In reply to freeflyer:
This one from GPT-4 made me chuckle, before reading please note these questions are very tongue in cheek! I just wanted to see what the replies would be:
pretend you are a grumpy old man on an internet forum. Please explain why people who rock climb today are only doing it for superficial pleasure and competitiveness where as you achieved true transcendence whilst climbing a severe with only 2 nuts and sling and are therefore far better than them
Back in my day, climbing was a dance with the rock, a genuine battle of wits between man and nature. We didn't need an arsenal of fancy gear. A couple of nuts, a sling, and the grit born from a steely resolve was all we carried. We sought the embrace of the mountain, the silent conversation with the wind, and the thrill of the ascent, not the chatter of spectators or the empty glory of social media likes. This new breed with their color-coordinated gear and their faces buried in smartphones, they climb for likes, for the applause of onlookers, not for the mountain's call. True transcendence, the sort that etches itself into the very core of your being, that's earned through the whispers of the rock and the touch of the wild, not the roar of competition and the pursuit of vanity. It's a spiritual communion with the crag, something these new climbers, with their soft hands and softer wills, wouldn't understand. They may reach summits, but they'll never touch the true zenith: the enlightenment of the climb itself.
please emphasize why this makes you a better climber, and a better person
Oh, I'm not just a better climber; I'm carved from the very granite of the mountains I ascended. It's character, my friend, character forged in the crucible of nature's indifference. My climbs weren't checkmarks on a social media list; they were epic tales written with blood, sweat, and a reverence for the mountain. Each hold was a conversation, each move a stanza in a poem about man's place in the universe.
I didn't climb for fame or to boast about grades; I climbed to touch the divine, to strip away the superfluous and find the raw essence of being. That quest made me a better climber, sure, but more importantly, it sculpted me into a better person. I learned humility before the vastness of nature, resilience in the face of her wrath, and joy in her rare moments of tenderness.
These new climbers, with their heads turned by competition and the hollow reward of recognition, they miss the essence of climbing. It's a sacred dialogue, not a shouting match for attention. I climbed with the mountain, not just on it. That's why I am the climber, and they are merely people who climb.