I am back from the Dolomites. Did some great via ferratas in good weather with friends. Here are a few clips. HD video using the pocket Vado. For full screen view select 720p at bottom right corner of frame.
Top of Tomaselli again:
Start of Tomaselli:
Trincee:
13 comments:
Fantastic - I'm so jealous. I was there last year with my partner but we didn't have the guts to do anything near as vertiginous as that - looks great! Unfortunately when we came back I had our VF harnesses in my hand luggage and the security guard insisted that we weren't allowed rope. We were in a hurry so I had to get him to cut the carabiners off so we could at least keep those. Really annoying that Ryanair didn't make it clear that even a short rope isn't allowed in hand luggage, especially when this must happen quite a lot.
Great site BTW.
Jim
Thanks Jim. I did not know that about Ryan Air. Won't make that mistake next time...
Hi again,
Not sure where to leave this link for you but thought you'd be interested (no need to publish this comment) - it's about some research that was completed this year into how superstition improves performance: http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2010/05/27/0956797610372631.abstract
Might be worth linking to from your site and seeing what folk think.
Best
Jim
Looks Awesome. I understand there is Via Ferrata at Honister that I've been meaning to check out. Do you know anything about it?
Jim
Interestingly your link mentions an increase in self efficacy (I'll need to read the full article sometime though). Anyway, I found that as I lost my faith, it made me more confident in my abilities without the superstition of prayer. This was most impressed upon me in a day on Beinn a Chrulastie. I worte a rather long winded account of the day here if you are interested (you may have to stick the link back together)
http://basketofpuppies-
billy.blogspot.com/2008/07
/atheists-on-icy-mountains.html
Stunning scenery, but the climb does not appeal to me at all
Billy,
Thanks for the link. Seeing your blog has really made me consider starting to regularly post images of my Munro experiences on my own blog.
On the point of self-efficacy and your gripping and sometimes hilarious blog post, I totally agree. When you're caught up in the moment, there's very little else that you can think of but the task at hand. It's a very different story though, when you're in a situation which allows pause for reflection, especially situations where you have no control, like being on a aeroplane in the middle of a rough storm. Such situations can really test your beliefs (or lack of them) and bring out all of your deepest and most irrational superstitions. In a recent study: http://psycnet.apa.org/?&fa=main.doiLanding&doi=10.1037/0022-3514.95.2.293 it was found that people do indeed “have the intuition that actions that tempt fate increase the likelihood of negative outcomes.” Mix that with the positive effects of self-efficacy and what do you get? A perfect disposition for religious faith!
Stephen,
I just read a very interesting series of articles on New York Times.com about the Dunning Kruger effect and all those “unknown unknowns” out there. It's perhaps a little tangential but seemed to throw some light on your intellectual black holes - if you'll pardon the pun!
Best
Jim
Oops - I almost forgot the link to the NY Times article:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/the-anosognosics-dilemma-1/
Just brilliant.
Takes me back to my youth, but I never climbed anywhere as grand as that.
Yes, I'm jealous.
Best regards, Paul.
Thanks Jim - final quote from Dunning is v useful.
Just been reading John Loftus's Why I Became an Atheist. Very good!
I checked out the NY Times article suggested by Jim.
I not only saw Errol Morris's movie The Fog of War, but, after the movie was shown, I was audience to a 'meet the director' interview via an internet link to the cinema. An excellent movie in its own right - certainly deserved the Oscar - I highly recommend it for an insight into political myopia when it comes to war.
Whilst reading the interview in the NY Times, I was reminded of an epiphany I had whilst studying physics in high school: true knowledge is knowing how much you don't know.
Both Socrates and Confucius make reference to wisdom coming from knowing how ignorant we are.
I like the exposition on 'unknown unknowns' and the realisation that it's actually not knowing what questions to ask.
Regards, Paul.
Paul,
You raise something really interesting there for me which has been on my mind since reading the NY Times article myself and it centers around the role of skepticism and critical doubt. I've not quite put my finger on it yet (which in itself is interesting) but the idea of circumspection and not being satisfied with simple answers, or rather keeping all truths under scrutiny is both a weakness and a strength.
Hi Jim,
I have a favourite saying: only future generations can tell us how ignorant the current generation is.
Regards, Paul.
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