Emily McRae

U13454467
On the BaMbuti Perception Differences

In this paper I will discuss the distance-size perception differences, as well as

some visual and auditory differences, of the pygmy BaMbuti tribe in the Ituri Forest in
the Congo, compared to the perception of cultures from presumably the rest of the world,
as the BaMbuti tribe is the last human culture to exist entirely within the forest in relative
isolation from the rest of the world. Since research and interaction with this tribe is
limited, all assumptions about these perceptions from the tribe will be taken from the
standpoint of one 22-year old hunter, Kenge, who traveled with the author of the article
that all information in this paper is taken from, Colin M. Turnbill. The article referenced
here is Some Observations regarding the Experiences and Behavior of the BaMbuti
pygmies taken from The American Journal of Psychology.
The perceptions that will be discussed here are the size-distance perception,
auditory perception, and visual perception, as these were all judged to be quite different
with these people than with any other culture observed. Size-distance perception is the
ability to judge the size of an object over a large distance; as things far away will appear
small, but most will recognize that they are just far away and if they were closer they
would appear much larger. The auditory perception discussed here will simply be in
terms of how advanced one can detect differences and patterns in sounds, and the visual
perception will be discussed in terms of ability to detect patterns and numbers.
I will begin by describing the culture of the BaMbuti tribe. As previously stated,
little is known or studied about this culture. It exists in isolation, completely within the
dense Ituri Forest in the Congo. The history of this people suggest that they have existed
in the same location, never migrating or traveling or interacting much with other cultures,

for about 4000 years. Invaders and other factors have forced neighboring tribes and
villagers closer to the BaMbuti, threatening their existence. They are now and have
always been sedentary hunters, but these external factors are making it less likely that
they can exist in this way forever. Eventually, they may have to choose between death or
adapting and beginning the practice of agriculture and village life. These threats have
brought about a resistance in the mind of the people, increasing their desire to stay in one
place, never exploring the lands around them. Notable to mention, when taken to forest
cleared of trees, the tribesman Kenge referred to lands as being evil, suggesting that on
their own, these people would likely never enter such lands if they stumbled upon them,
rejecting them and thinking they should be avoided. That being said, the people of the
BaMbuti live in an environment composed completely of densely packed trees.
It was observed that the BaMbuti people have an inability to properly judge the
size of an object over a large spatial distance. When taken for the first time to a region of
the forest where the trees were cleared by missionaries, and where the Ruwenzori
Mountains were visible across miles of land, the tribesman was not able to identify what
the mountains were, questioning if they were hills or clouds. This demonstrates that he
was unable to judge their size properly, thinking they must be closer to him then they
were, as they appeared to be the size that hills would be at a much closer range. The ice
caps on the mountains were perceived to be large white rocks atop the hills. When he
gazed across miles of valley at grazing buffalo, he perceived them to be insects. Large
buffalo miles away would appear to be the same size as insects crawling at your feet, so
this assumption was made that they must be insects. When he was driven closer to them,
and watched the animals gradually increase in size as the distance from them was

reduced, he began to reason how this would be possible, questioning if the animals had
grown suddenly or if it was witchcraft. Finally, when he first saw Lake Edward, a
massive 48 miles across compared to the Ituri River that he is familiar with, which is only
about 200 yards or so across, he was unable to judge that a boat several miles out could
be any larger that a plank of wood. This all demonstrates that the pygmy people of the
BaMbuti tribe are unable to judge that objects far away are actually larger than the size
that they appear. However, when prompted with the ideas or space and size correlations,
and with enough examples shown to them, they are able to quickly adapt their thinking
and make, or at least accept, these judgments.
BaMbuti people do not really utilize a numerical counting system, never counting
above 4. However, they are able to identify, without conscious thought or calculation,
numbers based on visual patterns. This ability must be inherent in the culture, as they are
known to play a gambling game where they must quickly determine the number of beans
or grains thrown into a pile, and make judgments, determining how many multiples of 4
there are in the piles, or adding the appropriate number of beans to bring the pile back to
its original number. Counting is not used in this game, only judgments based on the
pattern or appearance of the number of beans. Another example of their heightened visual
acuity with patterns is their ability to judge without counting how many arrows are
missing from a pile and add the correct number to bring it back to what the pattern of
arrows looked like before the arrows were removed. Similarly, their ability to identify
patterns in sound is also advanced. Music is very important in their culture, whereas art
and the use or identification of color is not practiced. They are known to play music with
precise melodies and harmonies with ease, very unlike the rest of Africa.

The reason for this perception difference seems to be entirely based on the
environmental differences. These are a people living for thousands of years in the same
place in isolation from the rest of the world, and living in a very different way. The
majority of the worlds cultures, if not all, live in village-like communities or towns, and
use agriculture. There is at least some level of development everywhere in the world. As
for the BaMbuti, they are hunters living among the trees. They never cleared the land,
and as mentioned earlier, they reject the idea and avoid areas that have been developed.
That being said, they are constantly surrounded by trees. Vision is limited to only a few
yards. For people who grow up and live their entire lives never seeing further then a few
yards, they are never presented with objects far away, so they never have to make the
size-distance judgments. Everything they see is right in front of them, so their brains have
adapted to this and they make the assumption that things are the exact size that they
appear. Their advanced visual ability to detect patterns can be explained by means of
what is necessary for survival. Without ever encountering very large numbers of anything
that needs counting, and only needing to identify small number of objects in their
surrounding, they simply dont need an abstract form of counting like numbers, and their
brains adapt to their needs by enhancing their detection of patterns. Lastly, their ability to
detect and produce complex patterns in sound can also be attributed to their environment.
With limited visual ability, it is possible that they have adapted a heightened sense of
hearing to help them survive in the forest; detecting the sounds of predators or sounds
that are different from the norm to alert them of danger.
The BaMbuti tribe is a very interesting culture, and sadly they are being
threatened by a world of village people closing in. It is clear that their adaptations as

humans are very different then the rest of the world, and with so little known about them,
it is likely that there is more to be discovered. Considering how quickly the tribesman
was able to adapt his thinking and accept these differences in perception to be true, it is
likely that if these people merge with the common village life of the Congo they will lose
many of their differences that make them unique. For the time being at least, they are a
very unique group of people, and hopefully their drive to preserve the way of life that has
made them so unique, combined with a raised awareness and conservation efforts, will be
enough to keep them around for some time into the future.