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\\tRecently I\\u2019ve become obsessed with the reality show Alone. The premise is that 10 survivalists are dropped in the wilds of Alaska or Patagonia or Mongolia with only the clothes on their back, 10 tools, and camera gear to document their experiences. It\\u2019s wild to watch. They build primitive shelters and hunt with bows and arrows. There is a lot of ingenuity, but there is also a lot of suffering. A lot of shivering through cold nights, a lot of hunger, a lot of loneliness. And what\\u2019s so interesting for me is that every season, there is this refrain that you hear from the contestants. They\\u2019ll say, \\u201cI\\u2019m miserable. I\\u2019m lonely; I\\u2019m hungry; I\\u2019m tired; I\\u2019m cold. I wish I could just go home and eat good food in a warm room with my family. But I\\u2019m not a quitter. I\\u2019m not going to quit.\\u201d

\\tHow do we understand this ethos? I am miserable. I am cold and tired and hungry. What I am doing is actively making me unhappy. And yet, because I committed to this thing, because I said I would, because our culture frowns upon quitting, I\\u2019m going to stick it out. No matter what.