'They take you out of life, out of time': a journey into Spain's cave paintings • Hacker News Board

Re: 'They take you out of life, out of time': a journey into Spain's cave paintings

#31

Post by IAmBroom » Thu, Jun 11, 2026, 6:03 PM UTC

dieselgate wrote: post #6

ilamont wrote: post #3

What's really amazing is that they still don't know the "why" other than some interesting speculation: religious purposes, places for psychadelic trips, "the creation of surpluses in some kind of hierarchy." Coincidentally, last week the local public television station was replaying a very old program of Bill Moyers interviewing Joseph Campbell, who died in the late 80s and was known for studies of mythology. He had…

There's no way to determine a "why" and there probably wasn't a single purpose in my opinion. The most interesting part to me, though, is how a lot of the hand "prints" include children.

It's fascinating to me that "why" is so compelling to us that it nearly always gets answered, and quickly.

"The Sun is a god who is jealous of his sister, the Moon, and once tried to get busy with a really pretty human, but her husband found out and..."

"Electrons are fundamental particles composed of quarks that..."

Having the answer is actually more important than verifing the answer, in most cases. It's part of why our advancement is slower than it could be.

Re: 'They take you out of life, out of time': a journey into Spain's cave paintings

#32

Post by TFNA » Thu, Jun 11, 2026, 6:08 PM UTC

IAmBroom wrote: post #30

TFNA wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Joseph Campbell is not regarded within anthropology and paleontology as a serious scholar. He is a purely pop-sci phenomenon, boosted by his association with Star Wars and friendship with Bill Moyers. Maybe not exactly a crackpot Graham Hancock kind of figure, but more comparable to that instead of anyone authoritative.

That's for the best, but I usually hear him quoted in the context of storytelling. His popularity definitely makes him relevant there, but I think he also started with real insight about hero-quest stories. Beowulf and Episode IV – A New Hope may not have much direct bearing on any given person's pubescent path, aside from media consumption, but within it: much.

Joseph Campbell is not taken seriously within folkloristics, either. Again, purely pop-sci phenomenon.

Re: 'They take you out of life, out of time': a journey into Spain's cave paintings

#33

Post by _bernd » Thu, Jun 11, 2026, 10:28 PM UTC

TFNA wrote: post #26

_bernd wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> so they are much more intelligent than I think they were Pardon me, but we are talking about homo sapiens here? Those people would be not different then you and me. If you would raise one of their child's today it would just blend in. They were/are the same species then you and me... I just want to say please don't ride that all cavemen were stupid apes train. That boot sailed a long time ago regarding to modern sc…

> Those people would be not different then you and me. We know that good nutrition during childhood has a significant impact on IQ, as does avoiding parasite infections. Those ancients were the same species as us, but it is also known that that they likely suffered from food precarity at times and endemic infections, so the belief they had their shit less together than many modern populations is reasonable.

If they would have live as shitty as your train of thoughts then yes we as a species would have not survived.

Please have a look at how indigenous tribes live and cure the sick to get a feeling what it would have might be back 50k+ years.

What I got during Museum visits and talking with people working in academics those people had a pretty good living. Well feed and even major injuries were treated well.

So please come on.

Re: 'They take you out of life, out of time': a journey into Spain's cave paintings

#34

Post by TFNA » Thu, Jun 11, 2026, 11:29 PM UTC

_bernd wrote: post #33

TFNA wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Those people would be not different then you and me. We know that good nutrition during childhood has a significant impact on IQ, as does avoiding parasite infections. Those ancients were the same species as us, but it is also known that that they likely suffered from food precarity at times and endemic infections, so the belief they had their shit less together than many modern populations is reasonable.

If they would have live as shitty as your train of thoughts then yes we as a species would have not survived. Please have a look at how indigenous tribes live and cure the sick to get a feeling what it would have might be back 50k+ years. What I got during Museum visits and talking with people working in academics those people had a pretty good living. Well feed and even major injuries were treated well. So please co…

> Well feed and even major injuries were treated well.

This is contradicted by any and all documentation on not only "indigenous tribes", but even developed countries until the age of antibiotics. Injuries were much riskier in the past than now, and no idyllic Shangri-La you fantasize about had any magic to avoid that. The food precarity of hunter-gatherer lifestyles is why so many societies adopted agriculture. Plus, infant mortality was through the roof, and risk to also mothers was high. I think you took from "Museum visits and talking with people working in academics [sic]" a misunderstanding that you wanted to hear.

That our species survived down the millennia does not mean they had maximized health, just as we today have not maximized health. But we have made greater strides in childhood IQ-relevant areas.