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ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

When I was a kid, I was fascinated by dinosaurs. I wanted to be a paleontologist until I really thought about what the fact that dinosaurs are extinct means. It means that a paleontologist can only ever find the remnants of cool animals that are all already gone. Sure, the skeletons themselves are interesting but they’re still just a faint trace of the real thing, which is forever in the past.

I feel like that about traveling as a form of exploration. Seeing Machu Pichu for myself would be kind of interesting, but what’s the point of repeating something millions of people have done already? I’m not going to see anything that they haven’t seen. The experience might still have some hedonic value to me, but in that sense it wouldn’t be different in kind from staying home and playing video games.

There’s still plenty of new stuff to see and do in the world, but it’s far less straightforward than just getting on a plane. You have to do scientific research, invent something, or create truly original art.

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UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

Seeing Machu Pichu for myself would be kind of interesting, but what’s the point of repeating something millions of people have done already?

Seeing it for yourself is more than just being at the destination. Traveling to the country, meeting the people, eating the food, dabbling in the language, and learning the culture is its own reward.

What’s more, Peru has changed quite a bit since it was built in the 15th century. Your journey is going to be unique to the time you take it and the people you take it with.

There’s still plenty of new stuff to see and do in the world, but it’s far less straightforward than just getting on a plane.

To throw it back to dinosaurs, one of the novelties of the field of paleontology is in identifying new fossils and linking them into the overall fossil chain. Dinosaurs aren’t a single species but an entire spectrum of lifeforms that existed for tens of millions of years. Digging a little deeper and finding another novel variation of creature is fascinating on its own merits. And the value it brings goes beyond raw hedonism.

Similarly, travel logs of the modern world de-mystify foreign cultures and bring disparate people together. Even just dipping south of the border and realizing Mexico isn’t trapped behind a sepia filter, like all the TV Shows and movies set their insist it to be, is useful for orienting yourself within the context of the world around you. Getting your Libertarian father-in-law out of his John Bircher bubble on a trip to visit relatives in Beijing and Shenzhen is invaluable.

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