I mean you do firefighting because you like something about it, maybe the feeling of doing something good. So it should be understandable doing something dangerous for some good internal feeling. Your driving feel good feeling is just different from theirs. The fact you dismissed it to just be "to say they did it" doesn't mean that's how they feel about it. There's ways to be dismissive about being a firefighter too, but they aren't fair.

I do do some things just to say I did them. Or to compete with myself so I can push farther. But for the most part those things have much lower risk of death than climbing Everest. And it's easy for my family to retrieve my body in the unlikely event that I die.

If I ever climbed Everest it would only be to recover some of the bodies or preferably bring down somebody still alive who needs medical attention. I would not consider it "fun" but that's just me.

"The fact you dismissed it to just be "to say they did it" doesn't mean that's how they feel about it"

But they don't do it for other people. They do it, to say they did it. To overcome the challenge, to do what they are good at.

The most other people get out of climbing stories is being entertained (or inspired).

The most people get out of firefighters work is having their lives saved.

This subthread isn't about what is most valuable to the world. It is about what makes someone take risks. One guy's superficial need for adrenaline might still represent a much bigger internal feeling of "I have to do it" than another guys internal feeling of "I like to help others so I do this". Because the firefighter only understands taking risks to do something moral doesn't mean others operate the same way.

I believe firefighters partly also do it for the adrenaline rush.

I also believe there are different views of what this subthread was about.

Best to not look into the firefighter/arsonist overlap either.

I kid, you guys are awesome.

(Also, no firefighter I’ve ever known wonders why the overlap exists, hahah)