Return of the Cave Man

I'm afraid we've resurrected the caveman...and not just in Geico commercials. But it's not the lion skin clad, chest beating, neanderthal variety. No sir. Like its predecessor, the 21st century caveman has skills, but there's one alarming distinction: the armchair. Yes, unlike the prehistoric outdoorsman, the modern, or shall I say post-modern species lives inside his cave...and for that matter, works inside his cave, eats inside his cave, pays bills inside his cave...now that I think about it, does he ever leave his cave? Maybe...if he or one of his offspring are in grave danger. Hmmm, didn't it used to be the opposite...cave as refuge and not vice versa? So what...what's the big deal with a little innovation that makes the boring grown up stuff easier? I'm not exactly sure, but I think it could be making us stagnant, unintelligent, cowards. I said it could ok. I'm just a theorist, not a researcher. We're certainly less naturally active than we used to be. Nowadays, we have to schedule exercise in our day and calculate the duration and intensity to make sure we get enough of it so that our heart keeps working. I'm pretty sure that in primitive days and presently in many countries across the globe, there was/is no shortage of physical activity in daily life, and they never stopped/stop to check a pulse while wrestling a wild boar. There were no treadmills, dumbbells, or factories designed to get people physically fit. It just happened because people actually lived active lives.

Today, the human pulse is still beating, but to a different drum. It also seems like the resurrected cave life has diluted our social intelligence. After hundreds of years, all of the sudden we're back at "Me Tarzan. You Jane." We've resorted to one dimensional, faceless means of communicating as our primary way to connect with the human race. Now, the typed word supersedes the voice, a collection of keypad symbols mimic the face, and profile pictures tell the story we want everyone to hear. But is it the truth? More than ever, people have control of the image they project to the world, and marketing that is everything. Somehow, we muster up the courage to bad mouth so and so and utter things we wouldn't dare say while looking another human being in the eyes and saying it to their face. Speaking of, has anyone else noticed this younger generation's inability to make eye contact? I realize that's a harsh generalization, but there seems to be an epidemic of avoidance, especially when there is a controversial or important matter to discuss. And aren't the eyes the window to the soul?? If that's the case, then we're all just living in caves as I imagined.

But maybe I have it all wrong. Perhaps the modern caveman is seeking refuge...and his cave really is the only safe place to be free...from the noise of the highway, the crowd in the supermarket...the people he just doesn't want to see. Maybe the modern caveman is onto something...a quiet, solitary life skipping through fairytales in cyberspace, where he can select which character in the story he plays and for how long. He lives in a land where the imagined is real, social interaction is selective, and noise is optional. Perhaps living in the armchair on Papa John's and PBR in the post-primitive era is actually the new....survival.