June 3, 2024

THIS READS LIKE A FAR SIDE CARTOON COME TO LIFE: A remote tribe was given the internet for the first time – here’s how it’s gone.

It’s a familiar scene around the world – but not deep in the Amazon rainforest.

Asked if the change has been a positive one, villager Tsainama Marubo, 73, said: ‘When it arrived, everyone was happy. But now, things have gotten worse,

‘Young people have gotten lazy because of the internet,’ she explained. ‘They’re learning the ways of the white people.’

Many of the tribespeople did speak of the benefits the internet has brought, including the ability to chat with loved ones living far away, educational opportunities and the possibility of sharing their way of life with others.

It’s also saved lives. Before Starlink, when there was an emergency the Marubo used amateur radio to send a message via several villages, which would eventually reach authorities.

Now if someone has been bitten by a snake, for example, a quick call on a mobile can mean a speedy helicopter rescue.

But many Marubo people acknowledge the internet has brought with it a fair share of problems.

Marubo leader, Enoque Marubo (all Marubo use the same surname), 40, who was instrumental in bringing Starlink to his people, said a big issue in the early days was people not hunting and growing food because they were stuck on their phone.

He said: ‘In the village, if you don’t hunt, fish and plant, you don’t eat.’

This was to some extent solved by ensuring the internet is now only switched on for two hours in the morning, five hours in the evening and all day Sunday.

But other issues have been more difficult to tackle, such as scams, violent video games, graphic pornography, addictive social media scrolling, abusive online strangers and gossiping group chats.

It’s stuff many of us have been dealing with for years, but for most of the world it’s been a relatively gradual change, whereas for the Marubo people and other Amazon tribes who have recently received high-speed internet it’s all come at once.

When do the Marubo begin to learn about the joys of Tupperware?

Related: In 1999, “Bhutan, the fabled Himalayan Shangri-la, became the last nation on earth to introduce television. Suddenly a culture, barely changed in centuries, was bombarded by 46 cable channels. And all too soon came Bhutan’s first crime wave — murder, fraud, drug offenses.”

UPDATE (6/12/24): Fake news?

Posted at 8:44 pm by Ed Driscoll