High Places
A New Yorker cartoon from March 31, 1986 by Ed Fisher. Humans are drawn to mountains because they provide us with high spaces to occupy and aspire to.
Why do members of our species choose to climb mountains and seek out the highest places as a hobby or game? Seemingly, no other incentive exists other than the experience of being at the summit. As children, tree climbing and games like 'King of the Hill' illustrate our innate need to seek out the highest places for ourselves. Everywhere on the planet, high land is valued much more than low land, and those who 'occupy the high ground' nearly always have a distinct advantage over those who don't.[1] Many of our most primitive towns and villages were located at high points in the landscape, and in modern cities, apartments or offices on the highest floors of buildings are the most coveted.
Mount Everest, the highest of the summits on our planet, is like a magnet for these types of activities, because it's the highest. From the outside looking in, the act of risking your own life for the experience of a high place is nothing short of irrational, especially when considering that the people who attempt it have enough free time and money to make this a sort of sport or leisure rather than a necessity for survival. There is a primal drive here. Something that exists in our source code and we live with it whether we're aware of it or not. We seek out high places. We spend great amounts of time and energy to get to them. All major cities today have some sort of public viewing platform at the top of a tall building that allows people to experience the summit. When we live or work in one of these spaces, they become a status symbol. Paul Morand describes the experience of ascending the tallest building in the world at the time, the Woolworth Building in New York City:
’In less than a minute [from entering the building] this vertical railway deposits me on the fifty-sixth floor, and from here New York looks like a miniature city which the King of Siam took his pleasure in building his gardens. Dazzled by the glare of the sun on the Atlantic, I find myself in the open sky, so high up that I feel I ought to be able to see Europe; the wind whips me, tears at my clothing...how can one describe from such a height this miniature metropolis?’ [2]
Throughout time, the motivation to be in high places has changed. In early human history, it was based on defense, as Sun-tzu explained. Once religious belief began to drive civilization and progress, it was the need to be closer to God. Today, it is status-based. 'I live on a higher floor than you.' This statement is rife with subtext, and those who say it are saying they are better than you in some way, because they pay more to be there. Tall buildings today are a wonderfully clear example of the vertical hierarchy in modern society. J.G. Ballard's novel High-Rise explores this theme and uses the tall building as a metaphor for class-based society. The richest live on top, and the poorest live on the bottom, constantly aware of all those living above them:
‘[Wilder] was constantly aware of the immense weight of concrete stacked above him, and the sense that his body was the focus of the lines of force running through the building, almost as if [the architect] had deliberately designed his body to be held within their grip. At night, as he lay beside his sleeping wife, he would often wake from an uneasy dream into the suffocating bedroom, conscious of each of the 999 other apartments pressing on him through the walls and ceiling, forcing air from his chest.’ [3]
Both mountains and cities exhibit more exclusivity the higher you go. There are always fewer high places than low places. In the end, height is status-based because it affords access to more light, air and views. It used to bring us closer to God and provide defense from others. These have all been highly sought-after things in their own time.
[1]: 'Occupy the high ground' is an age-old concept and can be traced all the way back to Sun-tzu in the 5th century BC. See: Sun-tzu. The Art of War. Translated by John Minford. New York: Penguin Books, 2006.
[2]: Morand, Paul. New York. The Book League of America, 1930. 53-54
[3]: Ballard, J.G. High-Rise. New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2012. 61.