Something to consider: You are a decedent of *ALL* of these terrible years. Your ancestors lived through them all, even when most of the people around them were dying.
The question I like to ask is how did some of my ancestors live through a lot? Since the trait of having an upper set of teeth which start erupting more from the upper jaw when not having a corresponding a lower jaw set of teeth wn is it possible that one of our ancestors in Europe when small escaped the Vampire pagan trials in Europe. Whoever may have escaped that sort of thing would have spent some time in France before arriving in North America during the 1700's during the fur trade.
I recently looked up the rate of autoimmune diseases in todays population because it seems EVERYONE has something (I have at least 2, a third is being diagnosed but they’re not sure what it is yet. Yay). It’s weird. Anyway, my suspicions were correct, the rates are rising at an alarming rate and one medical theory is that it’s from the bubonic plague. People that survived had strong immune systems, passed it down and a strong immune system tends to attack everything, including it’s own host. Add into the mix the hyper hygienic society we have today (antibacterial soap anyone??) and it’s a given the rates will rise since the immune system has even fewer outside “enemies” to fight People are living longer today, so we’re witnessing and suffering the effects of our immune systems, whereas in the past we died pretty young from heart disease or farming accidents, childbirth, etc. but the ages that autoimmune diseases is showing up is getting younger Anyway, food for thought
Yes, speaking from a very personal viewpoint, I would say we (me and my family) are pretty strong people to have survived this long. But we are also privileged. For example, if I look at my ancestors, my dad's side is full of educated, rather elite people (say, barristers and doctors) and my mom's side had a lot of landed, titled people. I think both sides had at least some insulation against socio-political upheavals and natural disasters. That is probably why I am here today.
@@seitanbeatsyourmeat666 there’s also the fact that despite our population, we don’t have great genetic diversity. There’s a theory out there that humans went through a genetic bottle neck, or got close to extinction and due to the lack of genetic diversity we now have lots of health problems.
The problem with history is like the problem with the news... When times are genuinely good, nobody talks about it. So there may be a year that was amazing... Lost to history because people just enjoyed it for what it was. But seriously, the closest analog to covid was the Spanish flu, which killed ~2% of the population who caught it. Covid has realistically infected about 57% of the world's population, was likely deadlier than the Spanish flu in the first few strains, and has only killed an estimated 5.8 million people, for a death rate of about 0.12% Now, I don't mean to belittle the people who died, or the sacrifices made. But the cost of some rough times, and some high inflation is a small price to pay compared to having lost 1-3% of the population had we shut our eyes and done nothing. It doesn't feel like victory, but victory rarely feels good outside of stories and video games. I guess all that to say that things are far from perfect in the here and now, but in spite of our feelings and experience of the matter, times have quite literally never been better. Instead of viewing 100 years of progress as saving some 80-90% of people who would have died, we are much more focused on the 5.8 million of people who died, and navigating a world with less certain shipping infrastructure and higher inflation than we have seen in a while. Not about to say things are good. The world has lots of room for improvement on many levels. But at the same time let's at least acknowledge just how much better our problems are today compared to the problems we would have faced at any point in history. And I'll include the future in that as well. Yeah, an automation revolution, and global warming are huge issues that are about to rock our world... But at the same time, these are going to coincide with short and long term solutions that will allow the vast majority to live through these cricies in even more comfort than we have available today rather than less... Which is super weird to think about, because I'm not expecting it to be a walk in the park. And the future beyond that will have its own problems, but still an even better life for a greater majority of people than today. Not saying we ever get to a perfect utipian world... But first world problems will become ever more widespread, allowing us to be bothered by ever smaller issues that can wreck our day. It is the raised expectations (and demand for those expectations) that make us as a whole feel like times are darker than they have ever been, not the actual statistics of real life day to day living compared to any previous point in history. I guess what I am trying to say is that there is likely a time in history where the world population was happier and more satisfied on average, but if we tried to live in those times we would be absolutely horrified by what people felt were "good times". But who knows, maybe 2019 was peak humanity and I just haven't caught on the the fact that it is all down hill from here as society unwravles until we are all lost naked in the woods wondering where it all went wrong. But looking back at history gives me a lot of encouragement that we have not seen the best of times yet. Short of a major asteroid defacing a land mass, or a supervolcano going off, or an alian invasian of the mean human enslaving sort, there really isn't much that holds much threat to the everyday life of the majority of humanity. Global warming will suck... But we will also have air conditioning and indoor farming available to secure food and comfort for the worst of it. And it will be realistically fully mitigated within 200 years (the optomist in me is hoping for 100 years). Compare that to a volcano going off somewhere in the world that you have no way to know about and it up ending life for 100 years... That is a very different level of problem that poses very little threat to modern humanity. The future isn't good. But it will be a heck of a lot better than it is today.
I have been telling coworkers for years- it isn’t that “things have gotten worse” it is that they have access to information about a crime or event that happened on the other side of the globe about 5 minutes after it occurred. A huge part of it is simply access to information. Bad things have always happened- all around the world. We are simply more connected than ever before. Doesn’t mean things aren’t bad- but it is so important to keep that in perspective.
Yeah, SA and r*pe, kidnapping, and murder are all on the decline around most parts of the world, but because we hear about it 24/7, it just seems like it's happening more often so we take more steps to combat it. I had a friend who was scared to let her kids scooter the literal block to school when they had phones and were constantly connected
Is it possible part of it is age? I'm only 15 so I don't have any experience in being in the olden days but it feels like some people think things were better in the good old days but they were just happy because they were 4
Yeah I found myself bombarded with the horrors of Oct 7, even though realistically it doesn't affect me in the least bit. And then being bombarded by the news of the conditions in Gaza. And now an Earthquake and plane crash in Japan. It never ends.
Thank you for starting the video this way. I am a 5-time cancer survivor and what you described there is exactly how people feel when they are diagnosed. These things like "new normal" are told to all patients who end up with a new life altering dianosis. The point I am trying to make here is that we all have experienced a collective trauma. This uniting event should provide the backdrop for some incredible conversations. Recall when our politicians were screaming about how bad the mental effects of the lockdowns and mask wearing etc. This is the time to have conversations about mental health, depression and anxiety. We need to talk about addiction, abuse, and so many other society shattering epidemics that hit all of us, no matter your race or political belief. In the last 15 years i have had cancer 5-times and there were 4 different types. I have lost scores of friends to addiction, depression, and most of all cancer. I know I am not the only one. Love you all
I've also heard of 1942 as a strong contender for worst year ever. Bataan happened that year, as did most of the horrors at Stalingrad, and the fall of Shanghai. The Final Solution was agreed upon that year and death camps started opening up, executive order 9066 was signed in the US, the Manhattan project really got going, Guadalcanal was fought... WWII was overall pretty shitty, but 1942 has a lot of major hallmarks.
The first thing I thought when I saw this video was 1942. And also 1933 with Hitler's rise to power, and Holodomor, and the ongoing Chinese civil war. With so many bad years the 20th century was really the worst century ever.
Yea pretty much the first year that came to mind reading the title Mass murder both all over japanese territories and the eastern front, add to that the killing of 6 million Yews alone. Heavy shit
Should have stopped at the death camps. How can you seriously compare 9066 with the Black Death? The Manhattan project resulted in the end of major wars and paradoxically resulting in far more people than usual being alive.
“The Year of Hell" was the name that was given to the events taking place in 2374 by the crew of the USS Voyager, specifically a series of conflicts with the Krenim Imperium.
Which was immediately retconned with time travel shenanigans. The whole series should have been like that episode though, would have been a lot more interesting
@@ModernEphemera It's no coincidence that screenwriter Ronald D. Moore, who was working on Deep Space 9, barely worked on Voyager but instead created the reboot of "Battlestar Galactica" which is spiritually what Voyager should have been like.
@@ModernEphemera I fully agree. Voyager had the potential to be a good and gritty series. But, alas it wasnt. I still liked it as it helped me create a ttrpg campaign.
Apparently, we're living through the most stable, peaceful times in history. It's hard to see it that way when you're living in those times but our ancestors had to go through much worse! However, I feel like the fact they didn't know what was going on in the World was a huge blessing...
@@julied7546 No we aren't. Why is everyone so negative? At least where I live, we have a very low unemployment rate. Yeah people are struggling to stay ahead, but they aren't dying. They are still using Iphones for Christ's sake. I get sick of the complaining.
I literally laughed out loud when you said ‘Picture it! It was Sicily…’ and you put a picture of Sophia from the Golden Girls! It was just a perfect moment!
'Fun Fact' I remember reading about the Empress of Ireland. One of the reasons she was forgotten is the death toll was comprised of more crew than passengers. The crew had stayed at the posts as long as possible, enabling more passengers to survive. There are tales of crew taking off their own life jackets to passengers. Stewards stayed at their posts trying to close water tight doors to buy time for people on the decks above them, most of those assigned to the water tight doors drowned.
@@marlonmoncrieffe0728 She was accidently rammed by a collier on the Saint Lawrence River in Canada. The impact damaged the bulkhead between her engine and boiler rooms. Added to that, the portholes on her lower cabins hadn't been closed yet so when she started listing to starboard, the water poured in through the portholes, drowning many in their cabins. After a few minutes she lost all power while her crew tried to steer her to shore. She went down in 15 minutes. She did have more than enough lifeboats and rafts for everyone but many were unusable due to her list. As to why she is forgotten? My personal view is, she wasn't the most glamourous ship and it wasn't her maiden voyage. While there were a few famous and rich people on her, fewer of them died than on the Titanic. She sank on 29 May 1914 and WW1 started on 28th of July, 1914. The sinking just became one of the bad things that happened in that year.
As a full blooded Navajo I cam confirm we don't celebrate Columbus Day. In fact many tribes are trying to change the day into National Native Heritage Day. Here in New Mexico we not only changed it but now have a whole week celebrating Native Americans. Also Columbus didn't discovered Us, We discovered him lost at sea. 😂
Are we all gonna just forget about the Vikings? Or… do they not count because they stayed and it was in what is now Canada? Don’t recall where they first landed…
Native Day is neat, although i think a whole week/month is better due to the sheer amount of cultures and people to go over! “Explorer’s Day” could be a neat in my opinion. Essentially just cover humans desire to explore. From the first “Out of Africa” Migrations, to Crossing the Bearing Straight land bridge, to Polynesians navigating between tiny dots in the sea, all the way to astronauts exploring space!
I think calling it “Spanish flu” is such a cool piece of history in that Spain get credit for being able to report on it almost exclusively. I’m sure their reporting likely saved lives elsewhere in the world.
My understanding is that the Spanish flu was so named because the Spanish King at the time (Alfonso XIII) was one of the first famous people to contract it
@@DrinkTheKoolAid62 Partially, but the main reason was the turmoil happening outside of Spain. A VERY basic/reductive run through is this. Spanish Influenza broke out in 1918, which was around the end of WW1. Spain was neutral during the war, so while places like Germany and Britain and Italy had media that was highly censored and centered around the war. Other countries had cases of the Spanish Flu, but none of them were willing to openly admit to it. Maybe they didn't want to be seen as weak or vulnerable, but it was largely to boost morale as the chemical warfare and trench warfare in WW1 was devastating and horrific. Spain's neutrality allowed its news media to cover the pandemic extensively, which was kicked off when King Alfonso XIII became ill. Newspapers started speculating and rumors spread rapidly. He was the first known Spaniard to contract the illness. So its a combination of both. Spains neutrality and lack of censorship allowed it to speculate on the Kings illness and later became one of the only countries actually reporting on it, thus creating the illusion it began in Spain. Experts have a few different ideas on where it actually started- a hospital camp in France was said to be the center of the outbreak, but the first *reported* case (according to this historian in the early 00s) was a small town in Kansas. Edit: Haskell County, Kansas in January 1918. The historian was called Alfred W Crosby and he wrote this in 2003/2004.
And deep into the 1800s parents could expect something like 1/2 their children would die before reaching adulthood. Not the worst year but horrible nonetheless.
@@goblin3810 100 years ago you and I would prob be dead by 30 years old. Doctors did not wash hands until like 100 years ago, there was no anaesthesia. etc.. these are only two examples on top of my head. I am from Serbia, in WW1 we lost a very sad amount of men's population, I am almost certain I would have not lived long if I was born around that time. What was before WW1? Wild West? Victorian Age? Witches? Otoman Empire? Yes, I feel very very lucky.
"did they know they were living through the worst year ever?" - considering they most likely wouldn't have known much about the past and obviously nothing about the future, i'd say yes, they kinda knew. maybe they were like in that meme where bart says: "This is the worst year ever!" and homer smiles at him and corrects him: "This is the worst year SO FAR!"
chinese records from this year were impressive. They recorded all the major weather events and their harvests and we know it was a volcano from their records which also say they could hear a massive boom sound from the east. This led researchers to suppose the volcano was in Java, however records showed while there was an eruption there that century it might not be the one they are looking for. If it turns out that the boom came from central america, that is some mighty big boom. After tong-hunga volcano earlier this year I started to wonder, what if the volcano we are looking for can't be found cause its submerged now.
This is how I feel about the last few years, their is a lot more coming. Climate change in the coming years, this decade could cause a lot of problems. And our dependence on experts/factories/producers/specialists half way around the world is a huge problem.
@@autohmae i was laughing last night while watching John Oliver poke fun at Doctor Oz who was claiming he could solve the high gas price problem... As if world wide gas prices aren't going to continue to steadily increase for the rest of the century no matter what any single politician does.
"Surely if you put all your 20 something junior writers in a room with a bottle of whiskey and a bag of edibles" had me rolling. Hats of to you sir. That was some speech craft if ever I've heard it!
Thank you for taking the content seriously, yet livening the mood with niche jokes. Ma’s Sicily story time reference was a subtle but hilarious foreshadowing of the dark content ahead.
This episode was a really deep wake up call. In some of these examples, my ancestors WERE impacted, the "year without a summer" had to have. Not to mention all the others that made it through the "plages, famine, and floods".
Very informative. Thank you. I have actually studied these "years", and yes, they are all really bad. I think 1177 bc and 536 ad as the worse. I tend to put 1177bc as second. Eventhough 1177 triggered the Bronze Age collaps, these were still empires with infrastructures and institutes in place to try to "help" their people. Many of the empires collapsed, but there was help. 536 ad didn't have that. Yes there was the Byzantine Empire, but little else. Most of Western Europe was still suffering from the collaps of the Roman Empire. And then BAMB!!! death, desease, destruction...
IIRC, there is no single year that can be pointed to as the start of the Bronze Age collapse, and we don't really know specific years for many of the things that happened.
@@historybuff7491 Presumably by Eric Cline? He's got a few videos on 1177 and even wrote the book. One of his videos details why the book is called 1177 despite it not being all that accurate.
yup, beat me to it...1177 BC civilization came to a screeching halt, trade collapsed, and many people outright starved to death, in the 10's of thousands per nation state, from Greece to Iraq and everywhere in between. Rome hit hard times. Egyptian empire fell, Myceneans disappeared...
Ngl, my biggest takeaway from this video is that Joe needs to start a dating site for the single portion of his 16% female audience who wouldn't mind wading through any similarly single portion of the 84% male viewers. Come on, Joe. Hook a sista up with a smart single man in his 30s.
According to my RUclips feed its this year: “In 2018, medieval scholar Michael McCormick nominated 536 as "the worst year to be alive" because of the extreme weather events probably caused by a volcanic eruption early in the year, causing average temperatures in Europe and China to decline and resulting in crop failures and famine for well over a year.”
@@cjmassino The Ukraine invasion is based on lots of ripple effects from Russian history. One could argue that Muskovy's sacking and conquest of Novgorod in 1477 could be to blame just as much as 1914. History is complicated.
@@AceManning18 I literally just said that there were worse times. Do I have to break it down to a ten point scale and rank every era so as to not upset you with the possibility that I've over estimated its iniquity?
Joe your storytelling is top notch, love the journey you take your viewers on in every video. And sometimes the most seemingly random square block you fit into a round hole.
Dear Joe, I am happy with your choice of sponsor's hardware. I've been a proponent for double edge safety razors. When I was in my early 20s I bought 3 boxes, for like 35$, of these kinds of blades and it's almost two decades later and I don't think I've even opened the second box. I joke I have purchased all the razors I'll ever need.
Interesting take, similar yo "crime is the worst ever!", hysteria, while statisticly speaking, crime has been trending down since the 1980s. We hear more about it, so it feels like there's more, when there's actually less (blips due to the pandemic notwithstanding.)
What i love about this channel, is the objectivity, diversity and ability to make you see things differently and from multiply sides and think. Where do you find that in mainstream media these days.
Very interesting, i was actually expecting some older pre-historic examples for the contender of 'worst' year ever, of like very early human history, back when we sere still hunter gatherer nomads. Like if i remember correctly wasn't there a point where humans almost went extinct? like only a few thousand or so humans left? Granted this would have been like very early on in human history, but you know technically it still could be considered as worst 'year' human history.
We don't know for sure, but genetic studies do suggest our species faced exactly that sort of severe population bottleneck at least twice and possibly several times in its evolutionary history. There is also evidence of a more recent (~7,000 years ago, +/-) genetic bottleneck affecting only the Y chromosome, which is suggestive of hierarchical social structures that forcibly prevented low-status males from reproducing. For more information, see: Amos, W., & Hoffman, J. I. (2010). Evidence that two main bottleneck events shaped modern human genetic diversity. Proceedings. Biological sciences, 277(1678), 131-137. and: Zeng, T.C., Aw, A.J. & Feldman, M.W. (2018). Cultural hitchhiking and competition between patrilineal kin groups explain the post-Neolithic Y-chromosome bottleneck. Nature Communications volume 9, Article number: 2077.
I can recall seeing an article with a very nice animated graphic showing the expansion of humans around the globe. Ice ages had a pretty severe impact. More than a bad year, it was a bad few millennia with only a few isolated small, populations remaining. Most of the animations I could find now though seem to hurry over the deep time scales and only really focus non the last few thousand years.
Yet again ANOTHER volcanic event, this time the Toba Supervolcanic eruption - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20genetic%20bottleneck%20theory%2C%20between%2050%2C000,human%20populations%20sharply%20decreased%20to%203%2C000%E2%80%9310%2C000%20surviving%20individuals.
You always crack me up Joe. I can't imagine the internet without your channel. Been following you since you had 20k subs. Even the sponsor time is fun to watch
That deluge of tradedy is why I've largely stepped back from social media. I catch up on twitter about once a week usually, and facebook once every few weeks. It helps a lot.
4:10 The reason they blamed Jewish people was because the black death didn't actually effect Jewish people equally. Traditional Jewish hygiene and social practices were very good at stopping the spread of the illness. Communities surrounding enclaves of Jewish people saw them being less effected and deemed them to be the source of the plague. Small things like the avoidance of common wells and regular hygienic practices kept Jewish people cleaner and semi separated, thus less effected.
Awesome! Informative and entertaining. Your ability to discuss a downer topic with such a positive and educational delivery is a perfect recipe. Bravo ol'chap!
Careful Joe, few more of these and you'll be fighting with Kurzgesagt for the title of leading existential threat and general anxiety inducing nightmares channel. Thankfully your positive tone and optimistic perspective have saved you... THIS TIME.
All bad Years had Science-Denial in common. Makes me legit wonder: Joe Scott Fans, have you all seen the Video about the Discovery Institute of 'Professor Dave Explains'?
Eh, I don't watch Kurzgesagt anymore, it's a really politically biased channel that inserts public hysteria into what should be just pure science and gets things wrong as a result. It is VERY narrow in how it presents things and disregards everything else as being wrong.
I was dwelling on this general topic recently, actually triggered by reading updates on Ukraine. I was thinking about how it must feel as though this is never going to end for them, how excruciating the days must be. That then led me to think about Yemen, and places where unimaginable suffering has been going on for so long. I thought about the first and second world wars, when Europe was left a shell. I just can't imagine that in those moments, you'd be able to think about a future in which this experience is referred to as "that year" or "that decade." Its just survival. I think having friends from Ukraine, that personal connection has made it even harder to look away from the news, and it does really feel like every day is an age. So these periods of history in which there were civilisation ending events are mind boggling.
How about the year about 70,000 years ago where a large volcanic eruption (now Lake Toba) that created a human bottleneck and left approximately 2,000 humans alive on the entire planet? That was a near extinction event for humans.
Yeah... every time one of my younger colleques (in their early 20's) complains about that the last two years are the worst in history, I just think "have you EVER consumed ANY kind of Media that was made before you were born???" They wouldn't survive an hour in victorian London. And that's comparebly recent History
Considering the utter differences in modern vs. Victorian mindsets.. yeah. Your colleagues would be hauled off to Newgate Prison or the Bedlam Sanitarium in an hour! IF they were very, very lucky. My personal worst year was definitely 2018. Also the most expensive that I can remember… because US healthcare is completely borked and hospitals are pricey
@@icarusbinns3156 yet the American public nearly killed the baby-steps towards better healthcare that Obamacare was. But that's very much only America. I'm sure the Chinese feel quite differently about 2018.
Man right? Im around that age and what people had to say about covid was so…. ignorant of human history. Even recent history. Weve been through so much worse, and now in 2023 with no official ending quarantine is just forgotten 😐.
I disagree with you on a great deal, but you are so clever and thought-provoking that I can't stop watching. Keep it up. The edibles comment was pure gold. Green gold.
The term "Byzantine" was an invention of Renaissance historians who tried to diminish the legitimacy of Eastern Rome after the fall of Western Rome. It doesn't seem right that we keep using a term today that was meant to distort our view of history and disguise or at least downplay the fact that the Roman Empire existed well into the medieval age, perhaps even just shy of the beginning of the Renaissance. Justinian was known as the Roman Emperor. The "Byzantines" minted Roman coins, called themselves Romans, and were recognized as Romans by other kingdoms and countries and the capital and center of wealth and power of the Roman Empire had been in Constantinople for a long time when Western Rome fell.
The thing is, anyone that has at least a basic grasp of Roman history knows this, so, it really doesn't matter what the term is. We KNOW Byzantine is the equivalent of the Eastern Roman Empire, but if you got rid of that term it is confusing to label it as the Eastern Roman Empire because you would think "wait, are they referring to the government in Byzantium, or referring to just the east part of Rome during the days when it was still a unified empire?" It's about CLARITY now rather then trying to diminish Eastern Rome. Also, to be fair...a Roman Empire without Rome IS diminished, so I don't think the historians you're referring to were wrong either
Rome is a city. The Roman empire was the vast territory under at least some control of the city of Rome. The Byzantine Empire did split off from the Roman Empire, but it later had nothing to do with Rome. It made a lot of sense to give it another name especially given that they coexisted for a long while. It would be like Kazakhstan taking over all the other -stan countries in its vicinity and calling itself the Russian Empire.
@@chitlitlah But for quite some time that territory would include all of Russia (not all of the Russian Empire's territory, but the region them and later the USSR and CIS labeled as "Russia). Also for the comparison to be accurate the Russian Empire would have had to have lost control of Russia several times during its existence, and even having points where it its self controlled Russia but administered everything from elsewhere.
@@chobai9996 I think a term like the Medieval Roman Empire would serve fine to distinguish it from the Roman Empire of antiquity. The current term leads people to the misunderstanding that the Byzantine Empire was a completely separate entity rather than something the Roman Empire directly transitioned into over a long history. No one ever called themselves "Byzantines" or the "Byzantine Empire" and even after the final fall of Constantinople and well into the Ottoman Empire's supremacy over the region many Greeks still referred to themselves as Rhōmaîoi rather than Éllines The idea that we have to be able to easily distinguish these so we need the term Byzantine as a shorthand is a fallacy in my opinion and the term only helps foster misunderstanding. We don't seem to have trouble distinguishing Roman history in other ways like the Roman Kingdom era or the Republic era vs the Empire or the pagan Roman Empire vs the christian Roman Empire. When we need to be more specific we can just add any of those modifiers.
@@chitlitlah Eastern Rome didn't really split itself off from the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire subdivided itself for easier administration and actually at the time the western half fell Constantinople was the capital not just of the east but the entire Empire. The Western Roman Empire was the lesser half of the empire by that time and government in Constantinople was a continuation rather than a mere off shoot.
Yeah pretty much... unless you were an aristocrat or member of a royal family you basically toiled in hard labour you entire life just to feed your family and then died in your 30's or 40's...if you didn't get offed first by a plague or raiding army of berserkers.
@@i.b.640 the past was *interesting* We may think it was terrible but… was it all terrible? No. No, it most certainly was not. Sure, it has some bad spots. But that’s just humans being humans. *Humans* suck.
@@i.b.640 you’re right, humans can suck and be terrible but for the most part we don’t because unlike all other apex predators we have developed morality. We also have the ability to learn from our own history to prevent atrocities against one another. No other creature on this planet has done that, not even the ones who can compete with us for intelligence such as chimps and orcas.
@@i.b.640 good for you. I’d have died before I was one without the medical know-how of today. A diagnosis of diabetes used to be a death sentence. People were forced to starve to death. But mostly… humans still suck
I’m glad you mentioned 1492. It’s easy to forget the impact that expansion and colonialism has on indigenous populations. America’s war of independence led to 1788, the worst year in Australian history for our First Nation people.
@@nenmaster5218 Oh sure, and we know that some people will always fail to learn from history and repeat mistakes of the past. Still, nothing we're currently going through compares to any of the items Joe listed IMO.
@@kinjiru731 Well, that's a bit relative. Takig Steps back as a Society is proven to be possible, lemme just note that. So please goand watch Science-RUclipsrs and Atheist-RUclipsrs warn of Anti-Science being like literal ACID.
@@nenmaster5218 I'm an atheist and critical thinker. If I had a dollar for every video about the topic of anti-science rhetoric and legal maneuvering I've watched, I'd be quite wealthy. Pardon the phrasing, but you're preaching to the choir. It's not that I am discounting this very important issue, it's that our current times and year pale compare to those in the video. Now, if we're talking long term effects instead of a 'year', then the anti-science effects of climate change denial might end up being the worst thing to happen to mankind. But that's outside the cope of a year, obviously, so I am treating it accordingly despite its grave consequences.
so these so called "anti-science" is promoting using science product??? internet, social media,??? lol anyone saying anti science and using science product is hypocrite. go back to jungle with nothing, remember even spear axe tools is result of science. live in cave with natural rock as weapon to survive than i beleve they are anti science. if none they just trying to use a banner for personal interest
I find it fascinating that 84% of your viewers are men. I absolutely love your videos. You’re one of my favorite content creators, and I recommend your channel to my friends whenever I can.
i was so expecting you to say, "Allow me to make some recommendations. Instead of 'unprecedented times,' perhaps don't say anything at all." maybe i'm just sick of my every waking moment being bombarded by reminders of corporate greed and late stage capitalism
Great video. I always wondered what it would be like to live through something truly historic. I don't want to know anymore! And I'd be all for a razor video. Or maybe over on TMI. I used to get terrible razor burn from cartridge razors and electric razors. I switched to safety razors and it's been life changing. I don't understand why we ever switched. Cheaper and better. Only challenge is when I travel.
There’s a REALLY fantastic historical fiction book about 1347 called Domesday Book by Connie Willis if you’re interested! It’s not a cheery book, but so well written. Supposedly it took her 7 years to properly research the medieval daily life, and I’d believe it! It follows a time-traveling historian who’s going back to research the Middle Ages. While she’s back dealing with that, the “present” day (unstated slightly future time) is dealing with it’s own pandemic and all sorts of problems about trying to bring the historian back. It’s fantastic!
A lot of things you've lived through is historic. The pandemic is the most obvious, but also the entirety of the 2016-2020 election was pretty unprecedented. Also a bunch of firsts in terms of representation as more women and POC get elected to government
Wasn't it so that certain medicine cabinets had a slot for used razor blades, and they would just drop into the wall? That was nuts. Oh right, here: ruclips.net/video/k8PH0RT0yAk/видео.html
you are currently living through the end of human history......thats pretty big. That you don't even know it makes what I'm saying even more true. The phone and the internet were our downfall and we failed miserably. I don't blow smoke like the idiots talking about global warming or that think they have any impact on the outcome of this planet at all....there is no fix. There is a single branch of human evolution that we have followed and its a freaking dead end....we are at the tip...there is no reverse for evolution...thats why we'll never grow wings. I long ago gave up the notion of a god and things that somehow leave us feeling like we're so special...F we're so not special I can't even think of anything that will become extinct at a faster pace than humans...I guess that does make us a little special. Try to see a bigger picture...it's tough when you're so close to the matrix
I want to add a clarification. The map at 8:37, as its caption says, represents the military defensive alliance at the beginning of 1914. But Italy actually fought WW1 on the same side as France and UK, because before the war it was promised contested territories of Austria Hungary
@@digitalninja5941 Exactly, Italy after WW1 received less territories than it was promised, this is one of the reasons (with post war economic crisis and other) that led to the popularity of the fascist party
Joe! I think it would be so cool if you were able to do a video on the sea peoples and what their origins might be. Also, I love this video and all of your videos, this one in particular gives great perspective on how far we’ve come, and where we need to head.
I believe I remember that the spanish flu actually originated with the US Army mobilizing for WWI.. loading all the troops up into train cars and shipping them around the US for training and mobility to move overseas.
No that's the story that American media tried to present, the reason that the name "Spanish Flu" stuck, because it was reported as mainly or even only effecting army veterans returning from Europe. That was not the real source, it just happened Spanish media reported it when the rest of Europe's (and America's) media was under tight military-led censorship. Supposedly tying the illness to returning veterans would prevent panic. Unusually for a contagion, the young and those with strong immune systems were just as susceptible as groups with compromised immunity. The army story is a propaganda victory, not a reliable account of the global spread of the disease.
4:50 It wouldn't be named "Palestine" for about another 1200 years... It was called Canaan (as can be seen on the map you've attached). Then it would become Israel. And then the Roman emperor will rename it ro Palestine after another Jewish revolt and exile to detach the people from their land by changing it's name as well... History is a peculiar thing, if you truly study it.
Consider: 1453 when Constantinople became Istabul. This barred Europe's uninterrupted trading route with India and China and is what triggered the West to go look for other ways to get around to these trading partners, including going all the way around the world leading directly to Columbus and the horrors you mentioned.
Great video! I honestly think humanity could be on the cusp of utopia, and within our lifetime. AI and robotics could mean that the cost of producing *anything* will become so cheap everyone on the planet will be able to share in a standard of living only the richest enjoy today. It's also possible we'll live to see civilisation as we know it fall, and whoever survives will have to rebuild from near scratch. Let's just hope the worst year in history is behind, and not that tipping point ahead of us.
Yeah post scarcity, which to an extent already happened if you count food/basic needs (short of distribution…), is definitely near. Digital Fabrication in Agile Factories (even at makerspace scale!) can make *nearly* everything and are getting more and more powerful and even more automated! The main thing will be seeing if it leads to a sort of open source anarco-communist utopia, or a more “The Expanse”-esque jobless hellscape with uber-stratified wealth.
What I really appreciate about this is that it's not just years disastrous for Eurocentric people, but various points all over the world. A lot of times I see history lists that aren't explicitly tied to a region, it is heavily or entirely Eurocentric. So I greatly appreciate that.
Can I recommend a 13 month period? December 2004 to December 2005. - Indian Ocean tsunami - Worst North American hurricane season probably ever, and not just Katrina either. I mean it went all the way to Hurricane Wilma. - Iraq War still in full swing - Afghanistan War still in full swing - 8.6 earthquake kills around 1,000, injures another 1,000 in Indonesia - London suicide bombings kill 52, injures 700 - Helios Airways 522 has decompression, everyone passes out, 121 dead - West Caribbean Airways 708 hits mountain in Venezuela, 160 dead - Stampede in Iraq kills almost 1,000 - 7.6 earthquake in Kashmir unbelievably kills almost 100,000 Thanks to Wikipedia for some of this that I didn't have at the top of my head
I love your cool history vibe, man! Thank you for all the serious research with the injection of humour! And I really appreciate the inclusion of Columbus and the decimation of First Nations in the Americas. And, the inclusion of hairy women in your plug. Especially in COVID times, it's true. We hairy AF.
I do think context is everything. I say this because the list is a bit Euro-centric. That history is the most accessible so it makes some sense. Though I wonder if one were to go through the history available from the many cultures of Africa, Aboriginal Australian history. the Inuit, the Pacific Islanders, the countless civilizations in East Asia and Southeast Asia or other peoples across the planet. Some of these events(volcanic Eruptions) would have effected them, but others may have been the best of times where they were.
That’s what’s so interesting about 536 in particular because it’s so global. It’s a shame we have lost so many records to concur with it but what we DO have archaeologically, historically and existing in the natural world is wild. I wish we could have known the more in depth consequences in the Americas for instance tho. What is known is still little but we know SOME things happened.
@@sidneybutler8007 I agree it is sad that so much of human history has been lost. It is even more sad that so much of that history was destroyed on purpose by empires that took over, burned and discarded the history in order to instill their culture. The America's from Greenland to Argentina are I believe the worst of this. The dismissal of Native American culture and history as primitive is.... so frustrating.
Very interesting as always and I even watched the whole advertorial at the end because you made that interesting too. Can’t wait for your exposé on the price mark-up of disposable razors.
Best advertisement I’ve seen in a long time lol. Been using a safety razor for 11 years now and I can’t go back. I love it! Def gunna check out Henson now!
"My assumption is if you are watching this you're a mammal." LOL I think this is a very safe assumption and I want all those lizard-people-overlord-conspiricists to just shush.
Found the content to be quite interesting. As for the shaving, I've been using a single blade for years. So much cheaper and does work as good or better. I actually did buy a Henson but haven't used it yet. It's my Christmas present this year so it's still in the box. Looking forward to trying it out.
Thank you for pointing out my peoples eradication attempt on 1492. Its always so funny to watch european ancestral American people complain about immigrants.
I'm glad you can laugh at it, I just find it disgusting because a lot of them argue that "Might Makes Right" and since "they won" that shows how "great they were" and that it's an example of why they "need to protect this Christian Nation against the non-whites". 🤮
It's because of our global interconnected technological civilization, imbued with the power to destroy all life on earth, is being run by humans no more evolved than those who came before. The stakes are so much higher now. We know we are doomed.
Yeah it was terribble earning enough money with one full time job to feed house and clothe a family of five. While getting paid enough money to buy that nice home in the suburbs with a total of 3 years of earnings. And for what i spent today my pop pop could have sent a whole baseball team to college. Unless you werent white and american. everyone else in the planet was getting the short end of that stick.
@@StumpyDaPaladin my grandma lost her mother, her childhood friends and her hometown in the bombs and her father was traumatized and disabled by the war. he kicked her out at 16 and she had to sell her hair to not starve. then she met my pops who had to flee the iron courtain. maybe your family was more privileged but i prefer a rigged economy over a fascist dystopia
I've actually heard from some of my Hebrew teachers that jews weren't as affected by the Bubonic Plague due to the various religious washings we do (washing hands when we get up in the morning, washing hands before eating bread, going to the 'mikvah') and that the ritual cleansliness helped to an extent. While obviously the claim that the Jews were 'poisoning the wells' or 'using witchcraft' was obviously false, the fact that Jews werent as impacted was pointed to as 'proof' or so go my teachers. Not sure on the accuracy of this, I never got quoted numbers or studies, but I wanted to mention it when you made the remark about the illness affecting everyone equally. Thought it was an interesting example of older generations having practices that had positive consequences that they didn't know about due to the lack of scientific progress, again assuming it was accurate.
I love your content and I want to draw attention to the 16% that isn’t hairy hairy dudes 😂. This video was really interesting and I hope v you do more historical content like this !
Completely agree regarding communication and social media raising anxiety and causing people to feel worse about the world than in previous times. One factor is that news / media tend to cover negative events, which puts a large bias on our understanding of reality.
No offense but only weak people are affected by social media and news. Learning to think for yourself and looking at the big picture will lead you to personal freedom.
Of course it killed people in Indonesia seeing as how that was its location. He mentioned how Europe was effected to show the massive scale of the eruption. Not hard to understand that a volcano eruption in Asia reaching rhe other end of the world is bad.
At the 9:37 mark..."The Haha... YEAH, we're going there!" after Christopher Columbus's picture and 1492 AD flash on the screen got the biggest belly laugh outta me in awhile.... I appreciate the dark humor 😂
2015? The golden escalator? The nude model? The fake orange tan? Any of this ring a bell, or klaxon maybe? That was in my top 5 worst years of my life.
Something to consider: You are a decedent of *ALL* of these terrible years. Your ancestors lived through them all, even when most of the people around them were dying.
So true!!
The question I like to ask is how did some of my ancestors live through a lot? Since the trait of having an upper set of teeth which start erupting more from the upper jaw when not having a corresponding a lower jaw set of teeth wn is it possible that one of our ancestors in Europe when small escaped the Vampire pagan trials in Europe. Whoever may have escaped that sort of thing would have spent some time in France before arriving in North America during the 1700's during the fur trade.
I recently looked up the rate of autoimmune diseases in todays population because it seems EVERYONE has something (I have at least 2, a third is being diagnosed but they’re not sure what it is yet. Yay). It’s weird.
Anyway, my suspicions were correct, the rates are rising at an alarming rate and one medical theory is that it’s from the bubonic plague. People that survived had strong immune systems, passed it down and a strong immune system tends to attack everything, including it’s own host. Add into the mix the hyper hygienic society we have today (antibacterial soap anyone??) and it’s a given the rates will rise since the immune system has even fewer outside “enemies” to fight
People are living longer today, so we’re witnessing and suffering the effects of our immune systems, whereas in the past we died pretty young from heart disease or farming accidents, childbirth, etc. but the ages that autoimmune diseases is showing up is getting younger
Anyway, food for thought
Yes, speaking from a very personal viewpoint, I would say we (me and my family) are pretty strong people to have survived this long. But we are also privileged. For example, if I look at my ancestors, my dad's side is full of educated, rather elite people (say, barristers and doctors) and my mom's side had a lot of landed, titled people. I think both sides had at least some insulation against socio-political upheavals and natural disasters. That is probably why I am here today.
@@seitanbeatsyourmeat666 there’s also the fact that despite our population, we don’t have great genetic diversity. There’s a theory out there that humans went through a genetic bottle neck, or got close to extinction and due to the lack of genetic diversity we now have lots of health problems.
How about a video about what the "Best Year to be Alive"? It would be an interesting and maybe thought provoking to contrast the two,
That is as subjective as the worst year to be alive.
I agree maybe the best time and place?
The problem with history is like the problem with the news... When times are genuinely good, nobody talks about it. So there may be a year that was amazing... Lost to history because people just enjoyed it for what it was.
But seriously, the closest analog to covid was the Spanish flu, which killed ~2% of the population who caught it. Covid has realistically infected about 57% of the world's population, was likely deadlier than the Spanish flu in the first few strains, and has only killed an estimated 5.8 million people, for a death rate of about 0.12%
Now, I don't mean to belittle the people who died, or the sacrifices made. But the cost of some rough times, and some high inflation is a small price to pay compared to having lost 1-3% of the population had we shut our eyes and done nothing. It doesn't feel like victory, but victory rarely feels good outside of stories and video games.
I guess all that to say that things are far from perfect in the here and now, but in spite of our feelings and experience of the matter, times have quite literally never been better. Instead of viewing 100 years of progress as saving some 80-90% of people who would have died, we are much more focused on the 5.8 million of people who died, and navigating a world with less certain shipping infrastructure and higher inflation than we have seen in a while.
Not about to say things are good. The world has lots of room for improvement on many levels. But at the same time let's at least acknowledge just how much better our problems are today compared to the problems we would have faced at any point in history.
And I'll include the future in that as well. Yeah, an automation revolution, and global warming are huge issues that are about to rock our world... But at the same time, these are going to coincide with short and long term solutions that will allow the vast majority to live through these cricies in even more comfort than we have available today rather than less... Which is super weird to think about, because I'm not expecting it to be a walk in the park. And the future beyond that will have its own problems, but still an even better life for a greater majority of people than today. Not saying we ever get to a perfect utipian world... But first world problems will become ever more widespread, allowing us to be bothered by ever smaller issues that can wreck our day. It is the raised expectations (and demand for those expectations) that make us as a whole feel like times are darker than they have ever been, not the actual statistics of real life day to day living compared to any previous point in history.
I guess what I am trying to say is that there is likely a time in history where the world population was happier and more satisfied on average, but if we tried to live in those times we would be absolutely horrified by what people felt were "good times".
But who knows, maybe 2019 was peak humanity and I just haven't caught on the the fact that it is all down hill from here as society unwravles until we are all lost naked in the woods wondering where it all went wrong. But looking back at history gives me a lot of encouragement that we have not seen the best of times yet. Short of a major asteroid defacing a land mass, or a supervolcano going off, or an alian invasian of the mean human enslaving sort, there really isn't much that holds much threat to the everyday life of the majority of humanity. Global warming will suck... But we will also have air conditioning and indoor farming available to secure food and comfort for the worst of it. And it will be realistically fully mitigated within 200 years (the optomist in me is hoping for 100 years). Compare that to a volcano going off somewhere in the world that you have no way to know about and it up ending life for 100 years... That is a very different level of problem that poses very little threat to modern humanity. The future isn't good. But it will be a heck of a lot better than it is today.
1995
Probably like the 50s in a new suburban neighborhood in industrial america
I have been telling coworkers for years- it isn’t that “things have gotten worse” it is that they have access to information about a crime or event that happened on the other side of the globe about 5 minutes after it occurred. A huge part of it is simply access to information. Bad things have always happened- all around the world. We are simply more connected than ever before. Doesn’t mean things aren’t bad- but it is so important to keep that in perspective.
Yeah, SA and r*pe, kidnapping, and murder are all on the decline around most parts of the world, but because we hear about it 24/7, it just seems like it's happening more often so we take more steps to combat it. I had a friend who was scared to let her kids scooter the literal block to school when they had phones and were constantly connected
Is it possible part of it is age? I'm only 15 so I don't have any experience in being in the olden days but it feels like some people think things were better in the good old days but they were just happy because they were 4
Yeah I found myself bombarded with the horrors of Oct 7, even though realistically it doesn't affect me in the least bit. And then being bombarded by the news of the conditions in Gaza. And now an Earthquake and plane crash in Japan. It never ends.
I love history ❤❤ it gives perspective.
Thank you for starting the video this way. I am a 5-time cancer survivor and what you described there is exactly how people feel when they are diagnosed. These things like "new normal" are told to all patients who end up with a new life altering dianosis. The point I am trying to make here is that we all have experienced a collective trauma. This uniting event should provide the backdrop for some incredible conversations. Recall when our politicians were screaming about how bad the mental effects of the lockdowns and mask wearing etc. This is the time to have conversations about mental health, depression and anxiety. We need to talk about addiction, abuse, and so many other society shattering epidemics that hit all of us, no matter your race or political belief.
In the last 15 years i have had cancer 5-times and there were 4 different types. I have lost scores of friends to addiction, depression, and most of all cancer. I know I am not the only one.
Love you all
@@nenmaster5218 no
@@johndor7793 Oh.
Well, now you know about its existence.
@@johndor7793 Got some Watch-Suggests for me too?
@@nenmaster5218 I dont watch stuff thats recommended much unless someone explains why its worth watching.
@@johndor7793 Ok.
But i dont know how much explanation you expect.
I mean, it's a Science-RUclipsr, just like Joe Scott.
I've also heard of 1942 as a strong contender for worst year ever. Bataan happened that year, as did most of the horrors at Stalingrad, and the fall of Shanghai. The Final Solution was agreed upon that year and death camps started opening up, executive order 9066 was signed in the US, the Manhattan project really got going, Guadalcanal was fought... WWII was overall pretty shitty, but 1942 has a lot of major hallmarks.
The first thing I thought when I saw this video was 1942. And also 1933 with Hitler's rise to power, and Holodomor, and the ongoing Chinese civil war. With so many bad years the 20th century was really the worst century ever.
Yea pretty much the first year that came to mind reading the title
Mass murder both all over japanese territories and the eastern front, add to that the killing of 6 million Yews alone. Heavy shit
@@qazsedcft2162 Thats because we invented industrial warfare. Our capacity to kill one another went exponential.
Should have stopped at the death camps. How can you seriously compare 9066 with the Black Death? The Manhattan project resulted in the end of major wars and paradoxically resulting in far more people than usual being alive.
Im from bataan and my lolo (grandfather) is one of the lucky few who escaped the death march
1988 was the worst year in human history....my brother was born.
😂
Same here
So was mine!!! He's a real mess.
😂
Mao: "Politics is war without bloodshed, while war is politics with bloodshed"
Joe: "War is spicy politics"
I get compared to Mao a lot.
@@joescott What an honour
@@joescott It's the esthetics.
I've also heard it said "Diplomacy is war without bloodshed" etc
More like salty politics.
“The Year of Hell" was the name that was given to the events taking place in 2374 by the crew of the USS Voyager, specifically a series of conflicts with the Krenim Imperium.
Which was immediately retconned with time travel shenanigans. The whole series should have been like that episode though, would have been a lot more interesting
@@ModernEphemera It's no coincidence that screenwriter Ronald D. Moore, who was working on Deep Space 9, barely worked on Voyager but instead created the reboot of "Battlestar Galactica" which is spiritually what Voyager should have been like.
I thought that never happened. Also NX-01 didn't exactally have the greatest time in the Expance either.
@@RRW359 You mean expants...
The year with no pants.
@@ModernEphemera I fully agree. Voyager had the potential to be a good and gritty series. But, alas it wasnt. I still liked it as it helped me create a ttrpg campaign.
Apparently, we're living through the most stable, peaceful times in history. It's hard to see it that way when you're living in those times but our ancestors had to go through much worse! However, I feel like the fact they didn't know what was going on in the World was a huge blessing...
@@julied7546relatively good
@@julied7546 No we aren't. Why is everyone so negative? At least where I live, we have a very low unemployment rate. Yeah people are struggling to stay ahead, but they aren't dying. They are still using Iphones for Christ's sake. I get sick of the complaining.
@@jimmym3352In Syria they are not. There is a world beyond Europe/USA.
I literally laughed out loud when you said ‘Picture it! It was Sicily…’ and you put a picture of Sophia from the Golden Girls! It was just a perfect moment!
Same...first thing I thought of.
Lol I was going to say the same!
@@JessicaOrban3606 where is that exactly? I rewatch it and still couldn find it.
@@kentarouification 2:45 is when it happens
I was confused. Good catch!
'Fun Fact' I remember reading about the Empress of Ireland. One of the reasons she was forgotten is the death toll was comprised of more crew than passengers. The crew had stayed at the posts as long as possible, enabling more passengers to survive. There are tales of crew taking off their own life jackets to passengers. Stewards stayed at their posts trying to close water tight doors to buy time for people on the decks above them, most of those assigned to the water tight doors drowned.
What caused the sinking?
And why does the Titanic get so much more attention?
@@marlonmoncrieffe0728 She was accidently rammed by a collier on the Saint Lawrence River in Canada. The impact damaged the bulkhead between her engine and boiler rooms. Added to that, the portholes on her lower cabins hadn't been closed yet so when she started listing to starboard, the water poured in through the portholes, drowning many in their cabins.
After a few minutes she lost all power while her crew tried to steer her to shore. She went down in 15 minutes.
She did have more than enough lifeboats and rafts for everyone but many were unusable due to her list.
As to why she is forgotten? My personal view is, she wasn't the most glamourous ship and it wasn't her maiden voyage. While there were a few famous and rich people on her, fewer of them died than on the Titanic.
She sank on 29 May 1914 and WW1 started on 28th of July, 1914. The sinking just became one of the bad things that happened in that year.
Your presentation using humor even on the touchiest of subjects is refreshing and enlightening. Keep up the great work
As a full blooded Navajo I cam confirm we don't celebrate Columbus Day. In fact many tribes are trying to change the day into National Native Heritage Day. Here in New Mexico we not only changed it but now have a whole week celebrating Native Americans.
Also Columbus didn't discovered Us, We discovered him lost at sea. 😂
I for one stand up for a National Native Heritage Day.
Are we all gonna just forget about the Vikings? Or… do they not count because they stayed and it was in what is now Canada? Don’t recall where they first landed…
That's a change I can get behind.
That would be a wonderful change and hopefully by raising awareness, we can start teaching actual history instead of fantasy to our children.
Native Day is neat, although i think a whole week/month is better due to the sheer amount of cultures and people to go over! “Explorer’s Day” could be a neat in my opinion.
Essentially just cover humans desire to explore. From the first “Out of Africa” Migrations, to Crossing the Bearing Straight land bridge, to Polynesians navigating between tiny dots in the sea, all the way to astronauts exploring space!
I think calling it “Spanish flu” is such a cool piece of history in that Spain get credit for being able to report on it almost exclusively. I’m sure their reporting likely saved lives elsewhere in the world.
My understanding is that the Spanish flu was so named because the Spanish King at the time (Alfonso XIII) was one of the first famous people to contract it
@@DrinkTheKoolAid62 Partially, but the main reason was the turmoil happening outside of Spain. A VERY basic/reductive run through is this. Spanish Influenza broke out in 1918, which was around the end of WW1. Spain was neutral during the war, so while places like Germany and Britain and Italy had media that was highly censored and centered around the war. Other countries had cases of the Spanish Flu, but none of them were willing to openly admit to it. Maybe they didn't want to be seen as weak or vulnerable, but it was largely to boost morale as the chemical warfare and trench warfare in WW1 was devastating and horrific. Spain's neutrality allowed its news media to cover the pandemic extensively, which was kicked off when King Alfonso XIII became ill. Newspapers started speculating and rumors spread rapidly. He was the first known Spaniard to contract the illness.
So its a combination of both. Spains neutrality and lack of censorship allowed it to speculate on the Kings illness and later became one of the only countries actually reporting on it, thus creating the illusion it began in Spain. Experts have a few different ideas on where it actually started- a hospital camp in France was said to be the center of the outbreak, but the first *reported* case (according to this historian in the early 00s) was a small town in Kansas.
Edit: Haskell County, Kansas in January 1918. The historian was called Alfred W Crosby and he wrote this in 2003/2004.
Yes and it also sounds exotic. El flu española.. olè!! 😂
I heard a theory that the H1N1 (yeah. It was that flu) Spanish Flu was traced to US soldiers in… Kansas? To swine, naturally, but still.
And people were offended President Trump 🇺🇸 called Covid the China 🇨🇳 virus 🦠 😂
And deep into the 1800s parents could expect something like 1/2 their children would die before reaching adulthood. Not the worst year but horrible nonetheless.
and that’s in the developed countries. not long ago in i think it was bangladesh, parent could expect 1/5 children to live
I felt that intro in my soul. It's honestly infuriating to hear the same announcement about covid every 5 minutes in the grocery store.
I quite often talk with my friend about how lucky we are that we are born today. I really do feel grateful to be alive at this moment.
What, at the brink of the end?
@@goblin3810 100 years ago you and I would prob be dead by 30 years old. Doctors did not wash hands until like 100 years ago, there was no anaesthesia. etc.. these are only two examples on top of my head.
I am from Serbia, in WW1 we lost a very sad amount of men's population, I am almost certain I would have not lived long if I was born around that time. What was before WW1? Wild West? Victorian Age? Witches? Otoman Empire?
Yes, I feel very very lucky.
@@goblin3810 When are things not "at the brink of the end"?
Careful now... you'll get all the conspiracy theorists and doomsday'ers started.
Oh, too late!
Don't speak to soon .
I am so glad to see as an archeologist that you are not jumping on clonclusions as most youtubers do to appear more "flashy"
Love what you do
"did they know they were living through the worst year ever?" - considering they most likely wouldn't have known much about the past and obviously nothing about the future, i'd say yes, they kinda knew.
maybe they were like in that meme where bart says: "This is the worst year ever!" and homer smiles at him and corrects him: "This is the worst year SO FAR!"
"The worst year SO FAR"
@@BOTGRINDER ah, dammit! i'll edit that xD
chinese records from this year were impressive. They recorded all the major weather events and their harvests and we know it was a volcano from their records which also say they could hear a massive boom sound from the east. This led researchers to suppose the volcano was in Java, however records showed while there was an eruption there that century it might not be the one they are looking for. If it turns out that the boom came from central america, that is some mighty big boom. After tong-hunga volcano earlier this year I started to wonder, what if the volcano we are looking for can't be found cause its submerged now.
This is how I feel about the last few years, their is a lot more coming. Climate change in the coming years, this decade could cause a lot of problems. And our dependence on experts/factories/producers/specialists half way around the world is a huge problem.
@@autohmae i was laughing last night while watching John Oliver poke fun at Doctor Oz who was claiming he could solve the high gas price problem... As if world wide gas prices aren't going to continue to steadily increase for the rest of the century no matter what any single politician does.
"Surely if you put all your 20 something junior writers in a room with a bottle of whiskey and a bag of edibles" had me rolling. Hats of to you sir. That was some speech craft if ever I've heard it!
Thank you for taking the content seriously, yet livening the mood with niche jokes. Ma’s Sicily story time reference was a subtle but hilarious foreshadowing of the dark content ahead.
This episode was a really deep wake up call. In some of these examples, my ancestors WERE impacted, the "year without a summer" had to have. Not to mention all the others that made it through the "plages, famine, and floods".
Very informative. Thank you. I have actually studied these "years", and yes, they are all really bad. I think 1177 bc and 536 ad as the worse. I tend to put 1177bc as second. Eventhough 1177 triggered the Bronze Age collaps, these were still empires with infrastructures and institutes in place to try to "help" their people. Many of the empires collapsed, but there was help. 536 ad didn't have that. Yes there was the Byzantine Empire, but little else. Most of Western Europe was still suffering from the collaps of the Roman Empire. And then BAMB!!! death, desease, destruction...
IIRC, there is no single year that can be pointed to as the start of the Bronze Age collapse, and we don't really know specific years for many of the things that happened.
@@MiIIiIIion Agreed, but I like the lecture on it (using 1177 date) that was streamed...hummm about 2 years ago, I think.
@@historybuff7491 Presumably by Eric Cline? He's got a few videos on 1177 and even wrote the book. One of his videos details why the book is called 1177 despite it not being all that accurate.
yup, beat me to it...1177 BC civilization came to a screeching halt, trade collapsed, and many people outright starved to death, in the 10's of thousands per nation state, from Greece to Iraq and everywhere in between. Rome hit hard times. Egyptian empire fell, Myceneans disappeared...
The worst day in human history is when man created religion.
Ngl, my biggest takeaway from this video is that Joe needs to start a dating site for the single portion of his 16% female audience who wouldn't mind wading through any similarly single portion of the 84% male viewers. Come on, Joe. Hook a sista up with a smart single man in his 30s.
Im very suprised this didnt get mobbed with creepy replies
@@liamanderson8789 creepy people usually prey on people who are either particularly naive, young, careless or unwilling. this person is none of those
I love how Joe always ends his videos on such a positive note. What a guy
According to my RUclips feed its this year: “In 2018, medieval scholar Michael McCormick nominated 536 as "the worst year to be alive" because of the extreme weather events probably caused by a volcanic eruption early in the year, causing average temperatures in Europe and China to decline and resulting in crop failures and famine for well over a year.”
I like the idea that your RUclips feed is just pure doom and gloom
1914 arguably resulted in a series of unresolved conflicts including the current Russian invasion of Ukraine.
@@cjmassino The Ukraine invasion is based on lots of ripple effects from Russian history.
One could argue that Muskovy's sacking and conquest of Novgorod in 1477 could be to blame just as much as 1914.
History is complicated.
Which is thought to have also resulted in the plague of Justinian in 541.
Did you watch the video?
Anyone here in 2024?
Yes, still alive. Shomehow.
🎉
Yeppers
Thank you for changing our perspective and for trying to encourage everyone
Knowing that there were much worse times in history and everything worked out is in fact the only thing that gets me through THESE times
Worked out?
Lord these times are not even that bad chill your jets dramatic person
@@AceManning18 I literally just said that there were worse times. Do I have to break it down to a ten point scale and rank every era so as to not upset you with the possibility that I've over estimated its iniquity?
Yeah but things don't work out without people dying. You might die
Joe your storytelling is top notch, love the journey you take your viewers on in every video. And sometimes the most seemingly random square block you fit into a round hole.
'Post Decency Years' for the win! I literally laughed out loud.
In almost every way, especially in politics. Politicians don't have any decency or respect anymore, sad.
Dear Joe, I am happy with your choice of sponsor's hardware. I've been a proponent for double edge safety razors. When I was in my early 20s I bought 3 boxes, for like 35$, of these kinds of blades and it's almost two decades later and I don't think I've even opened the second box. I joke I have purchased all the razors I'll ever need.
Interesting take, similar yo "crime is the worst ever!", hysteria, while statisticly speaking, crime has been trending down since the 1980s. We hear more about it, so it feels like there's more, when there's actually less (blips due to the pandemic notwithstanding.)
What i love about this channel, is the objectivity, diversity and ability to make you see things differently and from multiply sides and think. Where do you find that in mainstream media these days.
Like when he tried to shit on ivermectin as a sheep dewormer when it’s been used in modern medicine for humans for decades ?
@@thegrayman69 I actually don't know about that. But is that the only complaint you have to invalidate my comment about his diversity and objectivity?
@@firstjayjay yes it means it repeats CNN talking points vs actually doing objective research
@@thegrayman69 so your would argue that 1 will invalidate everything
@@firstjayjay absolutely
Very interesting, i was actually expecting some older pre-historic examples for the contender of 'worst' year ever, of like very early human history, back when we sere still hunter gatherer nomads.
Like if i remember correctly wasn't there a point where humans almost went extinct? like only a few thousand or so humans left?
Granted this would have been like very early on in human history, but you know technically it still could be considered as worst 'year' human history.
We don't know for sure, but genetic studies do suggest our species faced exactly that sort of severe population bottleneck at least twice and possibly several times in its evolutionary history. There is also evidence of a more recent (~7,000 years ago, +/-) genetic bottleneck affecting only the Y chromosome, which is suggestive of hierarchical social structures that forcibly prevented low-status males from reproducing. For more information, see:
Amos, W., & Hoffman, J. I. (2010). Evidence that two main bottleneck events shaped modern human genetic diversity. Proceedings. Biological sciences, 277(1678), 131-137.
and:
Zeng, T.C., Aw, A.J. & Feldman, M.W. (2018). Cultural hitchhiking and competition between patrilineal kin groups explain the post-Neolithic Y-chromosome bottleneck. Nature Communications volume 9, Article number: 2077.
I can recall seeing an article with a very nice animated graphic showing the expansion of humans around the globe. Ice ages had a pretty severe impact. More than a bad year, it was a bad few millennia with only a few isolated small, populations remaining. Most of the animations I could find now though seem to hurry over the deep time scales and only really focus non the last few thousand years.
Yet again ANOTHER volcanic event, this time the Toba Supervolcanic eruption - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20genetic%20bottleneck%20theory%2C%20between%2050%2C000,human%20populations%20sharply%20decreased%20to%203%2C000%E2%80%9310%2C000%20surviving%20individuals.
The examples you talk of are speculative....these are recorded events.
taupo supervolcano 23,000 BC?
You always crack me up Joe. I can't imagine the internet without your channel. Been following you since you had 20k subs. Even the sponsor time is fun to watch
“In the beginning the Universe was created.
This had made many people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.” Douglas Adams
Love Hitchhikers!
That deluge of tradedy is why I've largely stepped back from social media. I catch up on twitter about once a week usually, and facebook once every few weeks. It helps a lot.
This was truly inspirational! Thank you!
Joe: A Henson shaver gives me a really smooth shave!
Me (looking at Joe's week-old whiskers): And just what the hell, exactly, are you shaving, Joe?
Legs?
His neck. Maybe other covered parts.
The wang
What an unprecedented video! Thanks for reviewing history and providing context Joe
4:10 The reason they blamed Jewish people was because the black death didn't actually effect Jewish people equally. Traditional Jewish hygiene and social practices were very good at stopping the spread of the illness. Communities surrounding enclaves of Jewish people saw them being less effected and deemed them to be the source of the plague.
Small things like the avoidance of common wells and regular hygienic practices kept Jewish people cleaner and semi separated, thus less effected.
Awesome! Informative and entertaining. Your ability to discuss a downer topic with such a positive and educational delivery is a perfect recipe. Bravo ol'chap!
Thankie!
Careful Joe, few more of these and you'll be fighting with Kurzgesagt for the title of leading existential threat and general anxiety inducing nightmares channel.
Thankfully your positive tone and optimistic perspective have saved you... THIS TIME.
All bad Years had Science-Denial in common.
Makes me legit wonder:
Joe Scott Fans, have you all seen the Video about the Discovery Institute
of 'Professor Dave Explains'?
Last Kurzgesagt was actually optimistic
Not 1 bit scared of COVID or pandemics, climate collapse, asteroids, solar flares, gamma ray bursts, wars, famines etc etc.
@@tomislavhoman4338 well sure I'll give you that, but it's definitely an exception rather than the rule.
Eh, I don't watch Kurzgesagt anymore, it's a really politically biased channel that inserts public hysteria into what should be just pure science and gets things wrong as a result. It is VERY narrow in how it presents things and disregards everything else as being wrong.
Super interesting and entertaining as usual. One of the best channels on RUclips.
I was dwelling on this general topic recently, actually triggered by reading updates on Ukraine. I was thinking about how it must feel as though this is never going to end for them, how excruciating the days must be. That then led me to think about Yemen, and places where unimaginable suffering has been going on for so long. I thought about the first and second world wars, when Europe was left a shell. I just can't imagine that in those moments, you'd be able to think about a future in which this experience is referred to as "that year" or "that decade." Its just survival. I think having friends from Ukraine, that personal connection has made it even harder to look away from the news, and it does really feel like every day is an age. So these periods of history in which there were civilisation ending events are mind boggling.
And just think; there are people alive in Ukraine for whom this is only the second worst war they've lived through
I had no idea I’m part of the female minority watching Answers with Joe. Makes me a little sad honestly, women are missing out.
How about the year about 70,000 years ago where a large volcanic eruption (now Lake Toba) that created a human bottleneck and left approximately 2,000 humans alive on the entire planet? That was a near extinction event for humans.
That never happened
That would be prehistory, but it probably would be the worst event to happen to humans ever to our knowledge.
Yeah... every time one of my younger colleques (in their early 20's) complains about that the last two years are the worst in history, I just think "have you EVER consumed ANY kind of Media that was made before you were born???" They wouldn't survive an hour in victorian London. And that's comparebly recent History
Considering the utter differences in modern vs. Victorian mindsets.. yeah. Your colleagues would be hauled off to Newgate Prison or the Bedlam Sanitarium in an hour! IF they were very, very lucky.
My personal worst year was definitely 2018. Also the most expensive that I can remember… because US healthcare is completely borked and hospitals are pricey
@@icarusbinns3156 yet the American public nearly killed the baby-steps towards better healthcare that Obamacare was. But that's very much only America. I'm sure the Chinese feel quite differently about 2018.
@@squirlmy I said it was my personal worst year. I do realize that a lot was and is still happening
Man right? Im around that age and what people had to say about covid was so…. ignorant of human history. Even recent history. Weve been through so much worse, and now in 2023 with no official ending quarantine is just forgotten 😐.
As a recently sick, I can feel the pain in your voice. Hope you'll get well soon
I disagree with you on a great deal, but you are so clever and thought-provoking that I can't stop watching. Keep it up. The edibles comment was pure gold. Green gold.
The term "Byzantine" was an invention of Renaissance historians who tried to diminish the legitimacy of Eastern Rome after the fall of Western Rome. It doesn't seem right that we keep using a term today that was meant to distort our view of history and disguise or at least downplay the fact that the Roman Empire existed well into the medieval age, perhaps even just shy of the beginning of the Renaissance.
Justinian was known as the Roman Emperor. The "Byzantines" minted Roman coins, called themselves Romans, and were recognized as Romans by other kingdoms and countries and the capital and center of wealth and power of the Roman Empire had been in Constantinople for a long time when Western Rome fell.
The thing is, anyone that has at least a basic grasp of Roman history knows this, so, it really doesn't matter what the term is. We KNOW Byzantine is the equivalent of the Eastern Roman Empire, but if you got rid of that term it is confusing to label it as the Eastern Roman Empire because you would think "wait, are they referring to the government in Byzantium, or referring to just the east part of Rome during the days when it was still a unified empire?" It's about CLARITY now rather then trying to diminish Eastern Rome. Also, to be fair...a Roman Empire without Rome IS diminished, so I don't think the historians you're referring to were wrong either
Rome is a city. The Roman empire was the vast territory under at least some control of the city of Rome. The Byzantine Empire did split off from the Roman Empire, but it later had nothing to do with Rome. It made a lot of sense to give it another name especially given that they coexisted for a long while. It would be like Kazakhstan taking over all the other -stan countries in its vicinity and calling itself the Russian Empire.
@@chitlitlah But for quite some time that territory would include all of Russia (not all of the Russian Empire's territory, but the region them and later the USSR and CIS labeled as "Russia). Also for the comparison to be accurate the Russian Empire would have had to have lost control of Russia several times during its existence, and even having points where it its self controlled Russia but administered everything from elsewhere.
@@chobai9996 I think a term like the Medieval Roman Empire would serve fine to distinguish it from the Roman Empire of antiquity. The current term leads people to the misunderstanding that the Byzantine Empire was a completely separate entity rather than something the Roman Empire directly transitioned into over a long history. No one ever called themselves "Byzantines" or the "Byzantine Empire" and even after the final fall of Constantinople and well into the Ottoman Empire's supremacy over the region many Greeks still referred to themselves as Rhōmaîoi rather than Éllines
The idea that we have to be able to easily distinguish these so we need the term Byzantine as a shorthand is a fallacy in my opinion and the term only helps foster misunderstanding. We don't seem to have trouble distinguishing Roman history in other ways like the Roman Kingdom era or the Republic era vs the Empire or the pagan Roman Empire vs the christian Roman Empire. When we need to be more specific we can just add any of those modifiers.
@@chitlitlah Eastern Rome didn't really split itself off from the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire subdivided itself for easier administration and actually at the time the western half fell Constantinople was the capital not just of the east but the entire Empire. The Western Roman Empire was the lesser half of the empire by that time and government in Constantinople was a continuation rather than a mere off shoot.
You can pick pretty much any time in history and it was a nightmare compared to the cake walk we have had in the last 40 years
Yeah pretty much... unless you were an aristocrat or member of a royal family you basically toiled in hard labour you entire life just to feed your family and then died in your 30's or 40's...if you didn't get offed first by a plague or raiding army of berserkers.
@@i.b.640 the past was *interesting*
We may think it was terrible but… was it all terrible? No. No, it most certainly was not. Sure, it has some bad spots. But that’s just humans being humans. *Humans* suck.
@@i.b.640 you’re right, humans can suck and be terrible but for the most part we don’t because unlike all other apex predators we have developed morality. We also have the ability to learn from our own history to prevent atrocities against one another. No other creature on this planet has done that, not even the ones who can compete with us for intelligence such as chimps and orcas.
@@i.b.640 good for you.
I’d have died before I was one without the medical know-how of today. A diagnosis of diabetes used to be a death sentence. People were forced to starve to death.
But mostly… humans still suck
@@i.b.640 I prefer animals. Birds especially. Did you know that magpies snore? And it’s the cutest thing ever
I’m glad you mentioned 1492. It’s easy to forget the impact that expansion and colonialism has on indigenous populations. America’s war of independence led to 1788, the worst year in Australian history for our First Nation people.
The Injuns still wouldn't have tge wheel if it wasn't for us? I'm sick of these lefty youtube channels spouting utter bullshit.
I think it's useful to think about these past struggles because it helps us realize that, put into context, our current times aren't all that bad.
But lots of bad stuff is literally re-emerging right now,
like Science-Denial.
@@nenmaster5218 Oh sure, and we know that some people will always fail to learn from history and repeat mistakes of the past. Still, nothing we're currently going through compares to any of the items Joe listed IMO.
@@kinjiru731 Well,
that's a bit relative.
Takig Steps back as a Society is proven to be possible, lemme just note that. So please goand watch Science-RUclipsrs and Atheist-RUclipsrs warn of Anti-Science being like literal ACID.
@@nenmaster5218 I'm an atheist and critical thinker. If I had a dollar for every video about the topic of anti-science rhetoric and legal maneuvering I've watched, I'd be quite wealthy. Pardon the phrasing, but you're preaching to the choir. It's not that I am discounting this very important issue, it's that our current times and year pale compare to those in the video.
Now, if we're talking long term effects instead of a 'year', then the anti-science effects of climate change denial might end up being the worst thing to happen to mankind. But that's outside the cope of a year, obviously, so I am treating it accordingly despite its grave consequences.
so these so called "anti-science" is promoting using science product??? internet, social media,??? lol anyone saying anti science and using science product is hypocrite. go back to jungle with nothing, remember even spear axe tools is result of science. live in cave with natural rock as weapon to survive than i beleve they are anti science. if none they just trying to use a banner for personal interest
I find it fascinating that 84% of your viewers are men. I absolutely love your videos. You’re one of my favorite content creators, and I recommend your channel to my friends whenever I can.
I am Italian living in spain and I really like you! You are doing great!
i was so expecting you to say, "Allow me to make some recommendations. Instead of 'unprecedented times,' perhaps don't say anything at all." maybe i'm just sick of my every waking moment being bombarded by reminders of corporate greed and late stage capitalism
You've taken the words outta my mind. Thank you for "getting" it.
💗💗🫂🫂💔💔
Great video. I always wondered what it would be like to live through something truly historic. I don't want to know anymore!
And I'd be all for a razor video. Or maybe over on TMI. I used to get terrible razor burn from cartridge razors and electric razors. I switched to safety razors and it's been life changing. I don't understand why we ever switched. Cheaper and better. Only challenge is when I travel.
COVID will be a footnote in history to be honest. Much less historically relevant than the Spanish Flu...
There’s a REALLY fantastic historical fiction book about 1347 called Domesday Book by Connie Willis if you’re interested! It’s not a cheery book, but so well written. Supposedly it took her 7 years to properly research the medieval daily life, and I’d believe it! It follows a time-traveling historian who’s going back to research the Middle Ages. While she’s back dealing with that, the “present” day (unstated slightly future time) is dealing with it’s own pandemic and all sorts of problems about trying to bring the historian back. It’s fantastic!
A lot of things you've lived through is historic. The pandemic is the most obvious, but also the entirety of the 2016-2020 election was pretty unprecedented. Also a bunch of firsts in terms of representation as more women and POC get elected to government
Wasn't it so that certain medicine cabinets had a slot for used razor blades, and they would just drop into the wall? That was nuts. Oh right, here: ruclips.net/video/k8PH0RT0yAk/видео.html
you are currently living through the end of human history......thats pretty big. That you don't even know it makes what I'm saying even more true. The phone and the internet were our downfall and we failed miserably. I don't blow smoke like the idiots talking about global warming or that think they have any impact on the outcome of this planet at all....there is no fix. There is a single branch of human evolution that we have followed and its a freaking dead end....we are at the tip...there is no reverse for evolution...thats why we'll never grow wings.
I long ago gave up the notion of a god and things that somehow leave us feeling like we're so special...F we're so not special I can't even think of anything that will become extinct at a faster pace than humans...I guess that does make us a little special. Try to see a bigger picture...it's tough when you're so close to the matrix
Honestly the best sponsor segment I've seen yet
Thank you Joe, This was well needed. 🙏🏾
I want to add a clarification. The map at 8:37, as its caption says, represents the military defensive alliance at the beginning of 1914. But Italy actually fought WW1 on the same side as France and UK, because before the war it was promised contested territories of Austria Hungary
Didn't Italy get screwed over on the territories that was promised?
@@digitalninja5941 Exactly, Italy after WW1 received less territories than it was promised, this is one of the reasons (with post war economic crisis and other) that led to the popularity of the fascist party
Joe! I think it would be so cool if you were able to do a video on the sea peoples and what their origins might be. Also, I love this video and all of your videos, this one in particular gives great perspective on how far we’ve come, and where we need to head.
I believe I remember that the spanish flu actually originated with the US Army mobilizing for WWI.. loading all the troops up into train cars and shipping them around the US for training and mobility to move overseas.
There's a Ted Talk out there that it started just earlier in horses in the midwest and Canada. Interesting theory tracing the genetics in the talk.
At the US Army germ warfare research station in Kansas ~ what a coincidence
No that's the story that American media tried to present, the reason that the name "Spanish Flu" stuck, because it was reported as mainly or even only effecting army veterans returning from Europe. That was not the real source, it just happened Spanish media reported it when the rest of Europe's (and America's) media was under tight military-led censorship. Supposedly tying the illness to returning veterans would prevent panic. Unusually for a contagion, the young and those with strong immune systems were just as susceptible as groups with compromised immunity. The army story is a propaganda victory, not a reliable account of the global spread of the disease.
patient zero in kansas (private albert gitchell) was a chef... what are the chances he contracted it from a bird he was preparing to cook?
i am confident that humans find a way to truly reach a new era of "unprecedented times". just give us a little more time joe. ^_^°
So this is where everyone is having fun. It's a beautiful thing to laugh out loud ..and learn something cool.
4:50 It wouldn't be named "Palestine" for about another 1200 years...
It was called Canaan (as can be seen on the map you've attached).
Then it would become Israel.
And then the Roman emperor will rename it ro Palestine after another Jewish revolt and exile to detach the people from their land by changing it's name as well...
History is a peculiar thing, if you truly study it.
Consider: 1453 when Constantinople became Istabul. This barred Europe's uninterrupted trading route with India and China and is what triggered the West to go look for other ways to get around to these trading partners, including going all the way around the world leading directly to Columbus and the horrors you mentioned.
I absolutely adore your work ! Live long and prosper, we need more of you !
Great video! I honestly think humanity could be on the cusp of utopia, and within our lifetime. AI and robotics could mean that the cost of producing *anything* will become so cheap everyone on the planet will be able to share in a standard of living only the richest enjoy today. It's also possible we'll live to see civilisation as we know it fall, and whoever survives will have to rebuild from near scratch. Let's just hope the worst year in history is behind, and not that tipping point ahead of us.
You are talking about a utopia that can not and will not exist.
Eh definitely not. Looking at our society, our politics and the wars and disasters: we aren’t far off from Ancient Rome
god i wish i had your level of hope and faith in humanity.
yeah lets just ignore the limited ressources on earth and the loss of jobs that robots will cause
Yeah post scarcity, which to an extent already happened if you count food/basic needs (short of distribution…), is definitely near. Digital Fabrication in Agile Factories (even at makerspace scale!) can make *nearly* everything and are getting more and more powerful and even more automated!
The main thing will be seeing if it leads to a sort of open source anarco-communist utopia, or a more “The Expanse”-esque jobless hellscape with uber-stratified wealth.
What I really appreciate about this is that it's not just years disastrous for Eurocentric people, but various points all over the world. A lot of times I see history lists that aren't explicitly tied to a region, it is heavily or entirely Eurocentric. So I greatly appreciate that.
One of the things I really like about this channel!
Lol what..
Can I recommend a 13 month period? December 2004 to December 2005.
- Indian Ocean tsunami
- Worst North American hurricane season probably ever, and not just Katrina either. I mean it went all the way to Hurricane Wilma.
- Iraq War still in full swing
- Afghanistan War still in full swing
- 8.6 earthquake kills around 1,000, injures another 1,000 in Indonesia
- London suicide bombings kill 52, injures 700
- Helios Airways 522 has decompression, everyone passes out, 121 dead
- West Caribbean Airways 708 hits mountain in Venezuela, 160 dead
- Stampede in Iraq kills almost 1,000
- 7.6 earthquake in Kashmir unbelievably kills almost 100,000
Thanks to Wikipedia for some of this that I didn't have at the top of my head
I love your cool history vibe, man! Thank you for all the serious research with the injection of humour! And I really appreciate the inclusion of Columbus and the decimation of First Nations in the Americas. And, the inclusion of hairy women in your plug. Especially in COVID times, it's true. We hairy AF.
I am also a hairy woman 🙋🏻♀️
I do think context is everything. I say this because the list is a bit Euro-centric. That history is the most accessible so it makes some sense. Though I wonder if one were to go through the history available from the many cultures of Africa, Aboriginal Australian history. the Inuit, the Pacific Islanders, the countless civilizations in East Asia and Southeast Asia or other peoples across the planet. Some of these events(volcanic Eruptions) would have effected them, but others may have been the best of times where they were.
That’s what’s so interesting about 536 in particular because it’s so global. It’s a shame we have lost so many records to concur with it but what we DO have archaeologically, historically and existing in the natural world is wild. I wish we could have known the more in depth consequences in the Americas for instance tho. What is known is still little but we know SOME things happened.
@@sidneybutler8007 I agree it is sad that so much of human history has been lost. It is even more sad that so much of that history was destroyed on purpose by empires that took over, burned and discarded the history in order to instill their culture. The America's from Greenland to Argentina are I believe the worst of this. The dismissal of Native American culture and history as primitive is.... so frustrating.
Very interesting as always and I even watched the whole advertorial at the end because you made that interesting too. Can’t wait for your exposé on the price mark-up of disposable razors.
0:30 was exactly when I inserted a plunger into a clogged toilet
I'm in the 84%
Also, yes, do a video on that razor price, I've always thought "it can't cost that much to make disposable blade cartridges. "
Best advertisement I’ve seen in a long time lol. Been using a safety razor for 11 years now and I can’t go back. I love it! Def gunna check out Henson now!
Brah, where’s 1939?
In terms of human history, 1939 ain't shit
"My assumption is if you are watching this you're a mammal." LOL I think this is a very safe assumption and I want all those lizard-people-overlord-conspiricists to just shush.
I just found this channel and it's fantastic! I LOVE history and science and your delivery and humor 🤣!
I'm a fan!
Found the content to be quite interesting. As for the shaving, I've been using a single blade for years. So much cheaper and does work as good or better. I actually did buy a Henson but haven't used it yet. It's my Christmas present this year so it's still in the box. Looking forward to trying it out.
Only 536 kids get this 😔
The start of this video is just so phenomenally funny & perfect. Thanks for brightening my day, Joe. 😎😎
Thank you for pointing out my peoples eradication attempt on 1492. Its always so funny to watch european ancestral American people complain about immigrants.
I'm glad you can laugh at it, I just find it disgusting because a lot of them argue that "Might Makes Right" and since "they won" that shows how "great they were" and that it's an example of why they "need to protect this Christian Nation against the non-whites". 🤮
i don’t understand why people are so pessimistic. look at what our grandparents had to deal with
It's because of our global interconnected technological civilization, imbued with the power to destroy all life on earth, is being run by humans no more evolved than those who came before. The stakes are so much higher now. We know we are doomed.
Yeah it was terribble earning enough money with one full time job to feed house and clothe a family of five.
While getting paid enough money to buy that nice home in the suburbs with a total of 3 years of earnings.
And for what i spent today my pop pop could have sent a whole baseball team to college.
Unless you werent white and american. everyone else in the planet was getting the short end of that stick.
@@StumpyDaPaladin my grandma lost her mother, her childhood friends and her hometown in the bombs and her father was traumatized and disabled by the war. he kicked her out at 16 and she had to sell her hair to not starve. then she met my pops who had to flee the iron courtain. maybe your family was more privileged but i prefer a rigged economy over a fascist dystopia
I've actually heard from some of my Hebrew teachers that jews weren't as affected by the Bubonic Plague due to the various religious washings we do (washing hands when we get up in the morning, washing hands before eating bread, going to the 'mikvah') and that the ritual cleansliness helped to an extent. While obviously the claim that the Jews were 'poisoning the wells' or 'using witchcraft' was obviously false, the fact that Jews werent as impacted was pointed to as 'proof' or so go my teachers. Not sure on the accuracy of this, I never got quoted numbers or studies, but I wanted to mention it when you made the remark about the illness affecting everyone equally. Thought it was an interesting example of older generations having practices that had positive consequences that they didn't know about due to the lack of scientific progress, again assuming it was accurate.
I love your content and I want to draw attention to the 16% that isn’t hairy hairy dudes 😂. This video was really interesting and I hope v you do more historical content like this !
Love your content!
Even your commercial for the razor was interesting. I usually skip them but I listened to your ad section.
Inordinate anxiety and doomerism is fuelled by a severe lack of education.
Yep...💔🫂💗
What about like 72000 BC when humans almost went extinct lol
Completely agree regarding communication and social media raising anxiety and causing people to feel worse about the world than in previous times. One factor is that news / media tend to cover negative events, which puts a large bias on our understanding of reality.
No offense but only weak people are affected by social media and news. Learning to think for yourself and looking at the big picture will lead you to personal freedom.
Love the concept of brushing at how the volcano killed a ton of people in Indonesia, but the real problem was how it reached Europe
Of course it killed people in Indonesia seeing as how that was its location. He mentioned how Europe was effected to show the massive scale of the eruption.
Not hard to understand that a volcano eruption in Asia reaching rhe other end of the world is bad.
When Justin Trudeau was elected as prime minister
At the 9:37 mark..."The Haha... YEAH, we're going there!" after Christopher Columbus's picture and 1492 AD flash on the screen got the biggest belly laugh outta me in awhile.... I appreciate the dark humor 😂
You are a hero. That spiel about don't remind us of things we all know and don't want to ruminate on any longer was choice.
2015?
The golden escalator? The nude model?
The fake orange tan?
Any of this ring a bell, or klaxon maybe? That was in my top 5 worst years of my life.
Everything ran smooth under Trump? Take off your lefty tinted glasses and actually look at how good things were? Wake up.
I’ve actually been wanting an old school razor like that! Thanks, my dude!
It’s disgusting that i’ve only ever heard of how Tambora affected the western world before this video. You are absolutely appreciated Joe.