9. Professor Rachel Carr on curiosity, climate change and why exploration still matters

So why is the term wilderness and that feeling of wilderness relevant to a conversation about exploration?

So I think, um, in terms of the relevance to sort of, you know, uh, exploration, I think it is, it's, it's chasing that sense of, um, you know, something different, something tangible, something touchable, something that kinda...

I, I do think, like, maybe it sounds far too philosophical, but it deeply calls to the soul, I think, of a sense of, you know, wanting to see, uh, different elements of the world.

Also wanting to challenge yourself as well.

I think, you know, like, in the modern day, like, you know, there obviously are a lot of challenging circumstances for people, but, like, of people wanting to sort of push, push the boundary of what they can do physically, mentally, and so on.

Um, but yeah, to, to develop that connection with something new and something different.

And I think, you know, perhaps that is the, you know, I was saying the world's quite different today to what it is 100 years ago, was 100 years ago.

But actually maybe the thing that does connect us is, is that curiosity and that wanting to kind of explore and kind of push the boundaries and to see wild places that aren't curated, that aren't, you know, done for sort of TikTok and, uh, you know, um, kind of a, kind of real, like, a, a wanting for connection and reality, I think, so.

So are you suggesting that we need to feel connected and curious about a place in order to be able to effectively explore it-

Mm

... or not?

I think it helps [laughs] is probably the simple answer.

I think, um, I think it would be a very kind of bloodless kind of way of exploring if you weren't curious or connected.

I think I'd then have to question the motivation.

Um, you know, do you simply want to get to the highest peak in the world because it's the highest peak in the world and have no connection with the people or the environment or the landscape? Then- You would get an experience, but I don't think it would be a very fulfilling one.

So I think for me, for, for all of the, the kind of research that I've been lucky enough to do, it's always been about that connection, either to people or to the landscape or to the wildlife and so on.

That's what's made it really meaningful.

So I think you can, you can have exploration without those things, but I just don't think you'd find meaning.

Might be a bit of a, a hollow victory, so.

Yeah.

I guess I'm trying to get to the core of, like, why we, you-

Mm

...

I, us, why do we value wilderness so much, and what we're really yearning for and-

Mm