Mountains have always been a source of inspiration for men and women, regardless of time period or location. The Ancient Greek gods lived on top of a mountain, and Moses received the ten commandments on a mountain. Mountains are often the subjects of poetic and musical musings, or romantic scenes. And for some reason, wherever there are mountains, people always seem to want to climb them. Incidentally, there are several ways we have come to measure and classify mountains, three of which I find particularly interesting.

The classic measurement of a mountain is its elevation, or how high above sea level it is at its peak. (This can be different than how tall a mountain is; the tallest mountain on earth is Mauna Loa, coming in at 33,500 feet, but its elevation is “only” 13,677 feet (most of the mountain being underwater).

A second measurement of a mountain is its prominence, which describes how high above its surroundings it rises. Erebor, the Lonely Mountain in Middle Earth, is the only mountain in its area, so its prominence is equal to its elevation (an estimated 11,483 feet). K2, the second-highest mountain in the world, has an elevation of 28,251 feet, but because it is surrounded by mountains its prominence is “only” 13,179 feet, less than half its elevation.

The third measurement of a mountain is its isolation, which is a measure of how far away the closest point of equal elevation is. The mountain Aconcagua in Argentina has an isolation of 10,264 miles; the nearest point of equal elevation (22,841 feet) is found on Tirich Mir, a mountain in Pakistan. Mount Everest has an isolation of about 23 million miles, the closest it ever comes to Maxwell Montes on Venus (elevation ~36,000 feet). This of course varies depending on the day and your astrological sign.

You may be wondering why I’ve taken the time to regale you with such profound, life-altering trivia. The reason is this: men and women, like mountains, are often described using these same terms.

A person’s elevation describes how high in an organization they are, how much they are esteemed by society, or how enlightened they are. People like Albert Einstein, Gandhi, and Marie Curie all have elevated status because of their intellectual or moral prowess. Like with mountains, elevation is a rather absolute measure of people; Einstein probably would have been considered a genius no matter who his peers were or when he lived.

In contrast, when we speak of prominent figures, we refer to how they stand out compared to those around them. For example, the Big Six in poetry refers to William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Blake, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Lord Byron. When considered together, none of them are very prominent; they are equally important in the history of romantic poetry. Their lack of prominence, however, does not equate to a lack of elevation; these poets are all literary geniuses.

This all leads me to this point: rather than seeking prominence, we should set our sights on elevation. Rather than being concerned about how much smarter we are than the person next door, we should strive for excellence no matter our circumstances. We should surround ourselves with people who lift us, challenge us, and inspire us, not who simply make us look good or feel good about ourselves. It isn’t hard to stand out among a group of idiots (unless of course you are an idiot).
And even the most intelligent among us aren’t truly isolated (except maybe right now because Coronavirus); every person you meet is smarter than you in at least one way, and one of the marks of a truly intelligent person is accepting truth and knowledge wherever it may be found.

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