The Earth is a planet populated by more than seven billion inhabitants. Most will only encounter a hundred thousand, and many won't even encounter that many. Each of these people has their own life experiences, and each of these experiences is a valuable source of information. When making decisions, it is extremely important to take these experiences into account. Ignoring them all is selfish, stupid and deadly. Christopher McCandless made the decision in April 1992 to venture into the Alaskan wilderness, inspired by the transcendentalist works of Henry David Thoreau, as well as those of other authors. This decision was made without consulting anyone, and this decision ended in McCandless' death months later. For most people, the idea of ​​living in the isolated Alaskan wilderness without any means of communication or navigation is a sign of mental illness. When McCandless made this decision, he effectively ignored the opinions of thousands of people and decided that his opinions were somehow more valid. This ideology that “a challenge in which success is assured is no challenge at all” led McCandless to embark on a challenge in which success was not only assured, but simply impossible (Krakauer 182). If McCandless had talked to anyone, literally anyone, he would have been told this plan was a suicide mission. This shows that the opinions of the general population can save lives. A similar ideological trait is found in Timothy Treadwell, commonly known as “Grizzly Man.” Treadwell spent many years of his life living with grizzly bears for months on end in Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve. Every summer, Treadwell recorded his... middle of paper...... they overwhelmingly told him that his idea was completely idiotic. If Treadwell told the modern population, they would be convinced that he was mentally unbalanced. This shows that it is essential to consider the views and experiences of the other seven billion people on Earth before making a life-changing decision. If McCandless and Treadwell had done this, they would probably still be alive. At the very least, they would have been more aware of the unlikelihood of their survival. After all, it's far more likely that one man is wrong than seven billion people. Real. Werner Herzog. Lions Gate, 2005. DVD. Krakauer, Jon. In nature. New York: Anchor, 1997. Print. Thoreau, Henry David. Walden: Or, Life in the Woods: And, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience. New York: New American Library, 1960. Print.