Not Engaging
Sunday
Agafia Lykov has lived mostly alone in a cabin in Siberia, 150 miles from the closest settlement, since her father died in 1988. She was the last survivor of her family of six who originally fled to the remote spot in 1936 to escape Soviet religious persecution. When the cabin was spotted by chance by a survey team in 1978, none of the children had seen other humans before, and the family was unaware of World War II, the moon landing, or any other world events of the last 40 years.
Monday
North Korea was called “The Hermit Kingdom” before the current era, but the extremely tight restrictions that the Communist government keeps on all information from and about the outside world, and also visitors from it, keep the moniker apt.
Tuesday
Japan was the first nation to recognize and name a significant portion of the population who did not want to leave their homes (or even bedrooms) and attend school or interact with the outside world at all, often for years on end. “Hikikomori” means “pulling inward.”
Wednesday
In 2013, after decades of mysterious thefts of food and supplies, several dedicated Maine State Police officers finally captured Christopher Knight, dubbed “The North Pond Hermit” by local legend. Then 47, he had been living alone in the woods since age 20. He was wearing the same glasses as in his 1984 yearbook photo, and his last recalled exchange with another human was a “Hi” to a passing hiker sometime in the 1990s. He had not left civilization for any particular legal, philosophical, or creative reason, and when one interviewer prodded him for any hermit wisdom gleaned from his decades of solitude, he recommended getting enough sleep.
Thursday
Many “uncontacted” indigenous tribes live in the Amazon rainforest near the Peru/Brazil border. Advocates say the tribes are aware of “the outside world,” but largely want to be left alone. Unfortunately, many have suffered at the hands of illegal loggers and other criminal groups in the area.
Friday
Hermit crabs are neither. Far from solitary creatures, they live in large colonies of 100 or more in the wild. Also, as discussed in Week of 1/7/2024, they are not “true crabs,” since they lack their own natural shell (hence their borrowing of seashells) and have 3 pair of walking legs, not four.
Saturday
Imagine if your concrete garden gnome were instead a human fake hermit under a long-term contract. Among wealthy 18th century estate owners in the British Isles, a bizarre trend arose of hiring men to act and live as “ornamental hermits” in shacks or caves within the estate’s vast gardens. These men were often discouraged from washing and encouraged to be melancholy and introspective, among other duties.