Should "uncontacted" tribes be left alone?

Wolfe Tone · 04-02-2011 11:19PM #1

An isolated tribe living in the Amazon rainforest on the Brazil-Peru border has been filmed for the first time.

Jose Carlos Meirelles, of Funai, said his government agency needs proof of the existence of "uncontacted" Indian communities in Brazil due to the threat posed by illegal logging and mining. They are known as "uncontacted" because they have only limited dealings with the outside world.

The BBC was allowed to film from 1km away using a stabilised zoom lens. More photographs of the tribe can be found here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12360013

I read this today and watched the accompanying video and it got me thinking, should these tribes be left alone? In all probability they have little in the way of medicine, have a bad standard of living, high infant mortality rate, low life expectancy etc etc.... and god knows what sort of mad shit they get up to.

Should they be exposed to the world and its wondrous technology and medicines or left as they are simply to serve as an interesting thing to look at from miles away?

Personally I think they should be gradually exposed and introduced to the 21st century and what it offers, good and bad. What says you?

mink_man · 04-02-2011 11:21PM

yep

NeedaNewName · 04-02-2011 11:21PM

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12360013

I read this today and watched the accompanying video and it got me thinking, should these tribes be left alone? In all probability they have little in the way of medicine, have a bad standard of living, high infant mortality rate, low life expectancy etc etc.... and god knows what sort of mad shit they get up to.

Should they be exposed to the world and its wondrous technology and medicines or left as they are simply to serve as an interesting thing to look at from miles away?

Personally I think they should be gradually exposed and introduced to the 21st century and what it offers, good and bad. What says you?

I will stick a poll up presently.

Depends really. What are their view on homosexuality? We might have to kill them all! :pac:

MagicMarker · 04-02-2011 11:21PM

It's an interesting question, part of me thinks yes, and part of me thinks no. Therefore my answer is maybe, maybe not.

Aodan83 · 04-02-2011 11:23PM

Nah, leave em alone. Then every so often we can do something that would really **** with em. Like have a helicopter hover over the village or whatever you call it in the middle of the night and shine a spot light on them or something.

Grasshoppa · 04-02-2011 11:24PM

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

In all probability they have little in the way of medicine, have a bad standard of living, high infant mortality rate, low life expectancy etc etc.... and god knows what sort of mad shit they get up to.

Are you assuming all this?

IvySlayer · 04-02-2011 11:25PM

We have no right to interfere in their natual development.

Bog · 04-02-2011 11:25PM

There are probably a McDonald's and Starbucks being built already..

barbarians · 04-02-2011 11:27PM

MagicMarker wrote: »

It's an interesting question, part of me thinks yes, and part of me thinks no. Therefore my answer is maybe, maybe not.

Way to take a stand there lad. :rolleyes:

They should be left alone, what harm are they doing ?

Wolfe Tone · 04-02-2011 11:28PM

Grasshoppa wrote: »

Are you assuming all this?

I looked at the video and it shows them living in huts and such, hardly evidence of them having top class hospitals and the capability to inoculate themselves against diseases. They are totally isolated, I don't think it is too much of a leap to say they don't have the benefits of modern medicine and technology to improve and enhance their lives.

Grasshoppa · 04-02-2011 11:31PM

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

I looked at the video and it shows them living in huts and such, hardly evidence of them having top class hospitals and the capability to inoculate themselves against diseases. They are totally isolated, I don't think it is too much of a leap to say they don't have the benefits of modern medicine and technology to improve and enhance their lives.

Like i-pods and stuff?

They're perfectly happy as they are, for all you know.

Pauleta · 04-02-2011 11:31PM

They should take them out of the jungle and dump them in the middle of a huge city. It would make fantastic TV

easyeason3 · 04-02-2011 11:33PM

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12360013

I read this today and watched the accompanying video and it got me thinking, should these tribes be left alone? In all probability they have little in the way of medicine, have a bad standard of living, high infant mortality rate, low life expectancy etc etc.... and god knows what sort of mad shit they get up to.

Should they be exposed to the world and its wondrous technology and medicines or left as they are simply to serve as an interesting thing to look at from miles away?

Personally I think they should be gradually exposed and introduced to the 21st century and what it offers, good and bad. What says you?

How about everyone leaves them alone. They probably have a better standard of health than any of us without 'medicine'.
The standard of living they have is probably grand for them because they are not used to anything else so have nothing to compare it to.

Bring them into our 21st century world & the result could be wiping them out completely instead of enhancing their lives.

EDIT: I voted no when I should have voted yes

IvySlayer · 04-02-2011 11:33PM

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

I looked at the video and it shows them living in huts and such, hardly evidence of them having top class hospitals and the capability to inoculate themselves against diseases. They are totally isolated, I don't think it is too much of a leap to say they don't have the benefits of modern medicine and technology to improve and enhance their lives.

'improve and enhance'

We're not Gods. They must be allowed to survive and evolve in their own way.

Diseases? They have immune systems which have allowed them to survive for generations.

galwayrush · 04-02-2011 11:33PM

If they have oil and precious metals, we could invade them and make their area a colony on Ireland.

RolandIRL · 04-02-2011 11:35PM

Leave them alone. If they've survived this long by themselves, they don't need the rest of the world coming in and barging into their lives, probably worsening it as they wouldn't be able to integrate properly into society

Thomas828 · 04-02-2011 11:36PM

They must be aware of what's going on in the immediate vicinity and they don't like what they see. And maybe they choose to remain isolated. Just leave them alone.

Latchy · 04-02-2011 11:36PM

I've being asking them for years to leave my tribe alone but will they ta fook

I curse the day Baloo subscribed to Jungle.com ......B'stad

LighterGuy · 04-02-2011 11:37PM

Should they be left alone?

Yes.

If a tribe is isolated from the rest of the modern world its because they have chosen to.

Wolfe Tone · 04-02-2011 11:37PM

IvySlayer wrote: »

'improve and enhance'

We're not Gods. They must be allowed to survive and evolve in their own way.

Diseases? They have immune systems which have allowed them to survive for generations.

But they haven't "evolved" for some reason. Does modern tech not improve and enhance your life? Should we not share what we have with them?

Do you not think they could benefit from modern medicine?

Cianos · 04-02-2011 11:38PM

They've obviously managed well up until now, I don't see why they should be interfered witht. I may be wrong but aren't diseases generally brought in by outsiders? It's common to see very old looking tribesmen still hunting etc while 'ol ones here can barely get on to the bus. I don't think we'd improve much for them and in trying to do so we'd destroy their entire world view.

Latchy · 04-02-2011 11:39PM

galwayrush wrote: »

If they have oil and precious metals, we could invade them and make their area a colony on Ireland.

And exploit them ? Who do you think we are , the British ?

Mike 1972 · 04-02-2011 11:40PM

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

I read this today and watched the accompanying video and it got me thinking, should these tribes be left alone? In all probability they have little in the way of medicine, have a bad standard of living, high infant mortality rate, low life expectancy etc etc.... and god knows what sort of mad shit they get up to.

It really depends

My inclination would be yes but If (as is nearly always the case) the country in question is horribly underdeveloped then their standard of living, infant mortality rate and life expectancy is probably going to be pretty terrible either way.

IvySlayer · 04-02-2011 11:42PM

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

But they haven't "evolved" for some reason. Does modern tech not improve and enhance your life? Should we not share what we have with them?

Do you not think they could benefit from modern medicine?

This tribe has survived on its own without technology or medicine. You may enhance their lives, but you'll be destroying their way of life, their culture.

This is a tribe with spears and arrows, do you think approaching them with a needle is beneficial? What right does someone have to interupt nature? Should we vaccinate every single animal on the planet? Or do we let nature take its course?

Mike 1972 · 04-02-2011 11:44PM

IvySlayer wrote: »

What right does someone have to interupt nature?

Asks a guy with a computer ?

Badgermonkey · 04-02-2011 11:44PM

Bruce Parry's on his way, it's inevitable.

Let's hope they're spared Charlie Bird though, his Amazon trek was laughable.

pawrick · 04-02-2011 11:45PM

a word from Star Trek

The Prime Directive

"As the right of each sentient species to live in accordance with its normal cultural evolution is considered sacred, no Starfleet personnel may interfere with the normal and healthy development of alien life and culture. Such interference includes introducing superior knowledge, strength, or technology to a world whose society is incapable of handling such advantages wisely. Starfleet personnel may not violate this Prime Directive, even to save their lives and/or their ship, unless they are acting to right an earlier violation or an accidental contamination of said culture. This directive takes precedence over any and all other considerations, and carries with it the highest moral obligation"

On a more serious note - going there to introduce our superior medicine/tech would probably cause more harm than good, we'll be exposing them to a wider variety of diseases to which they have no immunity and they may become reliant on our medicine and loose their local knowledge of what plants are beneficial. What then will happen when the media attention dies down? Certainly there are places already in South America which have access to hospitals and the like but the ordinary people there can't afford the services provided and so have the worst of both worlds.

KeithAFC · 04-02-2011 11:49PM

They probably have a better standard way of living than us. Those people have more wisdom than us in the western world will ever have. They are happy to live the way they live. Leave them alone.

foxinsox · 04-02-2011 11:49PM

if they are uncontacted

we don't know they are there

they don't know we are here

so therefore are we here

where are we

who are we

where was i

* back to kitchen *

Tonyandthewhale · 04-02-2011 11:49PM

Leave them be. It's almost impossible to directly contact tribes such as these without infecting them with things like the common cold and the flu which they have no natural defences for. Also, these uncontacted tribes generally have contact with other (contacted) tribes and may even have had limited contact with loggers and farmers and such in the past. These people know what's out there, or at least have an idea yet they've chosen not to engage with it, we should respect that choice.

Realistically speaking, what are we going to offer them? What does 'contact' entail? You can talk all you want about modern technology and medicine but no one's going to donate a plasma tv to everyone in the village or build a hospital in the middle of the jungle for them. Judging from past experiences with previously uncontacted tribes contact means epidemic, relocation, poverty and marginalisation. Are the native Americans in the USA or Canada better off than they were? And that's in what are supposed to be two ofhe richest and most developed countries in the world.

IvySlayer · 04-02-2011 11:51PM

Mike 1972 wrote: »

Asks a guy with a computer ?

And that matters how? It's part of my culture.

Captain Picard:

"The Prime Directive is not just a set of rules; it is a philosophy... and a very correct one. History has proven again and again that whenever mankind interferes with a less developed civilization, no matter how well intentioned that interference may be, the results are invariably disastrous."

"...all of this is just philosophy. Sarjenka is not a subject for philosophical debate, she is a person."
"He's got a point. The Prime Directive was designed to protect, not destroy."
"So Doctor, you draw the line at the death of millions."
"Yes!"
"Same situation if it's an epidemic rather than a geological catastrophe?"
"Absolutely!"
"How about a war? A generations-long conflict that is killing millions. Do we interfere? Now we're less secure in our moral certitude. And what if it's not death? What if it's an oppressive government which is enslaving millions? You see, the Prime Directive has many different functions, not the least of which is to protect us. It keeps us from allowing our emotions to overrule our judgment."

Should "uncontacted" tribes be left alone?

Should "uncontacted" tribes be left alone? 369 votes

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