Brenton's Bewildered Bumbling Blog

For prompt six of the blog posts assignment we are to choose a key thinker to interview on the topic of our podcast assignment. As I am currently in the process of working on my individual podcast I will be completing this assignment for the topic of Group 2, which is “How does rock climbing in Thunder Bay affect the wellbeing of citizens in the community?”

1) For this interview, I think that it would be best to pick an Instructor or employee at the Boulder Bear Climbing Centre, which is located in Thunder Bay. I think that an individual from the Centre would be ideal to interview because of two factors: Firstly, they would likely be interested and experienced with climbing to a certain degree already, and would be knowledgeable on safety procedures, techniques, and locales. Secondly, they would be used to distilling their knowledge down to a beginner level, and explaining it in an effective manner to prospective climbers who visited the gym.

2) Five questions that I would ask an instructor or employee at Boulder Bear would be as follows:

1. How high is the barrier of entry for an individual who has no prior experience with climbing? 

The reason I think it is important to ask a question like this is because if the difficulty of getting into rock climbing technically is too high, then the benefits of actually doing it do not matter, since only a select few people would be able to reap said benefits. 

2. Is rock climbing an economical activity compared to other popular outdoor activities in Thunder Bay?

As with the first question, the benefits of rock climbing for an individuals physical and mental health are moot if the activity breaks the bank when compared to other activities. For example, are the costs of going to Boulder Bear comparable to a traditional gym membership? Is it comparable to the costs of Nordic skiing?

3. Do the benefits of rock climbing outweigh the potential risks involved with it? 

Rock climbing is of course a dangerous activity, and without proper equipment, training, and experience, there are many things which could go wrong during a climb. Risk management is an important aspect of any group activity, but rock climbing in particular has the potential to be extremely dangerous. In a normal setting, is it worth taking these risks for the enjoyment and challenge of the climb?

4. As a physical activity, how does rock climbing promote a healthy lifestyle?

I would ask this question because I believe that it is important to hear from an individual who frequently climbs what kinds of things they feel that they gain from it. Regarding the physical aspect specifically, how does rock climbing frequently affect an individual's day-to-day life? Do people who climb frequently find that they from new habits or rituals off the wall which are beneficial?

5. At a glance, would you say you were generally happier before or after you began rock climbing?

While people may find it difficult to quantify the particular ways in which an activity may be improving their lives, a surefire way to figure out if it has or has not, is to simply ask whether a person feels happier or more content since they began climbing. 

The article I chose to look at is a news release from the Ontario Government regarding its Critical Minerals Strategy, which promises to take advantage of mineral deposits in Northern Ontario and connect industries throughout Ontario.

The key message of this article is that the Critical Minerals Strategy will help to better connect Northern raw material industries with Southern manufacturing industries, and improve Ontario’s economy by investing in growing supply chains and innovation. 

According to Premier Doug Ford, “The Critical Minerals Strategy is our government’s blueprint to connect industries, resources and workers in our province’s north to the future of manufacturing in the south as we build up home-grown supply chains”. While I have differing opinions to Doug Ford and his government in regards to the ecological impacts of industrial expansion in Ontario, I believe that this news release does a good job of explaining the CMS and making it seem attractively beneficial to Ontario.

I believe that the sources of this article would have been primary, in the sense that the author would have received the information they used directly from the source document and individuals involved with it. For the purposes of this article, there probably wasn't any evaluation of the data which was acquired due to the fact that it is primary information.

The information in this article would have been verified through access to government records and data, and was likely extensively fact-checked before it was published, due to the official nature of the document.

Consumer expectations of this article would include that the article is brief and informative. It must also be accurate, grammatically correct, and written persuasively, as its purpose is to convince Ontarians of the utility of developing our Northern mining presence. Consumers expect government news releases to be correct without checking themselves, so it is paramount that the article is released without flaws and that it is not misleading or easy to misunderstand.

The article link is below:

I think it is appropriate, considering the fact that this is late, to discuss the difficulty that I have been having with managing deadlines and what I want to do in order to set myself up for success. I have always found that I have a lot of difficulty with handing assignments in on time, and since I was in high school it has negatively impacted my grades. At this point in my life there is a lot of uncertainty and I am gonna be moving to Thunder Bay soon, so I am trying to forgive myself for letting things slip. However, I am often very disappointed with myself, and I am growing tired of living in frustration at my own lack of competence in managing my time. 

I think that moving to Thunder Bay is a great opportunity for me to start fresh, and I intend to make good use of this chance. I think it is finally time that I accept that I need to take advantage of the Student Accessibility Services at Lakehead University, and I also think that it is imperative for me to look into connecting with the Mental Health and Wellness staff as well. I want to be better and I have finally realized that it’s okay if I can’t become better all on my own. 

I know that I can achieve the grades I want, I just need to become better at managing my time and honing my senses of responsibility and discipline. However, I also have come to learn that everything is completed in a process, and that expecting fast or easy results will only lead to disappointment. As I get older I am trying to come to terms with the fact that I will never be the best, but also with the fact that that is okay. I am trying to unload some of the expectations that I weigh myself down with, and looking to compare myself to others less.

I hope that as long as I continue to put an honest effort forth I will slowly improve as a student and as a human being. I used to think that making a mistake was the end of the world, but I’m starting to realize that making mistakes and failing forwards is the only way to become the person I want to be.

As a student of Outdoor Recreation and History, and an enthusiast of anthropology and evolution, I think that if I had access to unlimited resources to conduct a research project, I would probably want to combine these topics in order to create my research question. 

I think it would be extremely fascinating and enlightening to try and find out more about how archaic humans conducted themselves in their daily lives. How different or alike were they to how humans behave today? It is the general consensus that Homo sapiens in Sub-Saharan Africa, so I believe that this would be the correct place to conduct my research. My research project would likely include qualitative and quantitative work, including archeological excavations, preservation of artifacts, (or belongings, as it has recently been suggested to call them) and interpretation of what the findings may mean. I do not know a great deal about the subject of archaeology, but I would hope that by using these methods over a large area, and spanning large distance of archeological time, we could identify certain individuals, and hopefully make educated inferences as to what behaviours they may have exhibited beyond mere survival techniques. What could we learn about family? About pre-historic religious thought? What were social hierarchies like, and were our distant relatives peaceful, or war mongering like ourselves? These are all questions that I would like to know, but I do not know if they could ever be answered without a time machine.

Obviously we will never know exactly how the people of the distant past lived, but I believe that there is still more to be found out, which could connect all living people to their own pasts and to each other. 

The Vice documentary “Surviving in the Siberian Wilderness for 70 Years” focuses on the life of the 70-year-old Agafya Lykova, the youngest daughter of Karp Lykov and Akulina Lykova (The Siberian Times 2019), and the only surviving member of the Lykov family. She lives in the Siberian Taiga along with Yerofei Sedov, a former member of the geology crew which discovered the family, who chose to forsake civilization to life in seclusion. They are visited infrequently by people like the Vice Crew or rangers of the Khakassky State Nature Reserve (15:29 in the documentary).

Case Study Outline:

Who: Agafya Lykova, Yerofei Sedov

What: Her life as a nomad in the Siberian Taiga

Where: The Sayan Mountains, Siberia

When: The documentary took place over a couple of days in 2013

Why: Agafya’s life is of particular interest due to her complete separation from modern society and her antiquated religious beliefs

How: A film crew arrived by helicopter and conducted various interviews which were recorded and edited to produce the final documentary.

Research Techniques:

The research in this documentary is carried out from a micro-social perspective, and is performed cross-sectionally over a short period of time. The medium used to gather information by the film crews was qualitative interviews, where they looked to understand what Agafya’s own thoughts and perspectives were about her own life. I would qualify this as social research, although it was not “applied” as defined by Neuman and Robson in “Basics of Social Research”, as it was not carried out with the purpose of solving a larger social issue.

Invisible Backpacks:

The Vice crew which filmed this documentary carry significant invisible backpacks, which are not addressed in the film, but influence its outcome significantly. Watching this documentary reminded me of the examples from our Ethics lecture, and of the third chapter of “Basics of Social Research”, which note how in Canada, indigenous people are often taken advantage of for research purposes, and not included as beneficiaries of any of the studies they are subject to. While Agafya’s life is certainly fascinating, I doubt that any of these individuals would have put in the time or effort to share her story without the financial incentive provided by Vice, and the sponsorship of THE NORTH FACE, which is advertised at the beginning of the documentary. Agafya’s life, her struggles and her triumphs, were exploited by Vice for ad revenue on YouTube, and I feel that this detracts significantly from the authenticity and meaningfulness of the documentary. It is truly reminiscent for me of the Human Zoos which were popular in the 18th century in Europe, which displayed People of Colour from around the world in poorly recreated representations of their homelands for curious wealthy Europeans to gawk at.

I do not believe, even given the exploitative nature of the documentary as a whole, that the crew involved are bad people, and it is clear that they considered the ethics of arriving and burdening Agafya with their presence for days on end. As such, they brought her a number of gifts, and assisted her in her old age with housekeeping and general work around her homestead. They did what they could as individuals to help Agafya and complete their jobs.

How would I approach this?

If I were to research the Lykov family and convey my findings to a wider audience, I would want to take more steps to be inclusive of Agafya. I would try to provide, in any way I could, a real incentive for her to participate. Ideally, I would also like to share some of the profits from my work with her, but in her own words: “If a person has a lot of money and does not share it with the poor, it’s forbidden by the religious writings. I would give it all away” (28:20). I would want to make sure that she understood how we would be choosing to portray her, and what kinds of people might see her story, if she had any interest in knowing. 

While I think that this would be an incredible opportunity, I do not know if I would want to go, given the misguided ethics of the situation, which I outlined above. She has lived her whole life in seclusion, and if I were in her position, in my old age, I do not think I would appreciate being put on display. I would want to be left to my solitude and my faith (although I personally am not religious in any sense). I cannot find the means to justify the exploitation of this woman, and I do not think that I would want to partake in a documentary carried out in the same way as Vice’s was.

I believe that my identity in this situation as a student researcher would influence our interactions significantly. I disagree with many of the worldviews she expressed, but, being the researcher and her subordinate in age, I would try my best to learn everything I could from her from an unbiased view. I would like to think that we would bond over an appreciation for the outdoors, and an unfettered connection to nature. I think in the end though, there would not be much in common between us, and it would probably be difficult for me specifically to conduct this sort of research task.

Reference List:

“Surviving in the Siberian Wilderness for 70 Years” A Vice documentary, April 9th, 2013.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt2AYafET68

“Siberian Hermit, 75, who ‘lives in the 18th century’ refuses to be moved by Space Age” The Siberian Times, June 21st, 2019.

https://siberiantimes.com/other/others/features/siberian-hermit-75-who-lives-in-18th-century-refuses-to-be-moved-by-space-age/

Pictured Below: Me trying to figure out my recently purchased Jetboil at Opeongo Lake in Algonquin Park.

I chose to come to Lakehead because I have always loved the outdoors and exploring, but I didn’t have much experience with camping, hiking, or recreation in general. I come from Southern Ontario, where the pickings are slim when it comes to interesting things to do outside. I have only recently begun my journey with recreation, as my first real camping trip to Algonquin Park was when I was sixteen, with a couple of my buddies. It was wet and cold and I was miserable the whole time, but it was 100% type 2 fun. Looking back, it was a fantastic time being so close to nature. Ever since, I have cultivated a strong love of all things natural, and I thrive in an environment where I feel like I can discover something new, so I am constantly chasing new experiences. Lakehead University and Thunder Bay were perfect for providing me with an unexplored playground, and the tools to navigate it, so it was practically a no-brainer for me when I began in the 2017-2018 year. I have been away for a few years, to do some serious self-reflection (and also to make some dang money), but I am finally getting back into Academia, and I am very much looking forward to moving back to Thunder Bay, so that I can escape the purgatory that is Burgessville, Ontario.

Now to the real subject of the prompt: How do I consume knowledge? I would like to consider myself a pretty skeptical person, and when I do suspect that something is untrue, I will put in the effort to research it myself. Often a simple google search will suffice to answer any questions I may have about a headline or a topic. That being said, I am still aware that nearly 100% of the information I consume is filtered through social media, and that so much of it I absorb at face value, without a second thought about its credibility. After thinking about where I get my information from, I realized I was hard-pressed to come up with more than a handful of different sources. I’ve settled on four: 

Social Media (Reddit, Instagram, Youtube etc.) 

Documentaries (Usually on Netflix) 

Books I’ve read

 Conversations I’ve had