Isolated from the World

In today's world, it feels like everyone is connected. Television, books, magazines and newspapers tell us about things that are happening on the other side of the world. Radio speaks to us, letting us know about other parts of our town, country, region or planet. The Internet has made it natural for us to go out there and get in touch with anyone we wish to, freely, or get information on other countries, other people, other habits and customs.

Even if we did not have direct access to these resources, as some poorer families in less developed countries might, some of them are still available. Not necessarily the more developed technological ones, but lets say radio, or even books and magazines. Everyone around the world knows about them, and has a familiarity with the existence of different people around the globe, each with different habits, customs, foods, and so on. Stories and news tell us, and so we know.

Planet Earth has become a small place. No matter where you are on the world, you can somehow get information, or get in touch with the rest of the planet. Right?

Wrong. Imagine a civilization of people completely separated, completely isolated from the rest of the world? People who have never ever heard of newspapers and books, and can't even comprehend the concept of television and the internet? People who have no idea what electricity is. People who lived their lives in isolated communities, so out of touch with the rest of the world that their lifestyles actually resemble those of people who lived thousands of years ago?

Hard to believe? Take a look; these photos were taken by plane of a tribe hidden deep in the Amazon jungle:




The sight spotted was of strong & healthy 'warriors', as well as women and children, living in man-made huts. The plane passed by a second time after spotting them, but by then most of the women and children had ran away, while those who remained had painted their bodies, and started firing their weapons (bows & arrows) at the plane:




Hard to believe that in a world so interconnected, there lies a completely different world hidden in between it. The thickness and deepness of the Amazon jungle has obviously restricted them from being able to freely discover outside their isolated area, and so no modern-human contact has ever been made, probably for hundereds and thousands of years. These tribes obviously have no idea of the existence of all that you and I take for granted each day. Electricity, modern medicine, technology, McDonalds, and so on and so on. Seems that the concept of a plane is also foreign to them; probably accepting it as some sort of flying genie or monster.

Even with a discovery like this, you obviously cannot take them out of their current habitat, as it would not be possible for them to cope with a change to the modern world (read; brain meltdown). It feels very 'Lord of the Flies'esque, and would actually be easier to comprehend if it was a sick and twisted experiment by some mad scientist who placed them there from birth to see how they would cope.

But wow. It's still got me thinking, wondering. How do these people think? What sort of mindsets do they have? Are their actions still based on prime instinct? What sort of philosophies and ideas have they developed? Languages?

It's totally fascinating just thinking about it, so I wonder what it would be like to actually get in touch with these people for real. I'm sure whatever it is that they present, it could feel like something out of a complete other world...


BBC World Article Link