We are crazy?
I was reading an article about a guy by the name of Scott Parazynski today, and it started to make me realize just how nuts/cool/crazy some of us are. There are a lot of us out there that do unimaginable things and simply love it. We try to be completely original or do something no one else has done or tried before. Hence the reason the “Guinness book of world records” is so massive and growing every year. But hey, more power to ya if you’re one of them crazy mo fo's, even if you are a few monkeys short of a barrel.
So Scott Parazynski is an ex-astronaut that has been to the moon, in space, etc many times. (That in itself is crazy if you ask me) And he just recently left NASA to pursue something a tad bit different. During his ‘next trip’, Parazynski is combining his two passions of space and climbing by conducting astrobiology research. (I know what your thinking, that was your dream too..) And he wants to do it in one of the craziest places ever.
Mount Everest.
Yep, he isn’t going to climb a nice mountain in the Rockies or go climb a plateau in South America, he wants to climb the biggest frickin’ mountain in the world, the one that’s as close to outer space as you can get without a rocket ship. Makes sense, eh? Well I guess it’s a little ironic to say the least.
"We're looking for evidence for life in the extreme," he said. "Things that can live in the harshest environments on Earth may be the kinds of things that once existed on Mars or other planets."
Really? You really want to go climb up there to conduct some research and find out if shjt can live there? You know how many people have died climbing that thing? I mean I would settle for a beer and Sunday night football, but whatever. Gotta get your thrills.
All I can say is good luck! Hope you find what your looking for and come back with all your limbs, etc.
There is more to this store and you can read it here; http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090518-everest-astrobiology.html But this is what made me think about how crazy/cool/interesting we are as a whole. We got these cool people flying to the moon and in outer space and we have people like Jacque Cousteau and Scott Parazynski that are trying to find things that aren’t supposed to be found. Crazy, but yet still cool at the same time and I applaud these people, however crazy they may be, for doing these things. (Because we both know it will make a sweet National Geographic series later, I mean none of you can say you hate animal planet, deadliest catch, etc. right? Haha)
Anyways, I like that we are all different and were all given varying sets of skills to work with, it makes us diverse and unique. And we both know that this will only help us evolve as a society. *crosses fingers* Either way it’s fun to think about where we were a long time ago as a race, a society, a species and where we are today.
I think we progressed..?
Hmm…
Posted in: crazy, men, mountains, people, society, space on Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at at 8:54 AM
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"I think we progressed..? "
Progress, for progress sake, isn't necessarily a good thing. Though Walt Disney himself was so intrigued by the idea that he created a "Carousel of Progress" for the 1964 World's Fair, and it's a show that still plays today. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKz6qdexetY
I think you and Walt Disney should go on a date... :P Or maybe with his daughter?
You really like that company, eventually you need to take it over or become the CFO... would be great for you!
I'll check out the vid. Thanks bud.
More like his grand-daughter! Though if I was asked anyone in history I'd like to go back and visit, first is Jesus Christ. Second is Walt Disney.
Seriously though, the names Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are mentioned a lot on this blog. And not to take away from those two - they are brilliant. But Jobs has about a pinky toe's worth of what Walt Disney was. Bill Gates - a pinky toenail. :P
The man was a genius. People tend to equate Disney with children's movies.. but even those movies in which he was involved (which were just the beginning of an empire) are artistic visual masterpieces, the likes of which we have not seen since his passing.
The film medium wasn't enough... and so he built Disneyland, an exhibition of Americana. So, he created the modern theme park, and a brand-new industry that generates billions of dollars in revenue.
Innovation was always at the top of his list. After a trip to Switzerland in the 1950s, he was so enthralled with the Matterhorn that he built a 1/100th scale replica, and put the world's FIRST steel rollercoaster in it. Innovative that Mr. Disney...
In the 1960s, he developed audio-animatronic technology, which are incredibly specialized and amazing robotic programming, done before we had any sort of today's computer technology.
And still, this new form of entertainment wasn't enough. He developed CircleVision film format, the multiplane camera, etc.
At Disneyland, in addition to pioneering that industry, he used it to showcase new innovation. Americans were first exposed to the monorail and high-speed steam trains. People could ride in Submarines, and Walt even helped develop the PeopleMover, a technology now used in airports across the nation.
And yet, he continued to grow bored, and was off to the "next thing". Who else would buy up worthless swampland, drain it, and being plans to build a futuristic city based off of the ideas he had put into the "Tomorrowland" section of his park.
His future city vision was never realized due to his untimely death, but we did get one helluva park that pays tribute to the great thinkers, concepts, and collaboration of the world.
While the parks and properties have grown commercialized and strayed from the innovative mission, it's still around there. I am so intrigued and enthralled by him -- he is easily among one of the modern world's Benjamin Franklins or Leonardo daVincis - forward thinkers who did everything possible to see their dreams and crazy ideas be carried into reality. The 20th Century hardly deserved him.
It's from his direct ideas that we see so much of what we do in everyday life impacted because of his ideas about the home, the workplace, entertainment, etc.
He easily is the most positively impactful person on modern times.
Gust - did you submit that as a school project? ;) I do agree that Disney was a man of great ideas and a man of great vision though! He left a very worthy legacy we'd do well to attend to.
Bamer - To 'unknown finders' :)knowledge is worth more than the risk. That's why it's perfectly acceptable to them to climb Everest to discover something new that many may see as irrelevant.
If it's crazy to set your mind free like that... then I'm as crazy as they come. ;) I think it's perfectly rational to dream big! Minds that pursue great ideas like those inspire me.
I hope I can find my Everest one day, that's for sure. That one little discovery that is worth the pursuit... The mountain is really only as high as our imaginations. Amazing thought.
Don't you? :)
... wish to climb your Everest too?
(Sorry, I ended that thought a little abruptly!)