The Clan of the Cave Bears, Community, and LLMs
- David Dieffenbach
- Jan 16
- 3 min read
During Thanksgiving, I visited my parents and stumbled upon a copy of The Clan of the Cave Bears by Jean Auel. Naturally, I picked it up. Rereading it after 35 years was fascinating. While familiar, the story resonated differently through my adult lens. Below, I’ll share insights from the book, its relevance to community and conflict, and why it inspired this blog’s title.
The Book in Brief
Auel’s historical fiction imagines a world where two human species coexist. The author was well versed in Paleontology, and yet had to imagine much of the world she created. Ayla, an orphaned “other,” is taken in by a tribe starkly different from her in appearance and behavior- in fact, they are a more primitive human species who happen to coexist in this imagined version of our past. Her journey revolves around fitting into the Clan’s traditions while subtly teaching them tolerance and curiosity.
Clan and Community
Humans are inherently social. Even introverts need connection to thrive. In Ayla’s world, the community of the Clan provided safety, shared risk and reward, and structured lives beyond mere survival with routines and rituals. Similarly, real-life interactions support psychological safety as well as real safety.
I asked ChatGPT to help me understand how in person interactions differ from virtual interactions in how we empathize and relate to others and its response was pretty long.
In my solo consulting work, the absence of a “Clan” can feel isolating. My best work happens in teams, building together. To counteract isolation, I prioritize meeting clients and advisors in person when possible and lean on my network for support. When customers become friends, solving challenges becomes even more rewarding.
Clan and Conflict
Large family units, like Ayla’s Clan, face inevitable conflicts. In the book, breaking sacred rules results in brutal consequences—isolation. Ayla’s punishment for defying Clan traditions is a “death curse,” forcing her into a terrifying, solitary existence.
When a medicine man makes the right motions in ceremony, he curses her with death and she disappears. She is standing in front of them, fully alive, and yet no one sees her. They are all trained to avert their eyes to spirits, and it becomes clear that the Death Curse is one of forced isolation. She is sent out to the wilderness, alone. No community. No help.
ISOLATION IMAGE
Isolation is a powerful punishment, even in modern contexts. Consider social media videos where kids are tricked into believing they’re invisible; their panicked reactions reveal our deep-seated fear of being unseen or disconnected. The opposite of community is isolation, a state we instinctively avoid.
The LLM Connection
Auel introduces an imaginative concept in her book: the Clan’s medicine women draw on ancestral intuition—a collective memory of how to use plants as medicine passed down through generations. The wisdom isn’t just passed on through story telling, but is also somehow transmitted through a collective memory. This parallels Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, which aggregate vast human ‘Big Data’ knowledge to provide insights. By asking the right questions, we tap into this collective wisdom.
Most people adopt LLMs without understanding their inner workings. A recent tutorial on AI-assisted coding emphasized harnessing its potential rather than dissecting its mechanics—a pragmatic approach reminiscent of the Clan’s intuitive knowledge.
Evolution and Persistence
There is a powerful scene at the end of the book when there is a realization among one key Clan member that their ways could be doomed- the Others that Ayla represents have more advanced ways. And yet, he also realizes that the way of his ancestors may not just disappear but rather blend. As Clan and Others intermix, he has a sense that things will change, and change quick, but some of the best things about his culture would persist.
Change is inevitable, but wisdom endures. Habits and routines change, sure, but collective wisdom is powerful. Bring on Community, limit isolation, and collect wisdom with Big Data and let’s see what we can do next.
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