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Do you have any citation for large numbers of North Sentinelese dying from disease due to contact? It's certainly a valid fear, but I'm not sure it has ever oc
by KMag 8y ago
Do you have any citation for large numbers of North Sentinelese dying from disease due to contact? It's certainly a valid fear, but I'm not sure it has ever occurred. I'm aware that an old couple and four children were kidnapped by the British Navy in the 19th century and the old couple quickly became ill and died. The children were returned to the island.
- narrator 8y agohttps://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/sentinelese https://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/sentinelese
- KMag 8y agoThis citation admits that it's pure conjecture how many North Sentinelese died due to outside diseases. Neighboring tribes on neighboring islands suffered heavy losses, but you specifically claimed that large numbers of natives of North Sentinel Island died. As far as I can tell, it's highly speculative third-order conjecture that (1) large numbers of them died due to diseases acquired through contact (2) they have a belief that quarantine will protect them (likely despite not having a germ theory of disease) and (3) this is their reasoning for killing outsiders. Medieval Europe was significantly more advanced, and they had all kinds of strange ideas about the cause of diseases and plagues that prevented them from mounting effective quarantines. We can't expect them to have the same feelings we do about killing outsiders, and I think it's a stretch to project our understanding and values on them and then to back out a reasonable Western-style justification for their actions. I think it's much better to admit that we know very little about their system of moral reasoning and give them the benefit of the doubt that their killing of outsiders under the specific circumstances they found themselves in is moral within their moral framework.