What if you do so without any protection that said training would recommend that you have?
You see - simply being knowledgeable about the risks doesn’t mean you aren’t being stupid. In fact knowing the risks and taking them anyway could be seen as more stupid than if you were simply ignorant.
Astronauts and engineers in the apollo program deeply understood the risks. Were they stupid for attempting increasingly complex orbital missions and even landing on the moon?
It was insanely risky, but they studied it, and understood it as best they could.
This dude is the world’s preeminent free climber, it’s safe to say he used protection when he was a novice climber, and it’s safe to say he has “NASA” levels of understanding of the risks he encounters on a wall.
Mitigating risk is achieved through deeply understanding the problem space, and putting in the training to demonstrate ability to operate within the workspace.
Edit if Alex tried to mitigate risk to 100% he’d never climb again…people die all the time while using protection. Things happen. Life happens.
Stupidity is blundering in without understanding the space. Ex “local man who has never climbed before takes up free climbing” is stupid.
NASA absolutely pared down safety “wants” left and right, they pioneered the technical risk analysis methods that resulted in the successes (and failures) of that program. It’s a fascinating read if you’re curious
There’s a significant flaw in that reasoning…
“I knew I was walking into a lion cage and that I would be attacked. I wasn’t stupid when I then did it!”
If you’re a fully trained, and aware lion trainer or zookeeper, it’s not stupid
What if you do so without any protection that said training would recommend that you have?
You see - simply being knowledgeable about the risks doesn’t mean you aren’t being stupid. In fact knowing the risks and taking them anyway could be seen as more stupid than if you were simply ignorant.
Astronauts and engineers in the apollo program deeply understood the risks. Were they stupid for attempting increasingly complex orbital missions and even landing on the moon?
It was insanely risky, but they studied it, and understood it as best they could.
This dude is the world’s preeminent free climber, it’s safe to say he used protection when he was a novice climber, and it’s safe to say he has “NASA” levels of understanding of the risks he encounters on a wall.
You’re missing one massive part of everything here. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with UNDERSTANDING the risks.
It has EVERYTHING to do with MITIGATING those risks to the best of your ability.
The Apollo program astronauts didn’t tell NASA to just disable a bunch of safety protocols because they wanted an adrenaline rush.
Stupidity and risk are not the same, is my point.
Mitigating risk is achieved through deeply understanding the problem space, and putting in the training to demonstrate ability to operate within the workspace.
Edit if Alex tried to mitigate risk to 100% he’d never climb again…people die all the time while using protection. Things happen. Life happens.
Stupidity is blundering in without understanding the space. Ex “local man who has never climbed before takes up free climbing” is stupid.
NASA absolutely pared down safety “wants” left and right, they pioneered the technical risk analysis methods that resulted in the successes (and failures) of that program. It’s a fascinating read if you’re curious
That is also stupid. But ignoring easy risk mitigation efforts “just because” is also stupid. ESPECIALLY if you do understand the risks.
He has mitigated the risk. And understands them.
Astronauts don’t for a cause. This guy’s best cause is maintaining fame.
It’s his own enjoyment, he was doing this before the Fame