AIBU not missing missing explorer?

[Illtellyouwhatswhat10]

On today's news: British explorer Benedict Allen is missing in Papua New Guinea whilst searching for lost tribe.

AIBU that whilst I have sympathy for his family, nearest & dearest, another part of me has no sympathy at all.

The reason being, there seems to be a sense of entitlement that anyone should actively seek out a hitherto undiscovered tribe and for what? For their own glory? And how would this benefit this tribe who have probably been carrying on quite happily for years, with no need for the 'outside' world. After all, history has shown time and time again that for tribes which have been discovered and outed, the results for them have been catastrophic (slavery, land grabs etc just to mention two examples).

So I think if you are determined to explore and find lost tribes who may not wish to be found, you deserve what you get.

ChampagneCommunist

• would you say that to his wife’s face? No, didn’t think so. You just hide behind your keyboard there.

@TheFallenMadonna not totally sure what you’re driving at with your comment. I do feel sympathy for his wife and family, of course I do. However whenever you meet someone and fall in love and commit to them in whatever way, do you not sign up to their job/hobby/lifestyle as part of the deal?

Are explorers gone the same way as experts in the current endarkenment?

How fucking depressing for us all.

Actually I'm with the OP a bit. When you have a family it's pretty selfish not to rein in your riskier hobbies a bit.

No you marry the person for who they are don’t you? I wish him and his family all the best and I hope he is ok

hot

Endarkenment. What an amazing but sad term. Totally agree with you

ProdigalRhubarb I too met him after a lecture/book signing. He was lovely to the staff and public, very patient, polite, and courteous. We could have listened to him all evening.

I hope he is safe, and found soon, and his family are ok.

I very much hope he’s found safe. I also think people like this are daft. But I also think people who climb Everest or do extreme sports are daft too.

What a deeply unpleasant thread. This is someone’s loved one. Do you not have a shred of compassion? Do you know this person personally? Do you have any idea of what he is doing other than partially reading/hearing the news?

There have always been explorers since man began. Without explorers we would not know about the world we live in.

I hope that he is having a whale of a time and has been delayed by positive things. Should something untoward have happened to him do you think his family will be any less upset because he was an explorer?

Yes Laiste you may have a point. Let's substitute the word 'lost' for discovered, and we have this extract from the news:

"Allen, a father of three, had been attempting to track down the Yaifo tribe, which are among the few remaining tribes left on Earth not to have contact with the outside world."

So 30 years ago, when this tribe could have chosen to make contact with the outside world after their first encounter with BA, chose not to? My point is - why can't he just leave them alone? What gives him the right to track hunt them down? This is precisely the reason I don't support exploring - when it's all about the explorer.

What a pleasant thread.

Heaven forbid any tragedy ever befalls you or your loved ones which you could, in any way, have prevented.

I’m with you OP. Talk about turning up unannounced and uninvited.

I think he’s deliberately missing and isn’t coming back any time soon. I suspect he’s gone there to try to live amongst them. Either that or he’s met with an accident. I feel sorry for his family. From what I’ve read, he seems to have been pretty reliable before, so this is unusual for him and must be worrying.

I think he’s deliberately missing and isn’t coming back any time soon. I suspect he’s gone there to try to live amongst them.

Well that would be ironic wouldn't it? The hunter decides to live with the hunted and does not want to be tracked down. Just like the Yaifo tribe.

Your (and in fact others') comments reminded me of Trump's remark to the widow of LaDavid Johnson. Obviously, you are not making the remarks directly to Benedict Allen's wife, but still... Hope that's clear now.

Yes, I see the point you’re trying to make, I don’t agree with it but there you go.

You don't agree that your remark has any similarity to Trump's?

I’ve read a lot of Benedict Allen’s books over the years and they are fascinating. He doesn’t just ‘track down’ remote tribes, he lives with them and takes part in their rituals etc.

I hope he’s found safe and returns home soon.

Lethaldrizzle Wed 15-Nov-17 12:45:52

"Op - so that rules out climbing any mountains then. And you can forget about both poles!"

Considering the negative environmental I think climbers of Mt Everest and visitors to the poles should forget about it unless there is a definite scientific or environmental goal to their trip. Littering mountainsides with bodies or arctic regions with discarded rubbish isn't something we should be doing. I these people want to risk their lives and push themselves, why not become Lifeboat volunteers or something? Far less harmful to the world and almost certainly more beneficial to the community in question.

The people saying how unpleasant the OP is don't quite get the point. She is not being negative about this explorer because he is risking his life but because he is putting all this energy into finding a tribe who have made it quite clear that they do not wish to be found. Under any other circumstances this would be called harassment.

As for the fact that they allowed him to stay and take part in their rituals, surely that says more about their good manners than about what kind of a person he is?

There is a sense here that other nations ought to be grateful if a white man is kind enough to stay with them and join into their activities, that somehow it shows how wonderful he is. (Did they have to feed him during this time? Lodge him? Spend time explaining everything to him?)

Would we feel the same about a random person from a different culture who came and spent time with us uninvited and expected us to look after them and let them join in with our personal activities? Or is it, somehow, Special, to be visited by a white explorer?

I do hope he is found safe, for his own sake and his family. But I do also wish he would give up on this idea that you can track-hunt people without their permission just because they are a different colour. Given that an awful lot of MNers don't even think it's fair to put a GPS app onto your own husband, how can this possibly be right? It's like we still don't believe these are people in the same way that our own neighbours and families are people.

corythatwas

Oh my goodness, thank you for such a thoughtful and clear post. My sentiments exactly

There you go - he’s been found near an airstrip and has requested rescue.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42009854

I do hope he is found safe, for his own sake and his family. But I do also wish he would give up on this idea that you can track-hunt people without their permission just because they are a different colour. Given that an awful lot of MNers don't even think it's fair to put a GPS app onto your own husband, how can this possibly be right? It's like we still don't believe these are people in the same way that our own neighbours and families are people.

To quote from a previous post: now we can put BA's well-being to one side in the light of today's news and a pending rescue, who still thinks it is our god-given right to impose our society on an indigenous people?

One random explorer re-establishing a personal connection he forged 30 years ago does not constitute the imposition of 'our society' upon an indigenous people. And have you ever considered the fact that indigenous peoples exploring and imposing their society upon others that they found pre-dated anything similar by European explorers. How the fuck do you think Islam spread to West Africa and South East Asia during the 13th Century?

Ruthlessrooster, I don't try to excuse the colonisation of the American West by the fact that Islam was spread in identical ways in the Middle Ages either. Why would you?

Christianity was spread by the forced conversion of conquered peoples: does that mean we have to think it would be a good idea to forcibly convert people today?