4 ms·
The problem is that there is no way to know what this fella would have liked. His existence seems lonely and generally miserable, maybe he would have preferred
by Beltalowda 4y ago
The problem is that there is no way to know what this fella would have liked. His existence seems lonely and generally miserable, maybe he would have preferred to be contacted? Or maybe not and he was content living on his own? Right now there is no way to know. I don't think that asking people "hey, what would you like?" is "hurting" them; quite the opposite actually.
Furthermore, many – though obviously not all – people are generally quite happy to share aspects of their culture and languages, especially when they know it will die out.
Of course, actually communicating with this man has some practical barriers in terms of language but also trust considering his tribe was murdered, but I don't think it would have hurt to try and ask, as long as you don't force anything.
- Qem 4y agoAfter his tribe was wiped out by farmers and landgrabers, he probably just wanted to be left alone.
- Maursault 4y agoI am saying this as a lone wolf that prefers solitude: the vast majority of people do not do well in isolation, and humans evolved as social creatures. It is far more likely that he desired companionship to solitude. Living that long by oneself tends to cause psychological problems. I think it would have been much better for him had some local anthropologist decided to earn his trust to study his culture, learned enough to communicate with him to discover his needs, hopes, dreams and desires. Sounds like he was a remarkable and quite industrious individual.
- Beltalowda 4y agoMaybe; but the people who were genuinely interested in helping this man and/or learning from him are not the same people as those that murdered his tribe/family, and this probably isn't something beyond this man's understanding, just as we can understand that not all Germans in 1942 were genocidal camp guards. Or maybe he did distrust all "foreigners" and just wanted to be left alone, and that's fine too. All I'm saying we could've asked.