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Comment by vouaobrasil | Hacker News Reader

I think it's pretty stupid to challenge yourself in ways that are guaranteed to harm your body in some way, even if the harm is temporary.

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I suppose you are welcome to judge people as you please, but essentially everyone who hikes, skis, climbs, kayaks, skates, surfs, runs, or plays any sort of contact sport will disagree with you.

I do a lot of outdoors stuff and there's a huge difference between pushing yourself on a challenging hike and being stupid by not drinking any water.

Dehydration was not the intent, it was supposed to be just a long desert hike:

> "I thought, I’m pretty tough. I can do that," Broyles says. He planned ahead and buried water caches at strategic points of the journey, which he described in a 1982 article. "Intending to parallel [Valencia’s] route, I had no design to parallel his plight," he wrote. "But the desert doesn’t always honor human plans."

Almost everyone who did sport on the highest level suffered irreversible damage. Of course modest training is very important and healthy in all aspects.

I think the seeking of fame through increasingly difficult challenges (such as advancing world records) is truly asinine.

We all have your vices. Surely you too have a vice or two that isn't ideal for your body, but you do it regardless?

We only live once, to avoid anything that might damage your body would lead to a very boring life.

> We all have your vices. Surely you too have a vice or two that isn't ideal for your body, but you do it regardless?

Well, I eat a sweet thing about once a month. I guess that's pretty harmful.

You offer criticism of a spiritual practice you do not understand.

He offers criticism based upon a biological outcome to a spiritual practice, he does not need to understand to declare the outcome stupid. The cultural practices are protected from criticism stuff does not fly- less all insanity of the past comes back crawling from the cracks. Cant criticise witch burnings as they are a "cultural" practice..

Human sacrifice, genital mutilation and various forms of slavery have all been excused as a 'spiritual practice'. "Understanding" will not make me go 'oh, sure...now your destructive practice makes total sense...carry on'. Get over yourself.

I understand and I still think it's stupid.

It's part of the human condition I'd say. Drinking causes harm in some way, but most people do it. Sticking to a diet can be harmful in some way, but especially people claiming to be pursuing good health go for them. Sports harms your body in that it causes small injuries that the body has to heal.

Without this stupidity as you call it, we'd be nowhere. Yeah it's stupid to try and hunt a wooly mammoth given they're ten times our size but if our ancestors didn't we wouldn't be here.

> It's part of the human condition I'd say. Drinking causes harm in some way, but most people do it.

I also think drinking is stupid.

Enjoyed stupidity makes up a good portion of entertainment.

But the drive to test limits is understandable

There's a book called anti-fragile which gives opposite advice (in certain contexts).

Most human practices are stupid if you think about them long enough.

I don't know why you're being down voted. You're right.

Most social norms are really weird when you think about them.

Shaking hands. Why is it considered a sign of, I don't know respect maybe, to grab someone's hand and shake it? The chances of them carrying a weapon today are pretty slim. But the handshake still exists. Weird.

Nobody should do anything ever.

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