PeakMind

Turning the information you have into the information you need

I do not take an instruction manual with me when I venture into the mountains. I only bring what I can carry in my head; and I can only use the information that comes to my mind at the moment I need it, or the information is useless.

Fortunately, I find that a self-evident truth, a fundamental principle, a rule of conduct, or a funny-but-true saying will come to mind when needed.  I have taken to writing down the rules, laws, etc. that come to me or are given to me (with credit noted) that I find useful.

Here is the first Rule, followed by an explanation:

You are NOT your brain:  thinking, feeling, understanding, and judgment arise from the brain and the rest of body interacting within a ‘soup’ of instincts, memories, perceptions and projections. Use rules, laws, etc. as a rationality compass to get pointed in the right general direction.

Below are my ‘CliffsNotes‘ …I’ve organized them into nine categories.

A “Yield and Overcome” mindset

1. Rational Exuberance Axiom #1: success can’t make you happy; but happiness will lead to success. Do what you love to find the persistence to be your best.
2. Rational Exuberance Axiom #2: “…all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.” Einstein
3. Rule of Adventure: being ‘too smart’ to take a chance is no excuse for missing out on life; it is only impossible until is isn’t.
4. Rule of Spurious Pride: never take a big chance for pride. Think about having to explain to St. Peter or your mother how you died. If you don’t like the way it sounds, don’t risk it.
5. Death by Stupidity Axiom: listen to your fear; but, manage the disabling symptoms of fear with knowledge and experience-based confidence.
6. The Rule of Very Small Risks:  when we know our work and don’t take big chances, it is the very unlikely risks that get us.  Very small risk ≠ zero risk; try not to trust anything completely.
7. Reward Rule: personal rewards are maximized by seeking an aggressive goal that matches the most optimistic assessment of your willingness to suffer; the right goal allows both success and satisfaction.
8. Misery Axiom: never turn back because of mental misery. More mental suffering (e.g., boredom, frustration, irritation, disappointment) leads to greater personal rewards, if overcome.
9. The Bella Rule:  you are not your limitations; you are only limited by how hard you are willing to try.  Named in honor of my wife’s short-legged basset hound, Bella, who was all heart.
10. Inspiration Maxim: inspiration is fleeting and often attacked by others; don’t let your credo be, “I could have … if I tried a little harder”.  Everything is impossible until it isn’t.
11. Rule of Priority: hold in your mind at least one unforgettable reason why you must make it home after every trip.

Preparing for Success (essay not available)

1. Progress Begets Progress Tenet: on any long and hard venture, start with the easy things and make a lot of progress.
2. Planning Maxim:  make your plan so simple that there are obviously no oversights, not so complex that there are no obvious oversights. “Perfect is the enemy of good” ~Voltaire
3. Rule of Planning Clarity: be clear about goals in order to accomplish them (e.g., exercise, adventure, summits). Corollary to Lewis Carroll’s, “If you don’t know [or care] where you are going, any road will get you there.”
4. Focus Pocus: have a plan you believe in, but never stop looking for more information.  The limits of understanding do not change what is true; and the illusion of ‘understanding’ can be fatal. Thomas Bayes would say: Initial Belief + New Objective Data = New, Improved Belief
5. Two-Leap Dictum: “the most dangerous strategy is to jump a chasm in two leaps” [Disraeli]. Always consider the unpleasant what-ifs; think it all the way through, until you get home.
6. Rule of Mountain Apathy: the mountain doesn’t care, it just enforces it rules relentlessly and without mercy (e.g., gravity, loose rock, bad weather, sunset, look-alike features, no ‘bird’s eye view’).
7. Climber’s Luck Maxim: luck is not an attribute, but rather a symptom of preparation (with a nod to Branch Rickey); good preparation plus determination = good luck plus success
8. “Time is Money” Axiom: time is the medium of exchange for decision-making atop the high peaks
9. Rule of Spurious Accuracy: never plan with more precision than exists in the available information
10. Early Bird Tenet: early starters get the best parking spots, the best trail and snow conditions, the most comfortable temperatures for exercising hard, the least lightning, and the highest success rates
11. Rule of Sleep: it doesn’t matter how badly you’ve slept, the sleep you were getting just as the alarm went off was great.  As my Mom used to say every morning, “rise and shine!”
12. Gear Need Precept: when in doubt, leave it out
13. Pack Law of Gravity: a half-full large pack attracts more useless gear than a full small pack
14. Pack Weight Rule of Thumb: with proper distribution of weight in a pack, you can carry, uncomfortably, half your body weight, or comfortably, one-fourth your body weight.
15. Law of Hiking Time: the hiking time will lengthen to fill time available (corollary to Parkinson’s Law). Hint: have a deadline.
16. Brian’s Fork: if there are two ways to go and one of them is much harder and more dangerous, somebody will want to go that way (corollary to Murphy’s Law, and named in honor of my climbing partner, Brian, who is always looking to make life interesting).
17. Worrier’s Folly: try not to worry about too much; start small and learn as you go.  Mark Twain said, “I have know an great many troubles, but most of them never happened.”

Dealing with Setbacks

1. Law of Disintegration: large problems are made up of many little questions; solve large, complex problems in pieces by resolving small, simple questions
2. Role of Intuition: trust intuition to tell us when something is wrong; do not trust intuition to tell us when something is right
3. Rule of Rational Skepticism: do not trust any unofficial marker or anyone on the trail without sufficient reason to do so
4. Peril of Assumption: assume nothing is 100% certain; maintain situational awareness to make good, timely decisions. Survival is the product of mindfulness of effort times know-how times random chance.
5. The Error of the ‘Big Fix‘: it isn’t the accumulation of little mistakes that causes all the trouble; it is the big mistake we make trying to correct them all at once that does us in
6. Delayed Risk Preference Fallacy: the flawed tendency to prefer solutions that eliminate a perceived likelihood of a bad outcome now in exchange for a possibly worse outcome later.
7. Silver Lining Maxim: sometimes, good things come from setbacks, if you let them.  Learn to judge when to fight for achievement vs. going with the flow.
8. Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There: when tempted to act rashly, pause.

Staying Found (essay not available)

1. Rule of ‘Premature Optimization‘: avoid the unnecessary, untried short-cut. Maps are occasionally faulty; judgment, frequently so.  [a nod to Donald Knuth].
2. Rule of Electronic Excuses: if your electronic device fails you, it is your fault
3. Turn ‘Round to Stay Found Rule: avoid losing the trailhead by turning around periodically to see what the trail looks like behind you
4. Mental Map Maxim: periodically look around to figure out where you are relative to your map, your destination, and your vehicle.
5. Rule of Small Errors: a small wayfinding mistake can go a long way in the mountains; make no casual route choices.
6. Evidence Axiom: a cairn is only a pile of rocks and the guy ahead of you might not know he is lost
7. Rule of Multiple Sources: always use two independent sources of route information; but if two disagree, then use three.
8. The ‘Path Less Traveled‘ Axiom: finding your own path or using a seldom used, less well known route adds to the adventure and can get you into some serious trouble.
9. Route-finding Rule of Fun: good route-finding skills & information times enough time = fun adventure; missing either equals disaster.

Hiking Speed Management

1. Hiking Pace Maxim: hike at your own pace or slower: each of us has a sustainable pace based on our conditioning, our physical mechanics, and the situation; going too fast means to risk illness (mountain sickness, deydration, bonking), injury (falls, twisted ankle) and loss of situational awareness (concentrating too much on footing).
2. 1000 Feet per Hour Rule: roughly estimate hours of non-technical climbing by dividing the elevation gain in feet by 1,000.
3. 10-15 Degree Rule: maximize speed of elevation gain by using 10-15 degree slopes (avoid unnecessary flats; use switchbacks)
4. Hiking Pace Rule: aim for 1-2 steps per breath
5. Good Boots Maxim: good (proper) footwear makes for good (tolerable) terrain.
6. Step Up Rule: when stepping up, two small steps are easier than one big step.
7. Injury Prevention Rule: never step on what you can step over, but never step over what you can walk around
8. Shortest Line Rule: the shortest line between two points gains the least altitude

Water: The Lifeblood

1. Rule of Uncapped Inevitability: a bottle set down with the opening unsecured will spill
2. Water Needs Rule: drink water before, during, and after the hike or climb totaling 1 liter for each hour of uphill hiking plus 1/4 liter for each hour on return
3. Heavy Water Axiom: water is heavy; find as much water as possible on the trail
4. The Watched Iodine Tablet Rule: the watched tablet will not dissolve; plan ahead
5. Rule of Unnecessary Water Waste: de-layer BEFORE the sweat starts (e.g., if you are not cold when you start hiking, you will be wasting water soon).

Fellowship of the High Peaks

1. Friendship Axiom: friends are made, not found
2. Rule of Peer Pressure: if “friends” provide friction against good judgment, get new friends.
3. Leadership Rule: in groups with unequal levels of experience, the most experienced person leads the group and is responsible for the safety of everyone in the group until released by the group.
4. Turnaround Call Rule: any person in the group can call for a turnaround. Do not adventure with anyone from whom you cannot respect such as request, whether reasonable or not.
5. Group Fragmentation Rule: experienced group members cannot abandon inexperienced members.
6. The Necessary Evil Fallacy: necessary evils are generally more evil than necessary. Do the right thing, besides, “Time Wounds All Heels”.
7. Rule of Advice:  in friendship, as in marriage, only offer advice when requested.  Give people room to vent and tell stories without fear of judgement.  The friendship is more important than your need to feel good about yourself or reinforce your own lessons.
8. The Error of Negotiation:  when faced with a serious problem, focus on solving the problem.  Negotiating a compromise solution is a dangerous waste of time.  Either resolve the differences in understanding of the variables, followed by a review of the upside/downside of advocated solutions, or settle on a small next step to collect more information. Work on your ego somewhere else, and don’t die for the sake of fellowship or pride.  This is also why larger groups need a leader.

On Lightning Alert

1. 30 second Flash-Bang Rule: when the lightning and thunder are separated by 30 seconds or less, there is immediate danger of lightning strike
2. The Lightning Safety Rule: where there is lightning, there is no safety; get to the car or accept the risk of lightning strike
3. Turnaround Approximation: without reliable weather information (e.g., reports, views), never turnaround later than noon

Learning from Mistake & Learning to ‘Feel it’

1. The Law of Experience: Success comes from good judgement; good judgment comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgment. At-bats are a good thing, even if you strike out. Fail forward.
2. Learning Keystone: it is better to learn from the mistakes of others, but much harder.
3. The Veil of Learning: it is hard to know which mistakes you made
4. Ignorance Curse: it is hard to know how much you don’t know
5. Accountability Maxim: never attribute to bad luck what can be adequately explained by poor judgment (corollary to Hanlon’s Razor)
6. Rule of Unselfconsciousness: to improve performance, stop thinking about it (feel it)
7. Know Thyself Axiom: remember that what works for me may not work for you. To make my Rules of Thumb work for you, try them on for size…and tailor accordingly.

To paraphrase a famous koan, “Even though [it]is true, if you do not know it yourself, it does you no good.”   For these or any rules, laws, etc. to become meaningful to you and have a positive impact on your decision-making in the ‘heat of battle’, you must use them.  Start by reflecting on your own personal experiences and see whether any rule or law is true for you, and then try it out.  And by doing so, you will create the network of memory connections needed for the information to find its way out of your brain when you need it. 

Please stay on the lookout for guides for turning the information you have into the information you need. Let me know what I am missing.