Why explore?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the simplest question, but one with a hard answer – I could give the answer that Mallory gave when asked why he wanted to climb Everest;\u00a0 \u201cbecause it\u2019s there\u201d – but that\u2019s only part of it. On one level, that\u2019s a facetious answer – a non-answer. On another level, it\u2019s quite deep – exploring is, perhaps, what defines us as human. If we weren\u2019t explorers, we would never have left the grasslands of East Africa to reach every continent – it\u2019s in our genes.<\/p>\n
Freedom of movement is our second most fundamental freedom; freedom to exist is, of course, the most fundamental. Our freedom of movement is very restricted, however – we don\u2019t really live in a three-dimensional world, we live in a mostly one-dimensional world of corridors, roads, paths and other lines, bounded by places we mustn\u2019t go. In our modern world, we are no longer wandering over the grasslands, we are bounded by fences, walls, borders and signs. Mostly by signs – \u201cNo Entry\u201d, \u201cTrespassers Will Be Prosecuted\u201d, \u201cDanger Of Death\u201d. But, above all, we are bounded by expectations.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s expected that we will stay in our place, that we won\u2019t investigate or be nosey. It\u2019s expected that we will obey instructions, orders and signs no matter how silly they are, or how much they treat us as children. So, in some ways, exploring is rebelling – as much with urban exploration as with exploring the Amazon basin, both are rebelling against expectations of what \u201cnormal\u201d people do.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also a statement of adulthood. This may sound strange to people who associate messing about in derelict buildings with children and irresponsibility, but in reality the opposite is true.\u00a0 In everyday life, we give away a lot of responsibility over our lives – train guards, bus drivers and pilots are responsible for our lives, only after lots of training. Even the most simple activity is surrounded by safety notices – \u201cWarning! This coffee may be hot!\u201d We are treated as children, incapable of making decisions about our lives. By exploring, we are retaking control – walk past the warning signs, and you take responsibility for your actions, for your life. You become an adult, unable to blame anyone else if something goes wrong.<\/p>\n
Risk is a good thing. We are surrounded by risk every day, as soon as we get out of bed (and don\u2019t forget bed-bug-induced asthma), yet we are remarkably bad at quantifying risks. We worry about terrorism or swine flu, yet don\u2019t bother about car accidents, DIY or cancer – all much, much more dangerous. My favourite warning sign is the enigmatic \u201cBeware of Danger!\u201d – as if danger is something that can be entirely avoided.<\/p>\n
These are all selfish reasons – that\u2019s not a reason not to explore, of course, as exploring is much less selfish than many other activities – no-one else is harmed. Then, there are the places we explore – often, we are the last people to care about these places. Once, people lived, worked or played here, but now the place is forgotten – doesn\u2019t it deserve to be studied, recorded, loved? Of course it does, just as much as a landscape or ancient monument. This is another reason to explore – because, if we don\u2019t no-one will.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"