WEBVTT
00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:16.879
This is Vantage Point, the podcast for critical thinkers, where we make sense of and excel in our lives, our jobs, and our world.
00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:21.199
We're not political, just critical.
00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:30.320
Thanks for joining each week as we continue in our campaign to revive critical thinking.
00:00:30.879 --> 00:00:33.359
I'm your host, Ellie Amder.
00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:39.200
Happy to have you with us and looking forward to continuing our march together.
00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:58.000
I'm more than happy to tell you that listenership is and has been consistently on the rise, and that we've been performing in the top 25% of all podcasts worldwide every week.
00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:02.240
And we've done this from a standing start.
00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:08.159
We had no prior ad buys, no public relations, no nothing.
00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:10.560
We launched and here we are.
00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:18.079
Friends, we're very grateful for this, and we hope you'll keep listening and we'll do our best to fulfill your expectations.
00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:30.239
And by the way, if you've enjoyed the journey so far, if you've gained something from it, or believe you will, or if you know someone who might, please forward or repost.
00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:37.120
We'd appreciate that, and we'll we'll do our best to accommodate every listener.
00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:44.159
Today, we'll look at a tale that's far more than motivational.
00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:49.920
Today's tale is highly inspirational, whoever you are.
00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:58.480
Today we'll look at Ascending Everest.
00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:10.479
So let me ask you by which of these four names do you recognize?
00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:26.719
A Tom Bourdillon, B Charles Evans, Cenzing Norgay, and D Sir Edmund Hillary.
00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:37.759
Chances are that once you came to the last letter, D, you not only recognized that name, but also went back and realized immediately who C was.
00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:47.280
Most of us recognized Sir Edmund Hillary as the first man to reach the summit of Mount Everest, Earth's highest point.
00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:53.599
That was on May 29, 1953.
00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:57.840
Of course, he didn't do it alone.
00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:02.639
Norgay, a native of Nepal, was Hilary's Sherpa.
00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:22.639
In fact, only because the expedition was headed by an Englishman, John Hunt, was Norgay expected to step aside in order for Hillary, a New Zealander and a subject of the Queen of England, to become the first human to take the last step on a climb to the top.
00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:33.360
It was never doubted that Norgay was as capable and experienced a climber as Hillary, if not more, and was every bit as responsible for the success as was Hillary.
00:03:34.639 --> 00:03:38.000
But that's an issue for moral historians to kick around.
00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:40.080
We have another thing to talk about.
00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:54.800
In order to do so, let's first take a look at a most interesting historic event which did not take place just three days earlier.
00:03:56.319 --> 00:04:16.639
On May 26th, 1953, Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans, who were the lead climbing pair in the expedition headed by Hunt, came to within 100 meters, 328 feet of the summit of Everest.
00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:28.160
Due to exhaustion, they turned and descended, never attaining the peak.
00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:31.439
Think about that for a second.
00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:32.879
328 feet.
00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:35.120
That's just a football field away.
00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:42.160
You've probably parked farther away from your shopping mall across the parking lot than that.
00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:48.240
But they didn't make it and they claimed exhaustion.
00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:50.079
Really exhaustion?
00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:55.439
Three days later, Hillary and Norgay did what Bourdillon and Evans could not do.
00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:59.439
They reached the top of Mount Everest.
00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:02.800
They accomplished their goal.
00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:10.879
News of the expedition's success reached London on the morning of June 2nd, Queen Elizabeth II's coronation.
00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:14.720
This was coordinated to honor that.
00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:24.560
Hunt and Hillary were knighted in the Order of the British Empire, KBE.
00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:34.160
Norgay, a subject of the King of Nepal, was granted the George Medal by the UK, but never achieved the KBE.
00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:36.720
Bourdillon and Evans.
00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:42.319
Bourdillon died three years later at the age of 32 in a climbing accident in Switzerland.
00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:51.279
Evans spent his life as an educator in Wales and died in 1995 at the age of 78.
00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:59.439
Neither was honored for his efforts, although they had ascended to a point that no other human ever had before.
00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:13.920
But as I'm charged with writing about critical thinking, not a history of mountaineering, their thoughts shall ever remain their own.
00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:23.600
Bourillon and Evans saw the summit of Everett as being unreachable.
00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:29.839
Although they claimed exhaustion, there must have there must it just must have been something else.
00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:43.519
After climbing 8,748 meters out of 8,848, or 28,700 feet out of 29,029 feet.
00:06:53.839 --> 00:06:58.240
No, I submit it was more than exhaustion.
00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:03.519
More likely, a lack of determination.
00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:07.120
Why can we say that?
00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:11.360
Well, I'm taking liberty, but I think it's a pretty reasonable one.
00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:22.160
Something that Hillary said in explaining success leads us to think about this comfortable assumption.
00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:40.000
When asked at a press conference soon afterwards why he and Norgay conquered the mountain while the other two didn't, Sir Edmund Hillary said, It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.
00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:45.519
Bourillon and Evans, let's remember, ascended to a poor, but it was not enough.
00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:53.040
It's not the recognition gained by Hillary and Norgay, or the recognition that Bourdillon and Evans will never get that matters.
00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:55.279
It's reaching the goal that matters.
00:07:55.360 --> 00:07:57.439
It's refusing to give up that matters.
00:07:57.680 --> 00:08:02.000
It's determination triumphing over exhaustion that matters.
00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:06.000
It's conquering ourselves that matters.
00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:15.759
Norgay and Hillary reached down deep for something that Bourdon and Evans couldn't find.
00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:19.680
The climb was the same distance for each pair.
00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:23.759
There are no indications that one pair was more skilled than the other.
00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:31.360
The weather conditions, according to reports, did not vary, and supplies and provisions likewise.
00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:34.559
So why were the results different?
00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:42.240
I submit again, determination, not exhaustion, pure determination.
00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:53.279
Because of their determination, Hillary and Norgay became the first pair to reach the peak of Mount Everest.
00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:56.799
Determination.
00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:05.120
It's a great story, and it has a very interesting historical postscript.
00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:23.279
After Everest, Hillary climbed ten other Himalayan peaks and was a member of the first overland expedition in 1958 to reach the South Pole since Amundsen in 1911 and Scott in 1912.
00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:29.440
And they were the first ever, he was the first ever to do it with motor vehicles.
00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:40.320
Once you determine to do something against any and all odds, success becomes the only option.
00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:42.960
And then it becomes a habit.
00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:45.279
A habit.
00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:58.799
Perhaps we're all still doing it.
00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:05.440
Take this lesson from Edmund Hillary in Henzik, Norway, with you.
00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:07.840
Wherever you go.
00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:15.360
You're going to get to a point in most of what you do in which you've got to rely on your determination.
00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:19.519
Remember Hillary and Norgay.
00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:22.799
We're going to take a break right now.
00:10:23.679 --> 00:10:26.879
We'll be back in 30 seconds after this work from our sponsors.
00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:31.679
Before we go on, I want to take a moment to thank the people who make this show possible.
00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:38.000
Vantage Point is brought to you by Singletask, the team that produces this show.
00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:41.440
It is also brought to you by Cardum Consulting.
00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:48.320
It is also brought to you by Bergen Volunteers, neighbors helping neighbors all across Bergen County.
00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:56.159
This show is also brought to you by my friend and a sponsor of this show from day one, Stephen Bowser.
00:10:56.559 --> 00:11:01.440
Thank you, all of you, for your support and please support them the way they support us.
00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:07.759
And if your organization would like to become a sponsor of this show, please don't hesitate to reach out.
00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:12.240
You can find me at Ellie Amdur.com.
00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:20.960
I'm back with three of my regular aphorisms.
00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:29.600
This time, I think more closely related to the subject at hand.
00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:32.399
Aphorism number one.
00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:36.720
A bad attitude is like a flat tire.
00:11:36.799 --> 00:11:39.360
You're going nowhere until you change it.
00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:43.360
Aphorism number two.
00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:46.320
Don't tell me about the storm.
00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:48.559
Did you deliver the cargo?
00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:52.080
And aphorism number three.
00:11:54.399 --> 00:12:09.200
We must have infinite gratitude for all things past, infinite service for all things present, and infinite responsibility for all things future.
00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:26.720
In the great mind section of this episode, I lean on, as I do very often, Albert Einstein, who declared that if you don't know something well enough to explain it to a six-year-old, you don't know it well enough at all.
00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:34.399
All of a sudden, people started claiming to understand E equals MC squared.
00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:42.399
But success in business and education depends on communication.
00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:50.720
George Bernard Shaw said one of the great problems with communication is the illusion that it has occurred, not a bad goal.
00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:55.440
That does it for me for this episode.
00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:58.879
Once again, thank you for spending the time with us.
00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:00.720
We appreciate it.
00:13:01.200 --> 00:13:12.879
Coming up, we'll be talking about jobs of the future, AI difficulties, AI opportunities, and lots of other interesting things that we'll bring along with us.
00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:14.000
Thanks.
00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:15.440
See you next time.
00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:21.759
Until then, keep questioning, keep learning, and keep thinking critical.
00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:16.879
This is Vantage Point, the podcast for critical thinkers, where we make sense of and excel in our lives, our jobs, and our world.
00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:21.199
We're not political, just critical.
00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:30.320
Thanks for joining each week as we continue in our campaign to revive critical thinking.
00:00:30.879 --> 00:00:33.359
I'm your host, Ellie Amder.
00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:39.200
Happy to have you with us and looking forward to continuing our march together.
00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:58.000
I'm more than happy to tell you that listenership is and has been consistently on the rise, and that we've been performing in the top 25% of all podcasts worldwide every week.
00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:02.240
And we've done this from a standing start.
00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:08.159
We had no prior ad buys, no public relations, no nothing.
00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:10.560
We launched and here we are.
00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:18.079
Friends, we're very grateful for this, and we hope you'll keep listening and we'll do our best to fulfill your expectations.
00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:30.239
And by the way, if you've enjoyed the journey so far, if you've gained something from it, or believe you will, or if you know someone who might, please forward or repost.
00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:37.120
We'd appreciate that, and we'll we'll do our best to accommodate every listener.
00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:44.159
Today, we'll look at a tale that's far more than motivational.
00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:49.920
Today's tale is highly inspirational, whoever you are.
00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:58.480
Today we'll look at Ascending Everest.
00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:10.479
So let me ask you by which of these four names do you recognize?
00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:26.719
A Tom Bourdillon, B Charles Evans, Cenzing Norgay, and D Sir Edmund Hillary.
00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:37.759
Chances are that once you came to the last letter, D, you not only recognized that name, but also went back and realized immediately who C was.
00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:47.280
Most of us recognized Sir Edmund Hillary as the first man to reach the summit of Mount Everest, Earth's highest point.
00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:53.599
That was on May 29, 1953.
00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:57.840
Of course, he didn't do it alone.
00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:02.639
Norgay, a native of Nepal, was Hilary's Sherpa.
00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:22.639
In fact, only because the expedition was headed by an Englishman, John Hunt, was Norgay expected to step aside in order for Hillary, a New Zealander and a subject of the Queen of England, to become the first human to take the last step on a climb to the top.
00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:33.360
It was never doubted that Norgay was as capable and experienced a climber as Hillary, if not more, and was every bit as responsible for the success as was Hillary.
00:03:34.639 --> 00:03:38.000
But that's an issue for moral historians to kick around.
00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:40.080
We have another thing to talk about.
00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:54.800
In order to do so, let's first take a look at a most interesting historic event which did not take place just three days earlier.
00:03:56.319 --> 00:04:16.639
On May 26th, 1953, Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans, who were the lead climbing pair in the expedition headed by Hunt, came to within 100 meters, 328 feet of the summit of Everest.
00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:28.160
Due to exhaustion, they turned and descended, never attaining the peak.
00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:31.439
Think about that for a second.
00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:32.879
328 feet.
00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:35.120
That's just a football field away.
00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:42.160
You've probably parked farther away from your shopping mall across the parking lot than that.
00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:48.240
But they didn't make it and they claimed exhaustion.
00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:50.079
Really exhaustion?
00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:55.439
Three days later, Hillary and Norgay did what Bourdillon and Evans could not do.
00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:59.439
They reached the top of Mount Everest.
00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:02.800
They accomplished their goal.
00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:10.879
News of the expedition's success reached London on the morning of June 2nd, Queen Elizabeth II's coronation.
00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:14.720
This was coordinated to honor that.
00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:24.560
Hunt and Hillary were knighted in the Order of the British Empire, KBE.
00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:34.160
Norgay, a subject of the King of Nepal, was granted the George Medal by the UK, but never achieved the KBE.
00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:36.720
Bourdillon and Evans.
00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:42.319
Bourdillon died three years later at the age of 32 in a climbing accident in Switzerland.
00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:51.279
Evans spent his life as an educator in Wales and died in 1995 at the age of 78.
00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:59.439
Neither was honored for his efforts, although they had ascended to a point that no other human ever had before.
00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:13.920
But as I'm charged with writing about critical thinking, not a history of mountaineering, their thoughts shall ever remain their own.
00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:23.600
Bourillon and Evans saw the summit of Everett as being unreachable.
00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:29.839
Although they claimed exhaustion, there must have there must it just must have been something else.
00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:43.519
After climbing 8,748 meters out of 8,848, or 28,700 feet out of 29,029 feet.
00:06:53.839 --> 00:06:58.240
No, I submit it was more than exhaustion.
00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:03.519
More likely, a lack of determination.
00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:07.120
Why can we say that?
00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:11.360
Well, I'm taking liberty, but I think it's a pretty reasonable one.
00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:22.160
Something that Hillary said in explaining success leads us to think about this comfortable assumption.
00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:40.000
When asked at a press conference soon afterwards why he and Norgay conquered the mountain while the other two didn't, Sir Edmund Hillary said, It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.
00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:45.519
Bourillon and Evans, let's remember, ascended to a poor, but it was not enough.
00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:53.040
It's not the recognition gained by Hillary and Norgay, or the recognition that Bourdillon and Evans will never get that matters.
00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:55.279
It's reaching the goal that matters.
00:07:55.360 --> 00:07:57.439
It's refusing to give up that matters.
00:07:57.680 --> 00:08:02.000
It's determination triumphing over exhaustion that matters.
00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:06.000
It's conquering ourselves that matters.
00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:15.759
Norgay and Hillary reached down deep for something that Bourdon and Evans couldn't find.
00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:19.680
The climb was the same distance for each pair.
00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:23.759
There are no indications that one pair was more skilled than the other.
00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:31.360
The weather conditions, according to reports, did not vary, and supplies and provisions likewise.
00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:34.559
So why were the results different?
00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:42.240
I submit again, determination, not exhaustion, pure determination.
00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:53.279
Because of their determination, Hillary and Norgay became the first pair to reach the peak of Mount Everest.
00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:56.799
Determination.
00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:05.120
It's a great story, and it has a very interesting historical postscript.
00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:23.279
After Everest, Hillary climbed ten other Himalayan peaks and was a member of the first overland expedition in 1958 to reach the South Pole since Amundsen in 1911 and Scott in 1912.
00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:29.440
And they were the first ever, he was the first ever to do it with motor vehicles.
00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:40.320
Once you determine to do something against any and all odds, success becomes the only option.
00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:42.960
And then it becomes a habit.
00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:45.279
A habit.
00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:58.799
Perhaps we're all still doing it.
00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:05.440
Take this lesson from Edmund Hillary in Henzik, Norway, with you.
00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:07.840
Wherever you go.
00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:15.360
You're going to get to a point in most of what you do in which you've got to rely on your determination.
00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:19.519
Remember Hillary and Norgay.
00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:22.799
We're going to take a break right now.
00:10:23.679 --> 00:10:26.879
We'll be back in 30 seconds after this work from our sponsors.
00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:31.679
Before we go on, I want to take a moment to thank the people who make this show possible.
00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:38.000
Vantage Point is brought to you by Singletask, the team that produces this show.
00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:41.440
It is also brought to you by Cardum Consulting.
00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:48.320
It is also brought to you by Bergen Volunteers, neighbors helping neighbors all across Bergen County.
00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:56.159
This show is also brought to you by my friend and a sponsor of this show from day one, Stephen Bowser.
00:10:56.559 --> 00:11:01.440
Thank you, all of you, for your support and please support them the way they support us.
00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:07.759
And if your organization would like to become a sponsor of this show, please don't hesitate to reach out.
00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:12.240
You can find me at Ellie Amdur.com.
00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:20.960
I'm back with three of my regular aphorisms.
00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:29.600
This time, I think more closely related to the subject at hand.
00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:32.399
Aphorism number one.
00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:36.720
A bad attitude is like a flat tire.
00:11:36.799 --> 00:11:39.360
You're going nowhere until you change it.
00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:43.360
Aphorism number two.
00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:46.320
Don't tell me about the storm.
00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:48.559
Did you deliver the cargo?
00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:52.080
And aphorism number three.
00:11:54.399 --> 00:12:09.200
We must have infinite gratitude for all things past, infinite service for all things present, and infinite responsibility for all things future.
00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:26.720
In the great mind section of this episode, I lean on, as I do very often, Albert Einstein, who declared that if you don't know something well enough to explain it to a six-year-old, you don't know it well enough at all.
00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:34.399
All of a sudden, people started claiming to understand E equals MC squared.
00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:42.399
But success in business and education depends on communication.
00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:50.720
George Bernard Shaw said one of the great problems with communication is the illusion that it has occurred, not a bad goal.
00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:55.440
That does it for me for this episode.
00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:58.879
Once again, thank you for spending the time with us.
00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:00.720
We appreciate it.
00:13:01.200 --> 00:13:12.879
Coming up, we'll be talking about jobs of the future, AI difficulties, AI opportunities, and lots of other interesting things that we'll bring along with us.
00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:14.000
Thanks.
00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:15.440
See you next time.
00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:21.759
Until then, keep questioning, keep learning, and keep thinking critical.
