cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16214293
How Elon Musk’s Starlink Turned Remote Amazon Tribe Into Social Media And Pornography Addicts
Just like the rest of us.
“they’re not doing the traditional things anymore now that they see there’s a whole world of people with different traditions and situations” I get theres people who want to keep traditions alive because they’re traditions but also… What is really the point?
Idk I’m a traditionless heathen
Here is a long but really good read about culture/tradition. https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/06/04/book-review-the-secret-of-our-success/
After skimming the beginning, it seems the argument is that there are probably lots of latent survival tools built into their (any) culture. If they take up the internet as a past time, they will stop doing this other past time that has benefits for the survival of the community in their particular location. For example, if they stop playing some game about colored rocks, the ability to differentiate colors will diminish, eventually causing them to be unable to properly distinguish berries in gathering activities, leading to the end of their society.
Is that the up shot here?
Well, sort of. It’s much deeper than colored rock games. It gives a good explanation of why people idolize sports stars, why it was beneficial to a culture to “read tea leaves” for some things. It basically explores all kinds of traditions/culture that seems dumb to modern people but argues that each one is specific to its area and is humanity’s super power as opposed to just our big brains.
I don’t like the headline. Musk is scum, but the Internet is responsible for this. If Google’s loony “internet on balloons” project had scaled up, it’s just as likely these Amazon tribes would be using that service to turn into porn-and-social-media addicts.
I… is this an ironic The Onion thing, or…? Like, is it trying to shine a light on how the Internet has changed us as a society or is it being legitimately super weird and patronizing?
Elders like Tsainama Marubo, 73, observe a decline in traditional activities and increasing cultural division.
There’s at least one tradition we’ve been able to keep alive for millennia. And that’s only documented history, I’m willing to bet the tradition is actually a lot older than that.
The old removed about the young is a sort of rite of passage, I think, usually accompanied by things like pride in lawns or serious consideration of adding a little bit of metamucil to your coffee each morning. It’s a way of admitting “I am sad that I am no longer young and I’m gonna be a jerk about it because dammit, I earn it.”
What does it mean that this even sounds like a terrible idea to subject anyone new to the Internet?
Just imagine. Day one on the internet.
In 1996 not so bad. In 2024…Jesus what have we done. These poor people.
Imagine going from blissfully unaware directly to american.
People like to jerk it.
In the 19th century, it was whiskey.
Wow, that Elon guy should be thrown into jail for making those tribal folk pornography addicts.
Aw look at them, so pure and not tied to preconceived societal notions
Ah, the noble savages, nobly savaging around (just like us 🥲)
