If I ever tell you that you are acting like a cave-dweller, you should take it as a compliment. While most people use the term “caveman” to put other people down, or to suggest someone is phenomenally out of touch or under-developed, I don’t see that chapter of our prehistoric evolution in that way. I see it as a time when we were in-tune with our surroundings. We were confident since we were not so dependent on tools to make it through existence. We were self-sufficient...but also completely dependent on each other for survival. We lived in balance with each other and with nature. Cavedwellers who were part of a tribe were unstoppable. And the thing that made them that way was something that is hard to come by in modern-day society: TRUST
Trust vs Fear - The way I see it, trust and fear are on opposite ends of a continuum. If a person does not trust the people and things around them, they are thinking/making decisions based in concern, worry or fear...and unaware of the state they are in when they are trying to think. It’s harder for people to use reason or logic when they are closer to a state of panic because of our fight/flight/freeze/follow reactions. And YOU, dear reader, are not excluded from this phenomenon. The human condition applies to all humans...and some of our Paleolithic “factory settings” might surprise you.
Cavedwellers Cared - The word “tribal” has come to suggest intense competition (as in tribe vs tribe,) but I think of being tribal as being cooperative (which is what happened inside a tribe.) Any group/species can compete with one another, but not just any group can cooperate. When our species existed in trees, status and competition ruled the day...but when we moved into caves, things were much more advanced. Yes, we were stuck with the same 100 people for our entire lives, but that sense of predictability was pretty comforting. You knew everyone around you. You knew their strengths and weaknesses. And perhaps most importantly, you knew their moods. That is because, for many thousands of years, we did not use verbal language to communicate with each other. We used gestures, sounds, and facial expressions to get our needs met. And we could not have existed this way for that long without being able to take another person’s perspective -- and that is a skill we no longer “need” in modern society. We can pay attention to only what WE want and get by. Plus, with so many social interactions occurring online instead of face-to-face (especially recently), cooperation/trust is harder to establish.
Cavedwellers were Smart - When kids are young, we encourage them to be less selfish. The classic example is stealing cookies from a cookie jar -- if you are a good person, you shouldn’t take more than your share. We can make the assumption, then, that when kids are young, they are more naturally greedy...but I don’t think this is true. They are merely testing their environment for consequences. They are biologically programmed to investigate their surroundings. It was essentially a kids’ job when we lived as cavedwellers to experiment. But as modern people get older and start acting like we have everything figured out, we start missing things. We start ascribing our beliefs onto the world around us. We come up with our own realities...and I don’t think grown-up cavedwellers ever did that. I think they were constantly learning. They could not make assumptions. They had to be ready for anything. And if they did not adapt to what was happening in their immediate surroundings, they would not survive...while modern people can live their entire lives in their own individual balloons of “reality.”
Cavedwellers were Honest - When we lived as cavedwellers, we had no privacy, so we had very little opportunity to hide what was going on with us as individuals. So when I say we were honest when we lived as cavedwellers, I don’t mean we were essentially good. I mean that being dishonest was not only nearly impossible, but it was bad for a tribe. If a cavedweller was not open about their emotional state, or their experiences away from a campsite, or their intent involving another person, it could mess with a tribe’s ability to coordinate their actions -- and that could mean death to a tribe. Doing what was best for YOUR group of people was your priority. And it was automatic to exclude anyone outside your group from benefiting from your actions. You were either in a tribe or not. And if you stopped putting your own tribe first, there was every possibility you would be excluded from your tribe as a result of your actions. But luckily for cavedwellers, perfection was not an expectation. Mistakes were usually forgiven between tribe members. After all, there was a very limited number of people to work with.
The End - or is it? Perhaps you can now see that living as a cavedweller had its advantages. And if I call you a cavedweller, I am suggesting that you are trustworthy, caring, smart, and honest -- and you are probably part of my in-group. Maybe you can also see that if more of us were aware of how we were able to work together WAY back when, it could help us more successfully navigate life today. Thanks for reading! And here’s where you can learn more about living like a cavedweller -- and maybe have some fun doing it.
Facebook page: Cavedweller Club https://www.facebook.com/groups/2549817165317933
Website: cavedwellerclub.com
Twitter: @Fakecongirl
Podcast guest-spots: https://www.cavedwellerclub.com/interviews
#1 (a fandom is like a tribe - 45 min)
#2 (how prehistoric tribes are like fandoms - 80 min)
#3 (social justice - 50 min)
#4 (Instagram takeover - 30 min)
#5 (child development/education - 55 min)
#6 (self-help - 35 min)
#7 (philosophy - 75 min)
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