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Old and New Technology in the Land of None

Posted by michael on from the mosquito-coast dept.

ninthwave writes "The Guardian has this article on the adventures of piano tuners in the Amazon. I think it is a nice lesson in the age of technology to see the perceived hardships of using technology in areas where the natives are quite happy without. More impressive is the old wooden piano seems to survive better than the new synth but that is horse of a different colour."

6 of 227 comments (clear)

  1. Engineering is NOT high-tech by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Engineering DOESN'T HAVE TO BE high-tech.

    It only has to WORK WELL, with whatever is at hand.

    Inuktitut writing looks cryptic. Yet it was devised by whites, and designed to work well with the writing implements available to the inuit: bones and stones. They weren't forced to use the roman alphabet which they could not transcribe properly.

    Good design and engineering works by using what's available, not shoving down foreign and/or scarce technologies.

  2. The depressing part of the story by gosand · · Score: 5, Insightful
    An interesting read I guess, but I never really got the point of the story except that it was a heck of a challenge to get that piano delivered. I found this part of the story to be particularly sad though:

    But if any of us had been expecting half-naked, blowpipe-wielding savages, we were disappointed. The American missionaries who converted the tribe in the 1950s taught them Christian modesty, and they now favour shorts and T-shirts, largely supplied by visitors and aid agencies. The footwear of choice is the plastic flip-flop.

    A tribe that small, in that remote of a location, and Christians still feel the need to impose their religion on them. Quite sad.

    --

    My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.

    1. Re:The depressing part of the story by Planesdragon · · Score: 5, Insightful

      A tribe that small, in that remote of a location, and Christians still feel the need to impose their religion on them. Quite sad.

      Hardly.

      Let's assume, for the sake of understanding the Christian missionaries, that they ARE right, and that life now and hereafter DOES get better if you're a Christian.

      Given _just that_, it makes sense to want to expose as many people as possible to their religion.

      Now, if we discard the "the Christians are right" assumption and simply look at it from a general standpoint, it STILL isn't "sad." It's not like they're requiring them to make pilgrimages to Rome (Muslim tradition) or give up temporal desires (Bhuddism).

      It's a form of charity, which, seeing as most of humanity thinks that clothing is a good thing, can be concluded as more than cultural self-interest and being real honest charity.

      Please, drop your anti-Christian/anti-religion bias. If everyone in the world had computers, you wouldn't call Linux (over BSD or the existing-and-never-upgraded-DOS) advocates "sad" now, would you?

    2. Re:The depressing part of the story by Greedo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't mean this confrontationally, but how do you know no one "made" them accept Christianity?

      The fact that someone even attempted to convert them, let alone that they succeeded, is bad enough. What was wrong with their belief system before that some missionary felt it their duty to "save" these "savages"? The history of missionary work is rife with "forced" conversions (Inquisition, anyone?). I realize this probably wasn't the case in the 1950's, but who knows.

      Those American missionaries also taught them "Christian modesty", which could be a thin disguise (in my tin-foil hat world) for "American hegemonic consumerism". Why else would they favour shorts and T-shirts, or ask for an electric keyboard.

      Again, missionary work isn't always about spreading the Good Word. In fact, it is based on the assumption that the indigenous Good Word wasn't Good Enough to start with.

      --
      Tuus crepidae innexilis sunt.
  3. How sad... by tswinzig · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The American missionaries who converted the tribe in the 1950s taught them Christian modesty, and they now favour shorts and T-shirts, largely supplied by visitors and aid agencies. The footwear of choice is the plastic flip-flop.

    No comment necessary?

    --

    "And like that ... he's gone."
  4. Re:Not a hard choice by Greedo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I was expecting an interesting read about how this tribe had taught themselves to play a piano, improvising melodies and chord progressions based on their indigenous musical heritage. Coming up with unorthodox techniques, etc..

    Instead, it's the story of a bunch of British folks playing Beatles songs with the villagers, who have been Catholicized and are wearing American t-shirts and plastic flip-flops.

    How sad. And mildly offensive.

    (Oh ... taking a piano into the jungle is interesting. Taking a Korg is dumb. IMHO.)

    --
    Tuus crepidae innexilis sunt.