What Cavemen Knew: The Ancient Secret to a Meaningful Life

The Four Pillars Our Ancestors Lived By

Harvard professor Arthur C. Brooks often highlights four principles—faith, family, friendship, and meaningful work—that are consistently associated with greater happiness and meaning. These aren’t new discoveries—they echo ancient patterns of living that early humans likely practiced (close kin groups, friendships, purposeful work, shared beliefs).

Our prehistoric ancestors didn’t have psychology textbooks or research studies. Yet they built their lives around the same four elements that contemporary research frequently links with well-being. They gathered in close-knit family groups, formed deep friendships within their tribes, found purpose in their daily work, and maintained a strong sense of something greater than themselves.

Understanding Faith Beyond Simple Belief

When most people hear the word “faith,” they think of organized religion or unquestioning belief. But faith is much deeper than that. The word comes from the Latin “Fides,” which was actually the name of a Roman goddess who represented trust, confidence, and reliability between people.

Some argue that faith extends beyond strict empiricism, while others see it as compatible with reason. Trust that reaches beyond strict empiricism need not be irrational; it can complement reason.

Faith means trusting in something beyond what we can see, touch, or measure with scientific instruments. It involves recognizing that there’s a reality outside the material world that transcends the limits of our normal perception and reason.

The Transcendent Experience That Defines Humanity

Anthropologists call it “the sense of the sacred.” It’s that feeling you get when you witness a beautiful sunset, experience deep love, or sense something otherworldly during prayer or meditation. This experience of transcendence is fundamental to human nature.

The earliest widely accepted cave art dates to at least ~40,000 years (e.g., hand stencils in Spain and Indonesia), and some figurative or narrative-style cave art in Indonesia has been dated to ≳51,000 years. The famous “birdman of Lascaux,” painted approximately 17,000 years ago (early Magdalenian), also reflects our ancestors’ attempts to capture spiritual experiences.

Here’s the remarkable part: These paintings are among the earliest clear evidence of symbolic imagination in our species—a hallmark of advanced cognition. While not marking the first appearance of human consciousness, they vividly display it. The ability to perceive transcendence isn’t separate from intelligence; it’s intertwined with how humans think, create, and relate.

Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Science

For decades, Darwin’s theory of evolution offered a natural explanation for the diversity of life, leading many scientists to see less need for intelligent design arguments. Modern evolutionary theory explains life’s diversity through processes such as mutation, natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow—without appealing to design. Recent findings in cosmology and paleontology are sometimes interpreted as raising deeper questions about origins; others view them as fully consistent with naturalistic science.

Some interpret the Cambrian ‘explosion’ as a relatively rapid diversification beginning around 539 million years ago and spanning roughly 20–25 million years, when many animal body plans appeared in the fossil record. The Big Bang model describes an early hot, dense state ~13.8 billion years ago and ongoing cosmic expansion, which many read as evidence of a cosmic “beginning.” Fine-tuning arguments note that certain physical constants appear remarkably life-permitting; proposed explanations include multiverse models, new physics, or design.

These findings do not prove any particular belief; some people interpret them as consistent with design, while others see naturalistic explanations.

How Transcendence Shapes Human Experience

Philosophers and psychologists have wrestled with transcendence for thousands of years. Plato described it as pre-existing knowledge that already resides in us but gets triggered by consciousness through certain events or experiences.

Carl Jung called these experiences “archetypes” – symbols or patterns that we instinctively know as true or real, even though we can’t always prove them scientifically.

Faith, then, becomes about trusting our sense of transcendence. Like the goddess Fides, who embodied good faith and goodwill, we can trust that there’s goodness in transcendent experiences and that recognizing them benefits our lives.

Faith in Something Greater

Our Judeo-Christian tradition tells us that faith means faith in God – an intelligent, benevolent higher power. Some critics dismiss this as unwarranted; many philosophers and scientists consider belief in God an intellectually viable position, given ongoing philosophical and scientific discussions.

When we look at scientific discoveries of recent decades, some conclude they are consistent with a belief in an intelligent, benevolent creator, while others see naturalistic explanations. The complexity and apparent life-permitting character of the universe are interpreted by some as pointing toward intentional design, while others pursue naturalistic explanations (e.g., multiverse models or undiscovered physics).

Practical Ways to Experience Transcendence

You don’t need to join a particular religion to experience faith. People commonly connect with transcendence through:

In Nature:

• Spending quiet time outdoors
• Observing the complexity and beauty of natural systems
• Feeling connected to something larger than yourself

Through Relationships:

• Experiencing deep love and connection with others
• Recognizing the mystery of consciousness in the people around you
• Building trust and reliability with family and friends

In Quiet Reflection:

• Prayer or meditation practices
• Moments of silence and contemplation
• Paying attention to experiences that feel sacred or meaningful

Why Modern People Struggle Without Faith

When we try to live purely by logic and reason, cutting ourselves off from transcendent experiences, we lose connection to what has sustained humans for millennia. We have become like sophisticated computers – good at processing information but unable to find real meaning in existence.

The rise of anxiety, depression, and suicide in developed countries might be connected to this loss of transcendence. When life becomes nothing more than chemical reactions and random evolutionary processes, it becomes difficult to find reasons for hope during challenging times.

Building Faith in Daily Life

Living with faith in our modern culture can feel challenging when scientific materialism dominates professional environments and popular culture often mocks traditional sources of meaning. But you don’t have to choose between intelligence and transcendence.

Start by paying attention to moments when you feel connected to something beyond yourself. Don’t worry about explaining these experiences or fitting them into a particular worldview. Simply notice them and allow them to influence how you see reality.

Faith gives you a framework for understanding why relationships matter and transforms how you view daily work. Instead of just earning money to buy things, your efforts become ways to serve something greater than immediate needs.