Comments on: Maybe I Was Wrong

By: Science and Exploration « Time to Eat the Dogs

Science and Exploration « Time to Eat the Dogs — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 16:28:00 +0000

[...] Maybe I Was Wrong [...]

By: Maybe I Was Wrong | On The Net | Free Information Resource | Information Resource on Various Topics

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:12:54 +0000

[...] Why do people climb 8000-meter mountains? Free-solo the Eiger? BASE jump the Eiffel Tower? Motives are tricky things. My work on Arctic explorers gave me a way to think about it.Nineteenth-century explorers had their own answers to the “why” question. In the 1850s, when U.S. exploration of the Arctic began, explorers defended their missions by describing all of the commercial benefits that would accrue from their expeditions: new routes to Asia, new whale fisheries, new technological innovations Click here for the source [...]

By: Michael Robinson

Michael Robinson — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 13:42:29 +0000

I agree Will – motives are complex and interdependent. And I told myself that I was open to all of them. But looking back on my book, I think that I was reacting against the use of overt psychological motives because 1) explorers used these motives to their own benefit, 2) the glut of psychological talk in narratives and popular histories, and 3) I was trained to view “psychologizing” suspiciously. I just find myself reading Coffey’s interviews and thinking: this cannot be ignored, it has to be accounted for, and none of my other stuff works to do it. As for history of science, yes, perhaps we are the case studies that prove the point. No money or high adventure yet but I’m waiting for my product endorsements. By the phone. Patiently.

By: Will Thomas

Will Thomas — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:05:08 +0000

Ah, the skeptical reading vs. the charitable reading! A topic of profound historiographical consequence, and another upcoming post over at EWP (just an idea right now, no outline).

We must beware the assumption of singular motivations, and look for mutually compatible motivations. There are, after all, better ways to make a buck than going to the North Pole. And if I could find a way of making a sweet buck off the history of science (and still be able to look at myself in the mirror), I assure you, Michael, I would.