"On the Houston expedition on K2 in 1953, when a man was dying, all thoughts of the summit vanished. The only thing on the team members minds was how they were going to save his life. This is a typical mindset on K2, and almost unheard of anymore on Everest."
IMHO, this is more a commentary on the selfishness of people today rather than the differences in the mounains.
Um... perhaps... From what I've read on K2 and Everest, the people that climb K2 still climb with the same human morals as they always have. I just can't say the same for the majority of the people climbing Everest. Everest has become so commercial, and so over-climbed, that many of the people that are going up there are thinking only of themselves. It is not a team effort. It's all "me, me, me."