Protecting Primitive Civilizations
31 May 2008 (updated 13 January 2009)
Many of us perceive a certain morality in allowing primitive humans to live without interaction with the broader human civilization. Some of us even go so far as to work to protect such persons from incursions, including basic communication. The concern, of course, is that interaction with us may hurt them, even if we do not intend harm. There are an estimated 100 uncontacted tribes living around the world. Brazil’s National Indian Foundation recently sighted and photographed one of them. Our relation with these persons is among the reasons I often wonder whether there are not advanced civilizations around us, in relation to whom we are generally ignorant and impotent, and on whose benevolence we depend without awareness.
