Why do humans feel compelled to seek out dangerous mountains?
In short: Mountains are objectively perilous, yet they exert a powerful, almost fatal hold on the human imagination. Robert Macfarlane explores this paradox, investigating why we are drawn to precipitous landscapes and how our cultural attitudes toward these heights have evolved from myth into modern exploration.
In his 2003 debut, Mountains of the Mind, Macfarlane examines the development of Western perspectives on high-altitude terrain. The book seeks to answer a fundamental psychological question: why do humans pursue environments that pose such obvious risks? It explores how mountains have shaped human thought, moving beyond mere physical geography into the realm of deep cultural and imaginative significance.
Macfarlane situates his work within a long tradition of landscape writing, citing figures like John Muir and Richard Jefferies. His approach is not just about observation but about the reciprocal relationship between people and place. This is evident in his 'loose trilogy' of books, which includes The Wild Places (2007) and The Old Ways (2012), both of which track how humans navigate and find meaning in the remaining wildness of Britain and Ireland.
His scholarship also delves into the mechanics of language. In Original Copy (2007), he distinguishes between 'creatio'—creating from nothing—and 'inventio,' which prioritizes the inventive reuse of existing works. He argues that 19th-century English literature shifted toward this collaborative model, a view that stands in contrast to Harold Bloom’s theory of literary inheritance as a burden.
Today, Macfarlane continues to bridge these worlds, holding academic positions at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oslo. His work now intersects with environmental humanities and legal rights for nature, exploring whether rivers might possess their own lives and legal protections in his 2025 book, Is a River Alive?
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Robert Macfarlane (writer)
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