Il Nittalope

Alex Honnold climbed El Capitan, in Yosemite National Park, in 2017. Three years ago one of the most stunning athletic feats of the sporting world was made. Why was it so stunning? Because he climbed this rock, a 2900 feet wall (that is almost 1000 meters), in the free solo style. It means no ropes, no gear, no nets or rockets (I'm looking at you, Stanislaw Lem ). This means one mistake that led to you losing any of your grips, and you fall. And falling means death, with no exception. Even when you are at the beginning of the climb. Did he do this because he is a daredevil, tired of life? No, hearing him talk, watching him interact with humanity, it doesn't seem the case. He did it because the wall was there, and it was calling him. It was a cool thing to try, it was an incredible challenge to his mind. And he prepared for this for as much as he could. It was his 8 years project. From the early days, in which he was just thinking: " Wouldn't it be cool t

I have been thinking of writing this for a long time. Since I wrote this 2 weeks ago. I wrote that , partially, in response to an article (you can find it in the post) in which an "expert" from the Dutch Intelligentsia declared that the Italian response to the Covid-19 outbreak was "stupid" . I also wrote that as a partial response to how our governments (plural, meaning all over the world), had been facing the outbreak. LinkedIn allowed me few lines... it's time to correct that. When the first news of this outbreak arrived in the "west" I remember I was chatting with some friends. My reaction was: yeah, it's bad, but most probably is affecting mainly old and weak people. I was not completely wrong. But I was still wrong. It actually can affect anyone, and only because young and strong are... well, young and strong, they have an higher probability of surviving. But only if they are treated in an ICU, so even young and strong can die.