2011-08-09
Explanation
This comic plays with the romantic notion that ancient people must have ascribed mystical significance to natural phenomena. Two modern people discover a naturally occurring vein of silica that functions as optical fiber, transmitting images 40 meters. One muses about what "strange magic" ancient people must have thought it held. The punchline cuts to 50,000 years earlier, where a cavewoman simply uses it as a practical tool, telling her companion to stand still while she goes to grab something -- implying she is using it as a primitive baby monitor or surveillance device.
The joke subverts the common assumption that ancient people were superstitious or mystified by natural phenomena. Instead of attributing the optical fiber to gods or magic, the prehistoric woman immediately sees its practical application and exploits it in a completely mundane, no-nonsense way. The humor suggests that people have always been pragmatic problem-solvers, and the modern romanticization of ancient wonder is itself a kind of myth.