Great Expeditions Don’t Make Great People

Dec 26, 2011

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Sled hauling in Svalbard

Just because someone has achieved great expedition feats it does not automatically make them a great person.

It is quite common to describe someone who has completed a great expedition as “an amazing person” or similar. I would dispute that assumption.

Such achievements should be rightly recognised and hailed for what they are: feats of physical or mental prowess and such like. In most instances, it would be reasonable to assume that the successes imply some impressive qualities in a person. But I don’t think it necessarily follows that this makes them a better person.

Achievement on an adventure often requires many admirable qualities: motivation, perseverance and determination to name a few.

But success can also be aided by other less favourable attributes: arrogance, selfishness and stubborness to name some others.

For most attributes however, including the positive ones – e.g. kindness, honesty, thoughtfulness – performance on an expedition will be entirely uncorrelated. I suspect a sample of Everest summiters is no more likely than anyone else to help a granny across a road or be polite when asked for directions. In other words, in most instances, there is no reason to assume that completing a big trip will have any bearing on someone’s desirable personality traits.

So hail all those who have conquered great mountains, oceans and ice caps as great expeditioners but don’t go assuming that makes them great in any other respect.

Morals & Values Opinion

Comments

4 responses to “Great Expeditions Don’t Make Great People”

Tom Allen

December 27, 2011

I think there are some hidden assumptions in the language of this piece, namely in what might constitute the objectives of or motivations behind an ‘expedition’ or ‘adventure’, and in the definitions of those very words.

You talk of “success” and “achievement” as related to tangible end-points or “feats of physical or mental prowess”, which only have meaning when compared to what has come before – the goal-driven mindset of this day and age. In the current media climate, of course, these are still the projects that do get all the attention.

But the article ignores or sidelines the strands of the adventure/expedition/exploration/whatever-you-want-to-call-it field which are undertaken for other reasons – education, documentation, simple fun – intrinsic factors in which qualities you mention such as kindness, honesty, thoughtfulness, etc, may well be central to their ‘success’ or ‘achievement’, especially in a group or where communication is concerned; and qualities such as perseverance and determination far less relevant. Unfortunately, these kinds of project are a bit more difficult to write headlines for.

This is a piece about myth-busting, so I think it’s relevant to pull the old ‘definitions’ thread out as well. Just a thought!

Reply
If Cycling Around The World Is So Good Then How Come I Just Want To Watch DVDs?

December 13, 2013

[…] Great Expeditions Don’t Make Great People […]

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Rick Gunn

March 8, 2016

Brilliant words.

Refreshing in so many ways.

Recently I was browsing through a website of adventure speakers, marveling at their lists of accomplishments: rowing oceans, crossing deserts, making first ascents of unnamed peaks, or into space. It was hard to come away without the feeling “less than.”

Having cycled “only” 40,000 miles around the globe, I remember coming away from this website feeling I needed to accomplish “more,” so I could finally “be enough.”

But then my head swirled back a realization I’d had on the road, after cycling 18,000 miles straight.

What came to me was the deep recognition of the emptiness of any adventure based solely on seeking self-worth through externals.

It’s really about honesty and authenticity, and cultivating a deeper connection to ourselves, and those that surround.

This started with an admission that much of what drives endurance athleticism and adventure travelers, are the rather less than heroic feelings of vulnerability and inadequacy – accompanied by the strong desire for appreciation and human connection.

For me now, adventure requires as much travel inward, as it does outward.

This means using my words and stories to share the sometimes unfamiliar, uncomfortable, or downright scary landscapes within, with complete honesty, and heightened self-awareness. The connection component comes in by including hands on service to others along the way.

Whether or not that makes me a better person in the eyes of those around me I can’t say.

For the Zen master says, “all perception is misperception.”

In that respect, I need only worry about what I see of the man in the mirror.

Cultivating light there – means reaping the rewards that come by sharing that light with others.

Thanks again Tim for raising this vital topic.

Namaste’

Rick

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1. Tim Moss
  
  March 9, 2016
  
  Thanks Rick. Glad you liked it.
  
  Reply