The Lost Drive

I’m not sure there’s much difference between uncontacted and undiscovered. But the recent story buzzing around the internet claims there’s a world of difference in these terms. Upon reading up, you’ll find that discovering is defined as the awareness the tribe exists. Uncontacted is defined as having no contact with outsiders…or the “outside world”. I believe the photo showing an “uncontacted” tribe of Indians somewhere in the midst of the Brazil-Peru border helps us realize similarities vs. a differences.

The picture captures the intense blend of emotions the tribal figures are experiencing from the sight of a “flying craft”. I think the emotions for those that are being contacted and those that are doing the contacting are strikingly similar. I think regardless of what perspective you’re looking at the picture from, we can agree that during such a “contacting” moment, we all share a sense of awe, curiosity, a bit of fear, excitement and wonder.

I’m reminded of my trip to Haiti a few years back. We were in the countryside of Vialet showing villagers how to assemble their own solar ovens in hopes they would change their traditional methods of cooking with wood charcoal. Last I knew, Haiti was faced with a grim reality of 98% deforestation. We were teaching the locals how to use tools that to us were second nature but to them were nothing less than mystical. I can remember the looks on their faces as they first took hold of the power drill. I imagine it would be as if one of us were to step into an alien craft for the first time, overwhelmed, excited, fearful yet very curious.

I wonder, just because that’s what I do, how this “uncontacted” tribe would react to a flash drive in their presence? I wonder how long they would be able to just “observe” this alien object before trying to stuff red berries into the stem or giving the casing a nibble to see if it was edible. It’s really scary to realize that even if we spent years trying to explain something as simple to us a flash drive, they would most likely never fathom the complexity of how it works or why “our world” would need such a device.

That’s the reality of technology as I’ve always put it anyway – it only works if it works for you. With spears drawn and fear at the tip of their instinct, I doubt CFgear would have much luck trying to convince the uncontacted (and who knows, maybe still an “undiscovered”) tribes they needed some branded flash drives (custom tribe colors at that!) to help them become known to the outside world…to enhance the awareness of their “brand” so to speak. A clever thought perhaps but one that exists in fun theory no doubt.

Wouldn’t it be mind blowing to discover a tribe one day that viewed such things as flash drives as “old school” technology? Maybe the way we now think of data disks, floppies, even CD Roms. Can you imagine flying over a hi-tech tribe armed with tools and devices centuries ahead of anything known to the “modern, civilized” world? Now that’s a picture I’d like to see.