What a difference!

Last night I watched a program on the Hubble telescope project, a scientific collaboration that led to one of mankind's greatest achievements. Not only to go into space but also exploit some of its possibilities. The program detailed the story starting with the flawed first telescope and then the repairs and upgrades that brought previously unimaginable pictures of the universe to the public. Simply, it was an awe inspiring demonstration of man's ingenuity and capacity for innovation and problem solving.
In contrast, I thought that just a few thousand kilometres away in the jungles of South America, lived peoples, human beings, genetically no different from the astronauts, who lived a stone age existence, unhappy only with the worry of disappearing habitat. Hitherto, their lifestyle required no amendment. They had all they required in the jungle around them and therefore had no needs. Bearing in mind that 'necessity is the mother of invention' we may surmise that these tribes have had no incentive to develop an inquiring mentality. If folk are comfortable with what they have, they have no requirement to change and do not, therefore, develop technically or scientifically.