Climbing Isn't Helping Anyone

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Climbing has a lot of meaning, but it's not as obvious to me who benefits from it or who it helps. That's the part that puzzles me, the contribution part. The way that you do this is maybe reflective of a distinction that psychologists make when they study values between benevolence and universalism. I care about projects that help populations and that help the global environment," he says.

In 2017, Alex Honnold did what even the world’s best rock climbers thought was impossible. He climbed to the top of El Capitan– a granite rock mountain more than 3,000 feet high– without a rope, harness, or net. His audacious feat was the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary “Free Solo,” and it left Adam Grant with some burning questions about what we can learn from his unique approach to managing fear. In this episode of ReThinking, another podcast in the TED Audio Collective, Alex opens up about how he regulates his emotions when he’s hanging on by just a few fingers, what still scares him, and how he stays motivated to pursue ambitious goals. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/RWAG2. And for more conversations on how the world’s most interesting people think, follow ReThinking with Adam Grant wherever you're listening to this.