The Most Isolated Man on the Planet

[Roland99]

The Most Isolated Man on the Planet
He's alone in the Brazilian Amazon, but for how long?
http://www.slate.com/id/2264478/?GT1=38001

he most isolated man on the planet will spend tonight inside a leafy palm-thatch hut in the Brazilian Amazon. As always, insects will darn the air. Spider monkeys will patrol the treetops. Wild pigs will root in the undergrowth. And the man will remain a quietly anonymous fixture of the landscape, camouflaged to the point of near invisibility.

That description relies on a few unknowable assumptions, obviously, but they're relatively safe. The man's isolation has been so well-established—and is so mind-bendingly extreme—that portraying him silently enduring another moment of utter solitude is a practical guarantee of reportorial accuracy.

He's an Indian, and Brazilian officials have concluded that he's the last survivor of an uncontacted tribe. They first became aware of his existence nearly 15 years ago and for a decade launched numerous expeditions to track him, to ensure his safety, and to try to establish peaceful contact with him. In 2007, with ranching and logging closing in quickly on all sides, government officials declared a 31-square-mile area around him off-limits to trespassing and development.
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It's meant to be a safe zone. He's still in there. Alone.

But not for much longer I bet. :(

[dkf]

1. Wow 31 square miles set aside for one guy.

That is pretty generous of them. Its like they think of him as an endangered species.

[Boojatta]

4. If you're jealous, you could try learning about identity theft.

In this case, a disguise plus a little plastic surgery might be enough.

[dkf]

13. No man is an Island except for this one.

Nope do not want to be him.

[Dogtown]

7. He is an endangered "species".

So what's your complaint?

[dkf]

14. No complaint. Just pretty amazed.

Part of me wonders if that isnt a bit demeaning though. Does treating him as endangered raise him above us as a rare and wondrous thing or does it do the opposite comparing him to flora and fauna.

[Dogtown]

16. From his perspective,

none of that matters.

He's the Last Free Man.

[Botany]

2. I wish him well and hope he is left alone

[Roland99]

3. Wonder how many people in "advanced" societies like ours could actually survive living as he does?

who's more advanced, really?

[Boojatta]

8. For an initial estimate of how many, World's total surface area of Land (in square miles) over 31=?

[ProdigalJunkMail]

15. about 57 million sq miles... n/t

[EmilyKent]

5. Incredibly cruel.

That anyone could just sit and watch a frightened individual all alone and struggling to survive boggles the mind.

[Boojatta]

9. "and to try to establish peaceful contact with him"

This doesn't sound cruel. Is it misleading?

[NoNothing]

12. It would violate the Prime Directive, apparently

[Botany]

10. Read the article

He is not struggling to survive. He farms, he hunts, he has a spiritual side, he builds homes, and lives
in harmony w/ his environment. People have tried to contact him and he wants no part of them.

[pitohui]

6. this seems unnecessarily cruel

how would you like to go day after day, month after month, year after year thinking you are the last man alive just to serve some jackhole's science experiment?

you wouldn't do it to a damn dog

on edit--i see emily and i posted at the same time, glad i'm not the only person who thinks this guy might actually have, you know, feelings...

[EmilyKent]

11. Treating him like a lab rat

is definitely not the way to go.

Whatever happened to 'do unto others'....?

There are several other tribes we're 'protecting' in this fashion while we observe them, but sooner or later they're going to meet the outside world. And it may be in the most nasty way, with a bulldozer crashing through the underbrush. We can't stop it forever, nor should we. Let's at least be kind about it.

[Roland99]

17. in this case, he's Schrödinger's cat and he is already dead.

[EmilyKent]

18. Yes, he will be dead either way.

But we could help him live longer before that happens, and discover what happened to his people. We could also learn something about First Contact, and how to do it before the real world takes over.

[jberryhill]

19. He's trying to comply with the Facebook and Google privacy policies /nt