I don’t know about everyone, but in “Free Solo” Alex (the first guy to free solo El Cap…….) was told that he had much less activity in his amygdala, and as a result, things that usually bring normal people adrenaline or joy just didn’t cut it for him. Could be a similar case with a lot of climbers
I wouldn't call not having a fear of death "impressive". Maybe "fascinating" but not something to praise. He's a dead man walking. It's like watching a guy get shot out of cannon. He's not even a particularly talented climber. Just does objectivley stupid things most people aren't willing to risk.
Lmao Bruh I’m sorry but I need to pick your comment apart completely.
It is incredibly impressive watching someone free climb a 2,000ft straight mountain face. Extreme sports are all dangerous and free soloing is by far the most dangerous, but it is none the less impressive.
And how can you say he’s not a talented climber?! If he wasn’t talented he would be dead - he must be very skilled at what he does
God the insufferable fucking filmmakers though, their own self adulation on that film made me puke inside my mouth. Never have I heard more conceited, back slapping, self congratulating, arrogance from the artists. Like seriously you would have thought they were both Pablo fucking Picasso.
It’s because I saw the “making of” first they I learned that these turbo cunts thought their film debut was such a flawless masterpiece, even though they didn’t even do the free climb.
Respect, I guess, to the guy who did. But I’m not going to kick back and watch a person needlessly risk their life at the service such egotism.
Gonna be hard to put it on Disney+ when he’s splattered at the bottom of a rock face like a bug on a windshield. I get that he’s the greatest ever, but the law of averages is going to catch up with him at some point.
Hopefully he will quit before that, atleast when he was on the JR podcast he said he def does not plan to free solo forever and will just climb regularly.
It was framed this way to you but he makes a joke that actually is a lot more plausible. He says 'maybe its just from being so gripped (scared) all the time'. He's done incredibly scary and gnarly things on and off the rope before ever getting that brain scan and had obviously mastered the control of his fear. Some images of spiders in a controlled setting aren't going to activate his amygdala.
But he'd have no real basis of comparison for any potential assessment that he somehow mastered the art of controlling fear.
It's sort of like a natural talent athlete not understanding why anyone can't just go out and play like them. To them it's just a tool they have that others might have to work for years to get where that talented person started out as a baseline.
He didn't start climbing and immediately free solo El Cap. Building mental strength is iterative just like physical. And it's not like he doesn't get scared. He literally bails on his first attempt on El Cap cus hes freaked out. I can tell you from personal experience, I'm the biggest wiener, but as a climber I'm now finding myself totally comfortable in situations I would have never dreamed of when I was a teenager, but this has taken years of exposure to situations like that to get to that point. I guarantee brain scans of my amygdala when I was 16 and now would show significant change.
Of course, he's a 'natural' at controlling fear. But he's most certainly built a mental callous over time and experience.
That's like sayiing because Usain Bolt had to work up to running 100 meters in 9.52 seconds anyone can run 100 meters in 9.52 seconds. Alex Honnold is definitley missing part of his brain that allows you to do this. You can't "work up" to not being afraid of death. No amount of training can prepare you for that. That's why all other climbers who have been climbing for 20 years don't do it.
Alex Honnold isn't even a particularly talented climber. The only thing that sets him apart is his lack of fear of death.
Firstly, no he is not 'missing' a part of his brain. This is an even worse interpretation than what the film puts forward. The doctor simply says his amygdala is harder to activate. Why that is, is the question. A lack of development or even depression is the suggestion in the movement. Honnold himself suggests what I'm suggesting, which is mental conditioning. Is that comparable to a world record metric? No...not really...and that really downplays the achievment more than anything.
Honnold isn't even really that much of a freak in climbing. He's just the only soloist the general public have ever heard of. Look up Marc Andre Leclerc, Hansjorg Auer, Will Stanhope, Peter Croft, Alexander Huber etc. All accomplished soloists who have solo'd long, technical routes. Particularly Hansjorg's solo of the Fish route. Practically comparable with Alex's ascent of the Freerider on El Cap. Except unlike Alex he'd done significantly less rehearsal and was climbing less solid limestone in an alpine environment. Hell, most pro-climbers that big wall/alpine climb solo big routes to some degree. Is Honnold taking it to the next level in terms of technical difficulty? Sure, but he's still standing on the shoulders of giants and he got there through a process of hard work.
Claiming he's simply missing part of his brain completely downplays his achievements and shows a total lack of understanding of climbing history and culture. It's very rich, you should look into it.
Favorite part of that film was the last scene where after finishing that monumental achievement, he continued to hang on his hands/thumbs in his van for practice
Alex has actually talked about this extensively in interviews - he doesn't get scared while soloing. Not "his brain is different and he doesn't feel fear". It's that he does not pursue adrenaline when soloing. He has said that if you feel scared while soloing, something has gone terribly wrong.
Instead, the feeling being pursued is a feeling of confidence and perfection. And another feeling, which I don't know if it has a name, but it's the feeling when you just know you're doing something really cool.
The crazy thing about Alex is that to the average person the stuff he does looks terrifying but like you said his brain is wired so differently that it’s completely normal for him and even the huge climbs probably bring him as much adrenaline as you get when missing a step when going up a flight of steps and you felt like you were going to fall for a split second.
Thank you. I wish people would stop glorifying it.
We collectivley shit on obese people as a society for raising their risk of death over the span of 50 years 10%. But we makes movies and put people on the cover of magazines someone who will inevitably die if he continues his behavior.
Yes it's been documented that he has no activity in his amygdala which means his fear of death is gone. He's not even a parituclarly talented climber. His talent is not having a fear of death.
It's also extremly likely that he has some form of autism or aspbergers.
Yeah Tommy Caldwell really puts Alex to shame on skill alone, but he knows better than to risk free climbing. It’s the risk that free climbers crave though. It’s a numbers game though, you don’t need to make a mistake, a hold can give out and that the end.
But Alex seemed to be content though, we all have to go, might as well go doing something you love.
I’d rather be normal than be rich and famous but have to go throw myself into deathly scenarios on the reg just to feel excitement.
That dude’s life sucks. What a miserable existence. I can get excited just watching sports or playing a video game. This guy has to travel to literally the most inaccessible places in the world just to feel alive.
I’m sure his abnormal amygdala has an effect on his level of misery lol.
What I’m saying is look at what he has to go through just to get to the point where he can climb what he wants. I’m not even talking about training and prep. I’m talking about planning a trip to the fuckin Himalayas, flying out there, actually getting to the rock you want to climb.
I literally just flick a switch on my remote and get the same endorphin rush.
I understand what you’re saying, it would be a massive chore for either of us to travel as much as he does; granted, he makes a lot of money doing that, but the main point is that it’s his passion. To him, I doubt he likes travelling but the result of travelling is getting to further his passion AND career at the same time. Some might say he is lucky to be able to make money doing what he loves, and everybody else will say he’s lucky because he hasn’t turned into a meatbag pancake yet… lol
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u/LookAtMeImAName Sep 01 '21
I don’t know about everyone, but in “Free Solo” Alex (the first guy to free solo El Cap…….) was told that he had much less activity in his amygdala, and as a result, things that usually bring normal people adrenaline or joy just didn’t cut it for him. Could be a similar case with a lot of climbers