Hacker News Reader

Comment by alphabettsy | Hacker News Reader

This completely leaves out the element of choice on their behalf. Based on what is known it's entirely possible they choose not to have any part in "our world".

Previous contact had some of their people kidnapped and some died so I'm sure that and similar events are the reason for hostility towards visitors.

The fact that you even talk about them living an unfulfilling life is entirely ethnocentric, what is a fulfilled life anyways? I'd love to learn more about them, and ideally we could learn from each other.

View on HN

1) They currently do not have an element of choice. And it would actually be very difficult or impossible to proportionate them a full choice since they would have to know what their lives would be like if outside the island, or with a modernized island.

2) Human beings fear the unknown (quite rightly so, often).

3) You can make the relativity argument all day. I personally believe that a person that is confined to an island in pre-agricultural civilization does not live a life as fulfilling as one that can access vast amounts of information on the internet, can read thousands of texts written over a span of 3 millenia on every topic imagined, can hear Antonio Vivaldi [1], almost void of unnecessary or unusual suffering and privation, for over twice the lifetime.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z39KxbbtCC0

As I said, I'm all for offering them greater information to make choices, but your conclusion that their life is worse by all measures is an ethnocentric opinion. Certainly thats the conclusion most people would reach, but that can only be based on what we believe to be best.

Willing to live is not a cultural trait.

Can you explain what you mean by that?

What do you want us to do? These guys keep throwing spears and shooting arrows at anyone that approaches their island. Should we... should we ask the Indian government to send in an armed infantry unit to force the Sentinelese to sit down and watch a video explaining the benefits of 21st century civilization?

Meanwhile, way more people actually living in 21st century civilization in India are currently experiencing extreme poverty and suffering,[1] despite having instant access to Vivaldi.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharavi

Reply on news.ycombinator.com