Should We Save 'Endangered' Cultures?

…there remains hundreds of tribes cut off from global civilization, who, in many ways, live as our ancestors did thousands of years ago.… For decades, state and international policy has largely protected these tribes, granting them the right to live their lives in isolation.… In a recent issue of the journal PLoS ONE, Professor Robert Walker, Dr. Dylan Kesler, and Professor Kim Hill argue that no-contact policies should not ignore the well being of the very societies they are designed to protect.… "If populations are small and declining… then current policy approaches should be deemed ineffective…" The trio also insists that the desire to leave cultures isolated is misguided. "In our experiences from interviews with people after contact, there is a unanimous consensus that people stay isolated mostly because of fear of extermination and slavery. People want to trade, particularly for access to steel machetes and axes, and they crave exposure to new ideas and new opportunities. Humans are a gregarious species that intrinsically desire and benefit from outside interactions with other groups."