“...some serious pathology usually exists just below the surface.”
That would be the serious pathology that spread people (any people) across this continent, or into Oceana or the Pacific Islands. It is the “indomitable spirit” of Man, or perhaps just, “there’s too many people around here”.
I am in awe of the young Polonesian bucks who would load a few of their friends, their wives and little pigs into a few dugouts and strike out into the Pacific, following a bird they were sure they saw.
You may be in awe of those young Polynesians who paddled into the unknown Pacific and far be it from an outsider to critique how that society allocated resources, prevented overcrowding, famine and social discontent or the exercise of individual freedom but the term Darwin Award readily comes to mind.