1 00:00:00,310 --> 00:00:03,649 The world we live in feels normal, ordinary. 2 00:00:04,209 --> 00:00:08,710 It feels like this is just how humans exist and always existed. 3 00:00:09,490 --> 00:00:10,830 But it's not. 4 00:00:11,830 --> 00:00:18,170 Never before have we humans lived in a world as sophisticated and engineered to our needs as today, 5 00:00:18,670 --> 00:00:22,530 giving us the luxury to forget about ourselves and not worry about survival. 6 00:00:24,030 --> 00:00:29,050 Food, shelter, security, all of this is more or less taken for granted. 7 00:00:29,050 --> 00:00:36,210 But we're a special few. For more than 99.99% of human history, life was completely different. 8 00:00:36,670 --> 00:00:39,250 And there's no such thing as just one human history. 9 00:00:49,210 --> 00:00:55,969 Our story begins 6 million years ago, when the tribe of Hominini split and our relationship with the apes ended. 10 00:00:56,670 --> 00:01:01,130 2.8 million years ago, the genus of Homo, the first humans, emerged. 11 00:01:01,850 --> 00:01:06,510 We like to think of ourselves as the only humans, but this is far from the truth. 12 00:01:07,329 --> 00:01:12,030 When we, Homo sapiens sapiens, came into existence 200,000 years ago, 13 00:01:12,329 --> 00:01:14,870 there were at least six other human species around. 14 00:01:16,109 --> 00:01:18,609 Cousins of comparable intelligence and ability, 15 00:01:19,150 --> 00:01:23,230 which must have been incredibly scary, kind of like living with aliens. 16 00:01:23,989 --> 00:01:25,950 Some of them were very successful. 17 00:01:26,549 --> 00:01:29,689 Homo erectus, for example, survived for two million years, 18 00:01:30,189 --> 00:01:32,870 ten times longer than modern humans have existed. 19 00:01:32,870 --> 00:01:39,269 it. The last of the other humans disappeared around 10,000 years ago. We don't know what 20 00:01:39,269 --> 00:01:44,650 caused them to die out. Modern humans have at least a few percent of Neanderthal and other 21 00:01:44,650 --> 00:01:49,650 human DNA, so there was some mixing, but certainly not enough to be a merger between species. 22 00:01:50,450 --> 00:01:53,950 So we don't know if our cousins went away because they lost the battle over resources, 23 00:01:54,370 --> 00:01:59,030 or because of a series of minor genocides. Either way, only we remain. 24 00:01:59,030 --> 00:02:06,409 back to the beginnings of humanity 2.8 million years ago early humans used tools but did not 25 00:02:06,409 --> 00:02:11,650 make a lot of progress for nearly 2 million years until they learned to control fire 26 00:02:11,650 --> 00:02:18,569 fire meant cooking which made food more nutritious which contributed to the development of our brain 27 00:02:18,569 --> 00:02:25,430 it also produced light and warmth which made days longer and winters less gruesome on top of that 28 00:02:25,430 --> 00:02:31,009 it not only scared predators away, it could also be used for hunting. A torched wood or grassland 29 00:02:31,009 --> 00:02:37,349 provided small animals, nuts and tubers, that were pre-roasted. From 300,000 years ago, 30 00:02:37,729 --> 00:02:42,889 most of the different human species lived in small hunter-gatherer societies. They had fire, 31 00:02:43,449 --> 00:02:48,849 wooden stone tools, planned for the future, buried their dead, and had cultures of their own. 32 00:02:48,849 --> 00:02:54,449 But most importantly, they spoke to each other, probably in a kind of proto-language, 33 00:02:54,449 --> 00:03:00,930 less complex than ours. If we had a time machine, how far would we be able to go back, 34 00:03:01,370 --> 00:03:05,389 steal a few babies, and raise them today without anyone noticing that they're 35 00:03:05,389 --> 00:03:12,330 a bit different? There is much debate. Anatomically modern humans emerged 200,000 36 00:03:12,330 --> 00:03:17,729 years ago, but probably 70,000 years is as far as we could travel back and still snatch 37 00:03:17,729 --> 00:03:23,729 a behaviorally modern human. Before that, the babies would probably lack a few crucial gene 38 00:03:23,729 --> 00:03:29,530 mutations necessary to build a brain with modern language and abstract thinking abilities. 39 00:03:29,530 --> 00:03:34,729 At some point around 50,000 years ago, there was an explosion in innovation. 40 00:03:34,729 --> 00:03:39,710 Tools and weapons became more sophisticated, and culture became more complex, because at 41 00:03:39,710 --> 00:03:44,789 this point, humans had a multipurpose brain and a more advanced language to communicate 42 00:03:44,789 --> 00:03:49,090 information with each other effectively and down to the last detail. 43 00:03:49,090 --> 00:03:53,810 This allowed much closer cooperation and is what really makes us different from any other 44 00:03:53,810 --> 00:03:55,710 creature on Earth. 45 00:03:55,710 --> 00:04:01,770 Not our comparatively weak bodies and inferior senses, but the ability to cooperate flexibly 46 00:04:01,770 --> 00:04:08,909 in large groups, unlike, for example, rigid beehives or intimate but tiny wolf packs. 47 00:04:08,909 --> 00:04:13,590 As our brain evolved, we became able to do something life had been unable to do up to 48 00:04:13,590 --> 00:04:14,849 this point. 49 00:04:14,849 --> 00:04:15,849 1. 50 00:04:15,849 --> 00:04:17,970 Expand knowledge quickly. 51 00:04:17,970 --> 00:04:18,970 2. 52 00:04:18,970 --> 00:04:24,970 3. build on past knowledge to gain even deeper insights. 53 00:04:24,970 --> 00:04:34,970 This seems daft, but until then, information had to be passed on from generation to generation, mostly through genetics, which is not efficient. 54 00:04:34,970 --> 00:04:40,970 Still, for the next 40,000 years, human life remained more or less the same. 55 00:04:40,970 --> 00:04:45,970 There was little to build upon. Our ancestors were only one animal among many. 56 00:04:45,970 --> 00:04:53,009 among many. Building a skyscraper without knowing what a house is, is hard. But while it's easy to 57 00:04:53,009 --> 00:04:58,529 be arrogant in our attitude to our ancestors, this would be ignorant. Humans 50,000 years ago 58 00:04:58,529 --> 00:05:04,250 were survival specialists. They had a detailed mental map of their territory, their senses were 59 00:05:04,250 --> 00:05:08,990 fine-tuned to the environment, they knew and memorized a great amount of information about 60 00:05:08,990 --> 00:05:14,189 plants and animals. They could make complicated tools that required years of careful training 61 00:05:14,189 --> 00:05:16,129 and very fine motor skills. 62 00:05:17,050 --> 00:05:19,170 Their bodies compare to our athletes today 63 00:05:19,170 --> 00:05:20,970 just because of their daily routines, 64 00:05:21,269 --> 00:05:23,990 and they lived a rich social life within their tribe. 65 00:05:25,050 --> 00:05:26,870 Survival required so many skills 66 00:05:26,870 --> 00:05:29,709 that the average brain volume of early modern humans 67 00:05:29,709 --> 00:05:32,250 might even have been bigger than it is today. 68 00:05:32,930 --> 00:05:34,490 As a group, we know more today, 69 00:05:34,870 --> 00:05:38,209 but as individuals, our ancestors were superior to us. 70 00:05:38,949 --> 00:05:42,430 But then, around 12,000 years ago in multiple locations, 71 00:05:42,430 --> 00:05:49,470 humans developed agriculture. Everything changed very quickly. Before, survival as a hunter and 72 00:05:49,470 --> 00:05:55,050 forager required superb physical and mental abilities in all fields from everybody. With 73 00:05:55,050 --> 00:06:00,470 the rise of the agricultural age, individuals could increasingly rely on the skills of others 74 00:06:00,470 --> 00:06:05,910 for survival. This meant that some of them could specialize. Maybe they worked on better tools. 75 00:06:06,709 --> 00:06:11,050 Maybe they took time to breed more resistant crops or better livestock. Maybe they started 76 00:06:11,050 --> 00:06:17,050 inventing things. As farming got more and more efficient, what we call civilization began. 77 00:06:18,009 --> 00:06:22,730 Agriculture gave us a reliable and predictable food source, which allowed humans to hoard food 78 00:06:22,730 --> 00:06:26,970 on a large scale for the first time, which is much easier to do with grains than meat. 79 00:06:27,769 --> 00:06:32,410 The food stock required protection, which led to communities living together in tighter spaces. 80 00:06:32,970 --> 00:06:36,970 First, early defense structures were built. The need for organization grew. 81 00:06:37,610 --> 00:06:40,810 The more organized we got, the faster things became efficient. 82 00:06:41,050 --> 00:06:46,870 Villages became cities, cities became kingdoms, kingdoms became empires. 83 00:06:48,170 --> 00:06:53,589 Connections between humans exploded, which led to opportunities to exchange knowledge. 84 00:06:54,110 --> 00:06:55,889 Progress became exponential. 85 00:06:56,990 --> 00:07:00,110 About 500 years ago, the scientific revolution began. 86 00:07:00,589 --> 00:07:06,709 Mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology and chemistry transformed everything we thought we knew. 87 00:07:07,490 --> 00:07:12,089 The Industrial Revolution followed soon after, laying the foundation for the modern world. 88 00:07:12,889 --> 00:07:19,589 As our overall efficiency grew exponentially, more people could spend their lifetime contributing to the progress of humanity. 89 00:07:20,550 --> 00:07:21,870 Revolutions kept happening. 90 00:07:22,250 --> 00:07:29,370 The invention of the computer, its evolution into a medium we all use on a daily basis, and the rise of the Internet shaped our world. 91 00:07:30,290 --> 00:07:32,750 It's hard to grasp how fast all of that happened. 92 00:07:32,750 --> 00:07:38,490 It's been about 125,000 generations since the emergence of the first human species. 93 00:07:39,269 --> 00:07:44,410 About 7,500 generations since the physiologically modern humans saw the light of day. 94 00:07:45,449 --> 00:07:48,910 500 generations ago, what we call civilization began. 95 00:07:49,649 --> 00:07:53,029 20 generations ago, we learned how to do science. 96 00:07:53,529 --> 00:07:57,129 And the internet became available to most people only one generation ago. 97 00:07:57,810 --> 00:08:02,470 Today, we live in the most prosperous age humanity has ever experienced. 98 00:08:02,750 --> 00:08:07,629 we have transformed this planet from the composition of its atmosphere to large-scale 99 00:08:07,629 --> 00:08:13,470 changes in its landscape and also in terms of the other animals in existence we light up the 100 00:08:13,470 --> 00:08:18,910 night with artificial stars and put people in a metal box in the sky some have even walked on our 101 00:08:18,910 --> 00:08:24,829 moon we put robots on other planets we've looked deep into the past of the universe with mechanical 102 00:08:24,829 --> 00:08:31,230 eyes our knowledge and our way of acquiring and storing more of it has exploded the average high 103 00:08:31,230 --> 00:08:35,149 school student today knows more about the universe than a scholar a few centuries ago 104 00:08:35,789 --> 00:08:43,230 humans dominate this planet even if our rule is very fragile we are still not that different from 105 00:08:43,230 --> 00:08:50,750 our ancestors 70 000 years ago but your lifestyle has existed for less than 0.001 percent of human 106 00:08:50,750 --> 00:08:57,710 history from here on there's no saying what the future holds for us we're building a skyscraper 107 00:08:57,710 --> 00:09:02,190 but we're not sure if it's standing on a solid foundation or if we're building it on quicksand. 108 00:09:03,230 --> 00:09:07,870 Let's leave it with that for now. The next time you miss your train, your burger is not hot enough, 109 00:09:07,870 --> 00:09:12,429 or someone cuts in line, remember how special this made-up human world is. 110 00:09:12,429 --> 00:09:15,629 Maybe it's not worth being upset about all those little things. 111 00:09:17,740 --> 00:09:21,740 This video was supported by Audible.com slash Nutshell. In the making of it, 112 00:09:21,740 --> 00:09:25,820 we used the book Sapiens, A Brief History of Humankind as one of the major sources. 113 00:09:26,500 --> 00:09:29,240 If you want to get to it or any other book for free and support us, 114 00:09:29,500 --> 00:09:32,659 go to audible.com slash nutshell and get a free 30-day trial. 115 00:09:33,419 --> 00:09:37,299 It's so hard to read books when you have the internet, so we can at least listen to them. 116 00:09:37,779 --> 00:09:40,580 In general, we listen to a lot of audiobooks while designing our videos, 117 00:09:40,919 --> 00:09:42,519 so we can highly recommend Audible. 118 00:09:43,379 --> 00:09:46,460 Okay, this was our first take on making a history-related video. 119 00:09:46,820 --> 00:09:50,399 We'd love to make much more of them, but they take even more time than our average video, 120 00:09:50,860 --> 00:09:52,480 so we might do three or four a year. 121 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:54,279 Your feedback's very welcome here. 122 00:09:54,919 --> 00:09:59,000 Thank you so much for watching and if you want to support us directly, you can do so on Patreon. 123 00:09:59,379 --> 00:10:00,460 It really helps us out. 124 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:04,059 While you think about it, here are more videos if you need more distraction.