Hacker News Reader

Comment by redsummer | Hacker News Reader

Any significant contact would wipe the Sentinelese out. Even a common cold infection would be the end of them. The anthropologists know this, but seem willing to risk this for their own ego.

If we wanted to learn anything about the Sentinelese, then perhaps we could use well-camouflaged camera traps, and other electronic eavesdropping devices. The moral considerations are difficult - it's a privacy breach, but the information would also be valuable not only to their descendants (should contact be made), but also to science generally.

View on HN

The author indicates that the Indian government banned visits to the Sentinelese after their visit had taken place.

I don't think the moral considerations are that difficult.

Would you accept NSA surveillance if they said it was so that your descendants could understand you, and "For Science"?

The question doesn't work because I'm leaving a footprint a mile wide already. Anyone who uses Facebook in a serious way has already said "yes" to your question.

It has often occurred to me that my own children could be reading through my comments years from now. Probably not. There's a lot of them. Of course if they can search, well, who knows.

Good point, however, Facebook doesn't really contain private moments/thoughts, which is what a bunch of hidden cameras would capture. Facebook allows you to write your story and omit details you choose. Also, younger people have flocked to more ephemeral forms of communication (or so I've heard, I don't claim to back that up with numbers).

All the same, I think you make a good point.

That frames it as if it were your choice.

If I trusted the NSA to actually do that, I'd have no problem with it.

The problem is, I don't have the choice of being surveilled by the NSA, and I don't trust them. Just as the Senigalese would have no choice in redsummer's proposal, and many reasons not to trust outsiders.

I agree with you, unfortunately I used a bad analogy and didn't make my point :/

Not the best analogy. The anthropologists aren't trying to root out wrongdoers in this tribe by surveilling the whole lot of them.

I know, but the NSA could argue they aren't trying to root out wrongdoers either.

What would they do if their camera recorded a violent act between tribe members, or against a child? They might feel obligated to act, or not act, either of which could have dangerous consequences.

That's why such hypothetical NSA should adopt the Prime Directive[0].

[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Directive

My background is Swedish. I would be happy to view video of Viking ancestors, for instance. I guess it's a question of the distance of time.

You are right, they aren't difficult. The answer is: yes, of course I would.

No?

The inhabitants are extremely unique. There may be no other society like theirs on the face of the planet.

If an unintrusive privacy breach of that small group was likely to allow us to learn something that would improve the lives of 7 billion others, it ought to be made. Just do the math.

I don't think there's likely to be that much we can learn which would actually be useful, but that ought to be the test.

Out of curiosity, what could we learn that would change people's lives?

My understanding is that the only thing we'd learn is more about how early tribal systems might have been, which is of academic interest to Anthropologists, not of general value to every day people.

I am known to misunderstand though, which is why I'm asking if there is something we think we can learn from studying them that would apply to all people.

One of the things the article said was that they survived the tsunami with their observation of the nature.. don't you think that this lost/gained knowledge can be an insight on how we understand nature now?

> with their observation of the nature

Well, I guess I answer my own question here, but we don't know that they survived because of their observation of the nature. We don't know enough about them to say that. They survived, how or why, we don't know. Knowing how or why may be of interest to Anthropologists, but there's nothing indicating that it would be generally useful for all humans.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com