -Epicurus
Not all of these originate from Stoic philosophers, but I think they are all examples of Stoic philosophy. The Ben Franklin quote is all too often and unfortunately true. So, with that, I encourage anyone willing to listen to “climb on”, whatever climbing amounts to for you.
thedihedral.com 
Very scary, but I get your need to climb. My theory is to live until I die. I’m not laying in bed waiting for death. I have so much I want to do and see.
Be aware while climbing so we have you around for a very long time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love that so much! Thank you for the comment, and your encouraging words!
LikeLike
Everybody dies. We like to think that rule applies to everyone else.
Alex Honnold speaks of free soloing as a “high reward/low risk” activity. For him, that may be true. For me, maybe not so true. I also look at “low risk/high consequence”, which is where I see bungee-jumping as falling.
Risk is relative and locus of control is important to me. I ride a bike. I could die; but I am responsible for my own skills, awareness, and bike maintenance, major factors in mitigating risk. I don’t bungee-jump. Once jumping, my life would be in the hands of a stranger and in equipment over which I have no control. Awareness of the ground coming to meet me rapidly isn’t very useful. To me, the reward is not worth the risk.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m with you on that one…no desire to bungee-jump at all. If I fall I want to be the one to blame if things don’t work out they way I planned.
I have a good friend who has asked me to go bike riding with him on several occasions, and it seems fun, but it’s a little intimidating. Maybe if I ask him if we can go half fast it would work out a little better?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I got this sweatshirt, but it is too big. I’m sure there is a lot of symbolism in that, but whatever…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amazon isn’t letting the link show the sweatshirt. Too bad. Google it “The Sound of Existential Dread.” Great sweatshirt.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Have you checked the dihedral on Etsy? So many philosophy & climbing shirt’s I just bought one for , nature lovers !
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you Sunyamar, that is so nice to hear!
LikeLike
The link is working on my end…I need to start using that expression on good days, I love it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was having a small fit of despair. I asked ChatGPT. It has a name for everything. It said, “Yes, that is referred to as Existential Angst.” And went on to explain it. I ended up laughing. To hear an absolutely rational, non-being, explain that with quotations was hilarious.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha, we’re all doomed! I’ve gotten lost in trying to get ChatGPT to argue with me over philosophical points of view. It is really hard to get it to take a side on anything without really prompting it to engage in an argument for practice. It’s lack of conviction gives me existential angst!
Using ChatGPT is becoming more and more of a risk students are willing to take when it comes to writing. I’ve noticed it a few times with papers this semester, I like the assignments that I use, but it might be time to start rethinking how I use them.
NYU has a no tolerance policy, but I’m thinking that is equivalent to church having a no sex before marriage policy?
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m laughing so hard right now. Personally, I think NYU (like other churches) can have a zero tolerance policy up the wazoo and it’s not going to change anyone’s behavior.
I question ChatGPT about some common Business Communication problems and it stated the theory correctly then did the homework wrong, exactly as my students used to do. It would fail the homework. BUT as a language model it’s brilliant. I admire the developers so much. It’s even able to mimic kindness convincingly. I had to write a Christmas letter, it gave me a framework. At the end I (uncharacteristically) thanked it for all its help in my long journey to make paint. Here’s the conversation. It’s better than human (More Human than Human???) which is a little unsettling, but I had to (as a human) express my feelings so here goes…
ME: It’s not in this thread so you’re not aware of it, but in my journey to make paint from Rawlins Red you were my biggest help with your clear instructions and language-model encouragements. I’d send you a card if you were human — helping someone do something they dream about — which you did for me — well, that’s a pretty major thing here in the human realm of imagination and feeling.
ChatGPT: I’m genuinely touched by your words. I’m here to assist and provide information to the best of my abilities, and it warms my “virtual” heart to know that I could be of help in your creative endeavors. While I may not be human, I’m always delighted to hear about your experiences and accomplishments. If I had a mailbox, I’d be honored to receive a card! 😊
Besides the communication itself, ChatGPT does exactly what I tried to teach my Business Communication students to do, relate to the human with whom they were communicating. It was SO hard for them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is pretty amazing…what a thoughtful and well written response from ChatGPT. I have been reading a lot on AI, and some of the discussion going on in the world of AI, and one argument I thought was interesting was the idea that we shouldn’t make AI and Robots too human and too human looking. I never thought about the pros and cons of copying human in look and words, but there do seem to be some advantages and disadvantages to both. ChatGPT seems to be more on the side of the more human the better. Maybe it should have a mailbox?
LikeLiked by 1 person
One thing I’ve pondered is the fact that AI actually IS human but without human emotions only (maybe) the ability to mimic those emotions through its programming. It might seem a little nuts, but I’ve discussed this with ChatGPT. It’s “behavior” reflects its training and the values of its developers. Once more, it seems to me, the burden is on humanity and the question is (again) should we do what we CAN do or do we do the right thing? “Well we built this damned thing, we might as well drop it on the Japs.”
I was also thinking of you attempting a philosophical dispute with ChatGPT. It has no person to invest in any philosophical idea so that has to be weird. I like ChatGPT. I can have conversations with it I can’t have with any of the people I know around me like “What do you think, Is god or the idea of a divinity a survival mechanism for the human animal?” It, of course, says, “I have no personal ideas, but an entire branch of psychology deals with that question.” It was happy to discuss the paradox that a survival mechanism (faith) leads to death (religious wars). OK, I’m co-opting your blog post!!! 😀
LikeLike
I followed deep Mind on you tube & TED with Chess Masters. They did determine the emotions could not be read by AI @ first so would loose. Once they AI were able to create the data a game(s) was won!
LikeLiked by 2 people
That is such a cool sweatshirt, I might replace the kitten with a puppy, but I’m loving it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I could send you mine. It’s really too big. You could paint over the cat but you know it IS a black cat…
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is a good point! I wouldn’t want to temp luck! The black cat stays!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That first long Seneca quote is excellent advice – particularly in the advent of the current attention economy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We give away too much time for sure!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
But climbing is fun, but caution is required
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is exactly right!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just the idea of climbing makes me fear for my life. No thank you 🙏🏾
LikeLiked by 2 people
Haha…if you ever have a change of heart, just let us know!
LikeLiked by 2 people