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FUN

                                     June 29, 1993


What exactly do
people mean by     Sometimes the word
"fun"?             can be used to    
                   conceal deeper        Like "Oh, I was just
                   purposes, no?         flirting, it was all               
                                         just for fun."                     
                                                                            
                                                FLIRT 
Clearly, there are different
kinds of fun: like downhill
skiing versus rock climbing.
   
Alpine skiing certainly has
skill involved, but it     
never seems like work: You 
go "Wheee!" and slide down 
hill fast.                 
                           
Rock climbing, on the other
hand, is the kind of "fun"
where you may be grunting
with effort, wondering why
you ever got into it.
                 
The "fun" part is perhaps
the sense of accomplishment
when you pull yourself over
the top and the climb is
over.            
                            
This is a good pair of 
things to compare, since            Nordic Skiing can 
both are essentially                be used as a form 
purposeless, clearly just           of tranportation in        Rock climbing 
games.                              snowy climbs, but          might be a 
                                    Alpine skiing is           method of 
Consider that the actual            fairly useless without     ascending a 
risks involved are probably         a system of lifts.         mountain, but 
higher in skiing (zipping                                      really vertical 
downhill fast passed rocks                                     rock is fairly 
and trees is really pretty                                     unusual, and 
dangerous) compared to rock                                    there's almost 
climbing (which is a very                                      always an 
slow deliberate sport, where                                   eaisier way    
the equipment can be used to                                   up.            
keep you just as safe as you                                   
want to be).                                                      
   
But the perceived risks are    
opposite: the adrenalin rush    
of a typical downhill move    
isn't based on an immediate   
fear of death, but in rock     
climbing, the game involves   
overcoming your own             
psychological blocks,           
convincing yourself that you
really are safe even though    
it feels like you may fall  
to your death at any moment. 
                              

              
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