Retreating from the world

[dslartoo]

The estimable Warren Ellis has provided an interesting link about one of the world's last Stone Age tribes still in existence. The Sentinelese tribe, who apparently number 50 to 200, are believed to be the last pre-Neolithic tribe in the world to remain isolated.

This particular article notes that the tribe has "rebuffed all contact with the modern world, firing a shower of arrows at anyone who comes within range." I would guess that's a fairly effective method of indicating that you're not interested in striking up a friendship, yeah. I find it fascinating that this tribe is still around; first off, I had no inkling of their existence, and secondly it's interesting that the Stone Age way of life still works fairly well even in today's world -- if given the right circumstances and environment, at least.

This got me musing on technology and the tribe's chosen way of life, though. Environmentalists apparently have lobbied for this tribe to be left alone -- there is a five-kilometer exclusion zone around the island -- and there's every indication that they manage fairly well when left to their own devices. We should all be so lucky, eh?

I also admit to a certain amount of interest in their way of life. It's tempting, every once in a while when the pressures of "modern" life get to be too pressing, to just throw off all the trappings and technologies of today's world and just run around in circles naked, gibbering. (I hear the Audience saying, yep: I knew it all along, he was always unstable). Seriously, though, sometimes it does seem rather tempting to simplify things. Didn't a famous philosopher say that once? "Simplify, simplify, simplify"? Well, sometimes I get struck by the urge to do just that -- to simplify to an extreme, to eschew all technology, sell all my stuff and move to a deserted island in the Caribbean and take up the role of the Twelve Volt Man. (Let's ignore for a second the fact that I would probably go stark raving mad in a few weeks without the comforts of the modern world, or the fact that I am eminently UNqualified for a nomadic existence).

A few years ago, when I first met zengoddess and she got me started with this whole Livejournal thing, she was planning almost exactly that. She was hoping, within a few years, to implement a life change of her own. She was going to sell everything she owned here, give up her high-paying job, and move to a small island in the Bahamas (St. Kitt? I can't remember which one exactly), and live and work as a waitress. Minimal life, minimal stresses, minimal world. But it sounded idyllic and even if it wasn't the kind of life I would be well suited for, I liked the idea and a small part of me envied a life like that.

No, I'm not suited for an overly-simplified life, but these Sentinelese (remember them? The Stone Age tribe I mentioned a while back before I started pontificating?) are obviously doing quite well with theirs. And so, as Bilbo Baggins observed, it is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life.

-- END OF LINE --

[[The Oracle would like to if you have any dreams of a different life.]]

Comments

[tinkerboo.livejournal.com]

It was St John, USVI. She would vacation there every year and just loved it. I went once and it was ok, but I think living there and depending so much on 1)tourists and 2) no hurricanes would be more stressful than life on the mainland. It seems a great place to have a second house when you are rich and such things don't matter though.

My anthropology professor last semester would have stern things to say about them using the phrase "Stone Age tribe." They aren't stone age, they live in this age. People all over the world use different levels of technology. Tribe is also a dirty word most of the time in his field. His specialty is hunters and gatherers and from what I could discern, those groups have the least stress of anyone. They certainly seem to have the most sex which indicates a lot of free time :)

I have lots of dreams about different lives, but most of them are glorified fairy tales.

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

St. John, that was it. I haven't talked to her in quite some time so I had forgotten. Thanks for the reminder. :)

cheers,
Phil

[weaktwos.livejournal.com]

I have always liked the notion of living in a little cottage of the coast in a cool, green climate. Perhaps some place like Ireland or Scotland.

Then there's this notion of being able to enforce the rest of the world to embrace the "Divine Right of Anne", and they give me lots of money while I live in a huge castle and live in luxurious comfort with plenty of time to read and write, etc.

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

Hey, I think ALL of us could go for living in a castle. Did you ever read about Lord British's castle?

cheers,
Phil

[scarcrest.livejournal.com]

Yeah -- living in Iceland or Newfoundland or some remote corner of the British Isles, working for a tiny newspaper, would have tremendous appeal to me. (Probably because of The Shipping News to some extent.)

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

That sounds vaguely familiar but I haven't read it. Annie Proulx?

I don't think I'd be well suited for being a Neufie, but then, it wasn't me we were talking about, was it.

cheers,
Phil

You just KNEW this was comin'

[grunion.livejournal.com]

"Have you ever dreamed of escaping from your dull existence to a new life on a tropical island? Our story is about a man who did it - a real person, whose true adventure has become a legend here in the Caribbean."

The real trick is to remember that 'simple' is not the same thing as 'easy'. Sometimes, that's remarkably unfortunate, but such is life I suppose - pass the beer nuts.

Something tells me it's about time to look into a Panther Creek trip (though admittedly, it's not my very first choice for locations).

Re: You just KNEW this was comin'

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

"Dis is de legend of Norman Paperman, tales from the tropics we'll tell..."

I must now go and listen to that. Bastard. :)

cheers,
Phil

[treehugginhippy.livejournal.com]

God, do I ever dream of a different life! But, I know I probably wouldn't be able to hack it. I can get it, in small doses -- my husband and I have agreed that when we have a place of our own, we're setting aside a single room as an old-fashioned LIBRARY. Books -- maybe some kind of small music system -- a place to just relax. No TV, DVDs, video games, nothing.

There's too much about modern life that I love, though. The Internet. My eBook reader. The PS2, and huge collection of movies.

Actually, I think that's it. The rest of it has become NEED (at least as a teacher) -- the ability to find info, fast. Printer, etc.

Voluntary Simplicity means so many different things to so many different people....

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

It's been interesting finding out what "simple" means to different people. I talked to a few folks offline about this and there were some curious definitions.

cheers,
Phil

[ytsemaddy.livejournal.com]

When I get bogged down in techno-stupidity, I often threaten to turn Amish for a few weeks. I can cook, I can sew, I can knit, I don't wear makeup, and my hair can be twisted into a bun and stuffed into a starched cap. Where do I sign up? :)

Then again, I've always said that if I win a big enough lottery jackpot, I'd move somewhere with a lot of land and raise alpacas. Although having been in Napa last fall, the idea of owning a vineyard has its appeal as well.

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

Are there many Amish up there? :)

cheers,
Phil