What led to the perpetuated isolation that has limited the advance of these groups? There are various theories, but most evidence supports that it resulted from fear based upon previous encounters with "civilized" explorers who killed or subjugated the indigenous people and took control of their land. Tribes that survived have remained less welcoming to outside contact attempts.
We can argue about whether Ted Kaczynski was psychiatrically ill; he himself disavowed such a notion, even to the point of his sentencing. Social isolation can be a symptom of many psychiatric diseases that affect the individual, or – in the case of isolated tribes – an adaptive (or maladaptive) group behavior. Nonetheless, the question of psychiatric illness and creativity has captured the imagination of the general public. Next month, we shall consider it more directly.
Dr. Richard J. Caselli is the medical editor of Clinical Neurology News and is professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz.