4 ms·

as one of the comments from the article points out to google map: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=North+Sentinel+Island&ll=11.593418,92.21249&spn=0.016049,0.0071

as one of the comments from the article points out to google map: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=North+Sentinel+Island&ll=11.593418,92.21249&spn=0.016049,0.007178&hnear=North+Sentinel+Island&gl=us&t=h&z=17 https://maps.google.com/maps?q=North+Sentinel+Island&ll=11.5... looking at this island (looks huge!), am I the only one who feel so sick and tired of what the US government does to its people and our land, that I want to fill up my jetski and just head that way? Only if the tank was large enough... Edit: zoom out on the island.. and think about this: somewhere under the green down there there are living people like me and you that do not know what internet is... or cell phones.. or ipads.. cable TV... anything..

unimpressive 13y ago
>Edit: zoom out on the island.. and think about this: somewhere under the green down there there are living people like me and you that do not know what internet is... or cell phones.. or ipads.. cable TV... anything.. Or books, for that matter. Such things probably aren't as important if everybody you will ever have the chance to meet in your life numbers 400 people.
- nitrogen 13y ago
  Isn't it just as unethical to withhold modern learning from these tribes as it would be to infect them with our modern diseases?
  - danparsonson 13y ago
    If they wanted it, certainly, but they attack any non-islanders who come near so it seems reasonable to assume they're not interested. Besides, what do they need to know that they don't already after living on the same island for 65,000 years? I'm assuming you're thinking about modern medicine but I expect they have their own ways of dealing with illness, and increasing their life expectancy might actually make things worse - the island can presumably only support a limited number of people at any one time.
    - nitrogen 13y ago
      I'm thinking more of math and science. I suppose if the island's leaders are aware of the outside world and all it can and can't do, then I'd be less concerned about the "oppressed" minds of the island's inhabitants. I feel similarly about ultra-sheltered children in cultish societies.
      - danparsonson 13y ago
        I would say those are two different examples though - children in cultish societies are removed from society at large while the cult remains embedded in and aware of it; the islanders on the other hand have deliberately chosen isolation rather than having isolation forced upon them by any external agent. I would say it's really up to them to head into the outside world rather than for us to do anything, if they want to see what's out here. And clearly they don't. The only hint of 'oppression' I see here is the idea of pushing our way of thinking onto a group of people who aren't interested and, to my mind, would derive questionable benefit from it. They must surely have sufficient 'science' to have survived there for this long and unless they intend to venture away from their island, what useful things could we teach them? I can't picture them building a particle accelerator or sitting around all day puzzling over integrals.
        eshvk 13y ago
        > the islanders on the other hand have deliberately chosen isolation rather than having isolation forced upon them by any external agent. There is an implicit assumption that they are a democratic society where a decision was taken with the consent of everyone. You have no way of knowing that. For all you know, they could very well be a cult with some old fogey launching attack troops at the evil invaders whilst the young struggle mightily against the oppressive regime. > I can't picture them building a particle accelerator or sitting around all day puzzling over integrals. That is rather patronizing. You have no way of knowing if they are interested in that. No one knows if they like blueberry pie unless they actually try blueberry pie.
        13y ago
marshray 13y ago
I'm sure you're not the only one who feels that way, but this is one article that really has approximately nothing to do with the US government.
eshvk 13y ago
> looking at this island (looks huge!), am I the only one who feel so sick and tired of what the US government does to its people and our land, that I want to fill up my jetski and just head that way? Only if the tank was large enough... Yeah, you should actually try going and living in some of these luddite paradises that you think exist. I grew up in Ethiopia. Very luddite. No U.S. government there either. Except people used to get shot on the streets and their family used to get charged for the bullets used to shoot them. > somewhere under the green down there there are living people like me and you that do not know what internet is... or cell phones.. or ipads.. cable TV... anything.. I was in Bhutan a few months back. Just me, a few rich people trying to find themselves, no cell phones or ipads or whatever. It was paradise. Except you know, half a million people who had lived for six generations there had been shipped off the country unceremoniously. [1] [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/29/opinion/bhutan-is-no-shangri-la.html http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/29/opinion/bhutan-is-no-shang...

unimpressive 13y ago

>Edit: zoom out on the island.. and think about this: somewhere under the green down there there are living people like me and you that do not know what internet is... or cell phones.. or ipads.. cable TV... anything.. Or books, for that matter. Such things probably aren't as important if everybody you will ever have the chance to meet in your life numbers 400 people.

nitrogen 13y ago
Isn't it just as unethical to withhold modern learning from these tribes as it would be to infect them with our modern diseases?
- danparsonson 13y ago
  If they wanted it, certainly, but they attack any non-islanders who come near so it seems reasonable to assume they're not interested. Besides, what do they need to know that they don't already after living on the same island for 65,000 years? I'm assuming you're thinking about modern medicine but I expect they have their own ways of dealing with illness, and increasing their life expectancy might actually make things worse - the island can presumably only support a limited number of people at any one time.
  - nitrogen 13y ago
    I'm thinking more of math and science. I suppose if the island's leaders are aware of the outside world and all it can and can't do, then I'd be less concerned about the "oppressed" minds of the island's inhabitants. I feel similarly about ultra-sheltered children in cultish societies.
    - danparsonson 13y ago
      I would say those are two different examples though - children in cultish societies are removed from society at large while the cult remains embedded in and aware of it; the islanders on the other hand have deliberately chosen isolation rather than having isolation forced upon them by any external agent. I would say it's really up to them to head into the outside world rather than for us to do anything, if they want to see what's out here. And clearly they don't. The only hint of 'oppression' I see here is the idea of pushing our way of thinking onto a group of people who aren't interested and, to my mind, would derive questionable benefit from it. They must surely have sufficient 'science' to have survived there for this long and unless they intend to venture away from their island, what useful things could we teach them? I can't picture them building a particle accelerator or sitting around all day puzzling over integrals.
      - eshvk 13y ago
        > the islanders on the other hand have deliberately chosen isolation rather than having isolation forced upon them by any external agent. There is an implicit assumption that they are a democratic society where a decision was taken with the consent of everyone. You have no way of knowing that. For all you know, they could very well be a cult with some old fogey launching attack troops at the evil invaders whilst the young struggle mightily against the oppressive regime. > I can't picture them building a particle accelerator or sitting around all day puzzling over integrals. That is rather patronizing. You have no way of knowing if they are interested in that. No one knows if they like blueberry pie unless they actually try blueberry pie.
        13y ago

marshray 13y ago

I'm sure you're not the only one who feels that way, but this is one article that really has approximately nothing to do with the US government.

eshvk 13y ago

> looking at this island (looks huge!), am I the only one who feel so sick and tired of what the US government does to its people and our land, that I want to fill up my jetski and just head that way? Only if the tank was large enough... Yeah, you should actually try going and living in some of these luddite paradises that you think exist. I grew up in Ethiopia. Very luddite. No U.S. government there either. Except people used to get shot on the streets and their family used to get charged for the bullets used to shoot them. > somewhere under the green down there there are living people like me and you that do not know what internet is... or cell phones.. or ipads.. cable TV... anything.. I was in Bhutan a few months back. Just me, a few rich people trying to find themselves, no cell phones or ipads or whatever. It was paradise. Except you know, half a million people who had lived for six generations there had been shipped off the country unceremoniously. [1] [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/29/opinion/bhutan-is-no-shangri-la.html http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/29/opinion/bhutan-is-no-shang...