There’s an interesting story on the BBC Newspod about a newly discovered, indigenous, isolated tribe in Brazil. Aerial photos of the tribe show them firing bows and arrows towards the plane containing the photographers. It would seem that they’ve never made contact with the outside world and were therefore quite perturbed by the sight of a plane. The BBC reporter asked the “expert” they’d wheeled out, what the tribes-people would have thought the plane was. After admitting that he didn’t know he proffered:

…they might think of them as a spirit of some sort, or a large bird…

“How primitive”, we jeer smugly! Fancy thinking that a plane is a big bird or some sort of spirit when it’s just a simple flying machine. Who’d have thought there were places in the world where people believe all of that archaic nonsense ?

Next on Radio 4, a debate about whether creationism should be taught in schools.