I can see how this could have played out - we're often driven to overcome adversity rather than give into it. Maybe it's a combination of determination, optimism, pride and, heck, even testosterone that motivates us to believe we can overcome whatever is being thrown at us.
Dennis, you're spot on.
Laurence Gonzales says a lot of similar things in his book: Deep survival (obligatory reading, IMO). Anyone should know that making bad decisions against better knowledge is something we're ALL bound to do, at some point or other.
I've read about very experienced mountaineers that make decisions beforehand: If I'm not at the summit at X o'clock I must turn around because if I don't I won't make it before dark. Even for them, the best decisions are thrown out the window when "summit fewer" sets in.
Personally, I take great satisfaction in mastering challenging weather conditions, wether on road, boat, foot or skiis. I must put in an extra effort to make the decision NOT to always "press on" when things get a bit rough.
How do we deal with this? I think a good place to start is to realize our decision process is influenced by a lot more than cold, rational thinking. In fact, most of it is automatically and triggered by emotions: Did you have a good time when you did something similar? Yes, I felt pretty darned good the last time I plunged through the snow banks with my vehicle. So I'm more inclined to press on than I should be using cold, rational logic.
Previous Topic
Index
