The easy way or the hard way?

In its own way, of course, a rurp is an assist — it makes the hard way a tad easier for the serious climber.

As indeed would the proposed “ladder” on Everest: here’s why it might be not-such-a-bad idea:

This year, 520 climbers have reached the summit of Everest. On 19 May, around 150 climbed the last 3,000ft of the peak from Camp IV within hours of each other, causing lengthy delays as mountaineers queued to descend or ascend harder sections.

“Most of the traffic jams are at the Hillary Step because only one person can go up or down. If you have people waiting two, three or even four hours that means lots of exposure [to risk]. To make the climbing easier, that would be wrong. But this is a safety feature,” said Sherpa…

Besides, the idea is to set it up as a one-way street…

Frits Vrijlandt, the president of the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA), said the ladder could be a solution to the increasing numbers of climbers on the mountain.

“It’s for the way down, so it won’t change the climb,” Vrijlandt told the Guardian.

Ah, but then there’s human nature to consider:

It is unlikely, however, that tired ascending climbers close to their ultimate goal will spurn such an obvious aid at such an altitude.

Bah!

**

Shouldn’t we just level the top off, as Handel and Isaiah 4.4 suggest, and as we’re doing in the Appalachians?

YouTube video

A little mountaintop removal mining, a helipad, and voilà — even I could make it to the summit!

**

But to return to Loewenstein† & O’Donoghue†† — their paper’s full title was “We Can Do This the Easy Way or the Hard Way”: Negative Emotions, Self-Regulation, and the Law — how can a theologian such as myself resist a diagram such as this?

Page 2 of 2 | Previous page

  1. larrydunbar:

    I can’t tell by  Loewenstein† & O’Donoghue††”s diagram. Is prison the reality outside the square or inside the square, or would you need a diagram called: The Reality of Effects-based Self-Control?

  2. Grurray:

    how can a theologian such as myself resist a diagram such as this?

    Why Venn diagrams are so visually appealing is that the union resembles the vesica piscis

    http://mathworld.wolfram.com/VesicaPiscis.html 

    a symbol derived from the combination of the disparate inanimate and the animate

    http://goo.gl/iVk0y 

  3. Charles Cameron:

    Yes indeed.
    .
    I’ve made my response as a separate post, since I had already written most of it several months ago…

     

  4. Charles Cameron:

    BTW, your second link goes to a page that quotes John Michell.  I used to know John back in the day, and remember going for an arduous cross-country walk in search of megalithic stones and ley lines one time, with him and the wonderful photographer Gabi Nasemann.

  5. Grurray:

    Both he and Escher are frequently referenced in that book.
    I have Dimensions of Paradise lying around, unread as of yet, so I will have to start on it seeing that he is a friend of yours.
    Looking forward to reading more on your studies on form.

  6. larrydunbar:

    “a symbol derived from the combination of the disparate inanimate and the animate”

    *
    Well Grurray, how do you suppose to animate such a thing 🙂 ?

    *
    Perhaps you need to watch The Game of Thrones on HBO? 

  7. Grurray:

    I don’t have HBO and have never seen an episode of GOT. I’m told I missed something big last night, but I am not convinced.
    I just don’t enjoy TV that much to get involved in a series.
    I tried to watch The Americans and quit after eight or so episodes.
    Too much nonsense.
    I’d rather read a good book.

  8. Grurray:

    Wait, I take that back. There was a British show called 
    Wish Me Luck that  the Chicago Boyz recommended. 
    Very entertaining,  if not a bit amateurish.