The Unsettling Truth About the ‘Mostly Harmless’ Hiker

On the one hand, it seems MH was dealing with challenges you might call mental illness—interpersonal problems, impulsive and erratic behavior, irrational decision making.

On the other hand, I think part of what is so captivating and compelling about his story is the way so many people can project parts of ourselves onto him: alienation, disillusionment, the disconnect between tech and the physical, visceral world.

I see part of myself in him, the juxtaposition of feeling “catatonic” in the face of fast paced society, against the desire to achieve some cleansing / purity by disappearing into anonymity in the harsh dirty outside.

It’s a romanticized way to look at things, but (imo) it highlights the tension between digital idealism and still being stuck in a squishy warm body.