AA Gill wrote a long piece today about the RGS and its recent debate on whether to resume sending out its own expeditions. That debate may or may not interest you.

But what caught my eye were these few paragraphs which resonated with me and are of interest whether or not you care about the RGS’ civil war.

Adventurers argue that discovery is always spine-tingling and hair-raising, and tumescently inspirational, that everybody who goes out into the world discovers it for the first time and plants a metaphorical flag.

Of course, the vote doesn’t mean the end of expeditions and adventures – the likes of Sir Ranulph Fiennes will be funded by charities, television programmes and Richard Branson, but not the RGS.

What does matter is that we all need to feel excited about the world we live in. We all need to feel it’s our world, and if you want people to do something about preserving it and improving it, then you need to show them it. And you need to show them that it is an endlessly astonishing place and a great saga.