Why Do People Want to Climb Mount Everest, Risking Their Lives?

Many strive to climb Mount Everest, as it is one of the Earth’s highest peaks, reaching 8,848 meters above sea level. Climbers and scientists have even called this extreme altitude the “death zone.” Indeed, why do so many people seek to climb such heights, putting their lives at risk?

It is a sport, a game — a way to prove to oneself that it can be done, just as others have done. Deep down, we possess a desire to establish ourselves above nature, to show that we can rise beyond its limits. This inclination to climb higher, to achieve more, and to prove ourselves extends even beyond physical limits.

The same inner drive exists in our spiritual ascent, i.e., in rising above our individual selves to a complete positive connection with others and nature. In general, we wish to conquer peaks, to be above nature, to rise above ourselves, and to realize ourselves at the most extreme point. It is a fundamental human quality.

Unlike animals, which instinctively seek maximum comfort and security, we humans find no satisfaction in comfort alone. If there remains an opportunity to assert ourselves, we will pursue it. This is because within us, in addition to the inanimate, vegetative, and animate levels of nature, exists something even higher — the human level.

What is this human level that makes us risk and endanger our lives? It is the desire to be above nature. Within us, there exists an additional point called “human,” but it resides inside the animalistic nature. This creates an internal conflict: as we develop this higher human quality, the animalistic part begins to suffer. It protests, wondering, “Why do you neglect me? Why are you striving for something beyond me?” Here, we encounter a struggle — the human part aspires upward, while the animalistic part resists, fearing its own diminishment.

If we focused on rising above the animal level within us, we would feel no need to cross oceans, climb the highest mountains, or dive to the depths of the sea. That is, the biggest ascent we can do as humans — the attainment of life’s meaning and purpose — is not found in these physical conquests but in overcoming our inner nature. Our most meaningful ascent is not in challenging our physical limits but in rising above the ego that resides within us.

To rise above nature means to rise above human egoistic nature, i.e., the desire to benefit ourselves at the expense of others. The human ego manifests on three levels: inanimate, vegetative, and animate. To rise above it means to shift from a state of hatred toward one’s neighbor to a state of love. This is the most significant elevation we can conduct in our lives — one that does not require scaling mountains or plunging into deep waters, but rather, reaching the highest peak within: the transformation from egoistic self-love to the love of others.