The pace of change | Pinnacle Newsletter #10
#10 The pace of change
Lately I've been thinking a lot about progress and the pace of change, and about how we should all just hike our own hike.
I think I've reached the point in my life where I often view technological developments with apprehension, because I have a better understanding of how adopting a new product or service can cost you in more ways than just money. Also, in the web-connected era in which we live, there are the issues of privacy and control to consider.
But in the mountains I'm often all for technological innovations. A lighter sleeping bag made from a new material won't steal your data or enslave your attention to a Silicon Valley tech giant. The benefits are easy to figure out and the customer retains full control – usually.
Technology is changing our experience in the mountains and on the trail. Over the last few years, navigation apps, fitness trackers, wearable tech and personal locator beacons (PLBs) have helped to broaden safety margins and make adventure safer. By definition, if adventure is made safer it's also made less adventurous; there must always be some level of jeopardy. If it's completely safe, it isn't adventure.
There are some who believe that enough is enough, and that a line must be drawn in the sand. Some draw this line at GPS. Others say that GPS is fine, but that PLBs erode the authenticity of any wilderness experience. Others regard PLBs as vital but turn their noses up at drones, heart-rate monitors and live-streaming from the trail. (If you think I'm kidding, all of these technologies are quite mainstream now if you want to use them, and more is on the horizon.)
The point is that this is an intensely personal thing. Adventure may require jeopardy but it's also personal. Nobody is going to tell you that you must use a GPS or satellite beacon. Hike your own hike.
But is it really as simple as that? Many who venture into the mountains keep their phone switched off and reduce their reliance on technology as much as possible. For them, this is an authentic experience. But just as the tarmac road tempting you to take a shortcut cannot be wished out of existence, so the dormant smartphone in your pack cannot be magicked away. Unless you chuck it in a bog, perhaps.
Ultimately, it's all artificial, isn't it? Long-distance walking, mountaineering, climbing: it can be argued that these are all ways in which modern humans try to recreate the more visceral and intense lives our distant forebears lived. We act out the Palaeolithic dramas coded into our DNA, only now we call it 'backpacking' or 'doing the Munros' instead of just living. I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, but it is a point to consider. Maybe wanderlust is just a manifestation of the ecological boredom we all subconsciously feel.
So don't worry too much about what others are doing in the mountains, or if you believe their sense of adventure is being eroded by technology. Just do what you do for the reasons that make sense to you, and enjoy the hills.
Recently published
I've had a heavy workload this week, so have published nothing on my own site: just three pieces for TGO.
Bothies, bogs and books: in conversation with John Burns (highly relevant to the above, John thinks technology is on the cusp of radically changing mountain culture – and that hillwalking is in danger of dying out. I may disagree with some aspects of his point of view but I understand where he's coming from and have the utmost respect for his perspective.)
Book review: The Blackbird Diaries by Karen Lloyd (an excellent book with a strong pro-conservation and pro-rewilding message)
Photo diary: British team complete expedition across Lake Baikal (great photos here from Ash)
Links of interest
Brown bears returning to Britain (I know this is only an April fool, but I live in hope that one day this won't sound like a crazy idea)
Apple is still screwing up the Mac:
1. Apple plans to use its own chips in Macs from 2020 (this is going to be a disaster – you heard it here first)
2. Apple's 2019 Mac Pro will be shaped by workflows (the lesson here is that Apple has completely failed to understand what their power users want, and is now overthinking the Mac Pro to a tragic degree)
From my Commonplace Book
When, after half an hour walking across a wood, I reach the fence that separates it from the surrounding fields, I feel something which was just beginning – a deep abstraction – is permanently truncated.
- George Monbiot, Feral
Until next time,
Alex
www.alexroddie.com