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Comment by sandworm101 | Hacker News Reader

I cannot believe this is a record. Throughout history there have been countless religiously-motivated persons who have lived isolated existences, many in caves. Surely some monk somewhere lived below ground for more than two years at a go.

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It probably isn't, in the sense of it happening previously.

But "longest record" is usually shorthand for "longest documented record", and indeed documented credibly.

Isn't that literally the meaning of a "record"?

There's ambiguity in the word, as far as whether there is official auditable documentation somewhere or merely word of mouth / apocryphal "records"

In Guinness context, "record" is no doubt defined in terms of some trademark registrations. Any rising competitor "recording" world records would probably be defending themselves in court rather quickly.

You're kidding, right? The olympics do not enter their records with the Guinness corporation.

But there weren’t Guinness judges around for that.

If a record falls, and no one is around...

Nor the credit cards necessary to put deposits down prior to the record attempt.

"To enable us to continue to be a part of thousands of personal achievement journeys, we can only provide access to use services such as an official adjudicator through our fee-based Consultancy service."

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/faqs

So? Is this meant to be some kind of gotcha?

My guess is that both your old life as an attorney and current life as a IT/IP consultant involve some kind of "fee-based Consultancy services"

Guinness world records is a publicity/marketing company, not a record keeping company.

https://youtu.be/0twDETh6QaI had a great side thread on that topic

>> current life as a IT/IP consultant

Lol. If you are going to get personal, at least read to the end of the bio. I am 100% definitely not any form of IT consultant.

Taints the meaning of holding the record when you have to pay for it.

at some level, the act of record keeping requires time and materials.

Guinness judges are just local, independent experts. She had enough of them. But she had to leave the cave for a few days, not mentioned there.

Jewish mystic Shimon bar Yochai and his son, supposedly spent 13 years hiding in a cave.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Shimon-bar-Yochai

The article doesn't say they never left the cave during this time. It does mention them surviving by eating dates and the fruit of the carob tree which likely means they left their hiding place in the cave upon occasion to gather them.

Good call. Ajanta caves in India had isolated rooms where monks supposedly spent long long times. I believe Mahavira (Jain saint) was supposed to have isolated for 12 years at one point..

The Ajanta caves were monasteries, but they still had contact with each other. The monks would also have responsibilities and chores to do around the site, plus interaction with the lay public who bought offerings, and presumably with visiting aristocrats and officials who paid for their upkeep.

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