Well, that's one misconception I harboured that's now been corrected. It makes sense upon reflection that uncontacted tribes knew far more about outsiders than the other way around, but I never thought that most of their fear was due to prior killings or disease through both uncaring and caring encounters.
> I never thought that most of their fear was due to prior killings or disease through both uncaring and caring encounters.
It's even worse than that. I recently read Jared Diamond's book The World Until Yesterday. In it he describes just how violent inter-group affairs can be among pre-industrial societies. Globally, the default is typically to kill anyone from another group before they have a chance to do the same to you.
