When I have been walking in the mountains here in Norway, on the Hardangervidda, Lifjell, Setesdalheiene or other places, I have usually cut myself a staff to aid me when I am walking in difficult rocky terrain etc. – a third point of contact with the ground is a big advantage in such terrain. It is also extremely useful when crossing rivers with strong currents, as well as in some tarp shelter configurations etc.
A hiking staff has been used ever since the stone age, or at least for many many centuries among reindeer, goat, sheep and cattle herders etc. The Saami people have always used a hiking staff when walking on the vidda and in the mountains – perhaps not so much nowadays, as most herding is done on snowmobiles these days.
I recently read the book "Eld : flammor och glöd - samisk eldkonst" (Fire : flames and embers – the Saami art of fire), a 430 page thick book on the Saami use of fire, written by Yngve Ryd. It mentions the hiking staff as so important, that it was seen as a very bad thing to cut thin slivers of the staff to use as tinder in the first stages of making a fire, and the only exception being in extremely severe and difficult circumstances.
Herders in Africa where I grew up, use a staff when walking in the hills and mountains, even on the plains. It doubles up as a weapon for self-defence as well, and I have had my "butt kicked" so hard many a time trying my luck in a stickfight or two with those guys...
I see the trekking poles as just a modern type of hiking staff, and see nothing wrong with them.
I picked a pair of Black Diamond hiking poles up on sale a couple of years ago when a local store went bankrupt. I have never used them yet, but with my knees being no longer, as they were in my youth, I look forward to using them this summer – just me, my Alpacka packraft, a tarp and a pair of trekking poles. I do not care how laughable that may look – I bet I will find them extremely useful.