Wow, we have quite a cluster of librarians here.

And yeah, totally. "The other side of the planet? Oh, that's just a bunch of anti-tech religious fundamentalists, best to steer clear of them." I bet the domination of Yevon has a lot to do with the people of Spira having the same language/culture/etc., because the Al-Bhed are not Yevonites and speak their own language, and one of the Guado says something about an "old Guado" language that pre-dates their conversion to the faith.