This video is a timeline of human history and in it every single
centimeter is going to represent one year. We're starting our timeline at that
tree. That is kilometer zero, and we're starting our history timeline back when
our ancestors still lived in trees on the African savannah
that was 4.2 million years ago, back when they could barely walk - they were just
figuring out how, they sort of hobbled, they couldn't run like I can now. Since
that was 4.2 million years ago, to get to modern day we're going to have to run 42
kilometers. That's a full length marathon. Our short and hairy ancestors have a
long way to go, and so do I. for the next 38 kilometers of our timeline the
average human lifespan is only 20 years. Right now three people three
austrialopithecenes are walking on volcanic ash and their footprints will eventually
fossilize in what will eventually become Kenya and those footprints still in rock
today will be evidence that those people were walking mostly upright. At this
point in our timeline our ancestors have figured out how to make stone tools and
with them they can fill a rather unique ecological niche. What they do is they
wait for animals to kill each other and then once all the other scavengers have
picked the bones clean these humans could come in with their stones and
break open the bones to get at the marrow. There's no other species that can
do that. It might be kind of gruesome but it's a big step in our evolution and our
history. It'll be another 1.4 million years -
that's 14 more kilometers - before we have another big development like this. By now
like me our ancestors have started to sweat Homo erectus has evolved and like
me they're mostly hairless and their ability to sweat is a big deal because
it means that they can cool their bodies down while running long distances. We
sweat like no other animals can. An antelope might be a lot faster than us
but if we can outrun it, if we can literally run it to death, run it till it
overheats and we can catch up with it and have lunch. Running is one of the
defining characteristics of humans you could say we were born to run that's why
this is a marathon timeline. By now humans have figured out how to create
and control fire this is a very big deal in our history because it means we can
cook our food and cooking our food means that we can get more energy into our
bodies in less time and that means that we can feed the hungry of our human
organs that's our brain. Our brain takes a lot
of energy and by cooking food we can evolve bigger and bigger brains you
could say but fire literally made us smarter but humans aren't smart enough
yet for us to decide to call them wise men for that it'll take another 14
kilometres another 1.4 million years for humans to develop that size of a brain.
With only three kilometers left in our timeline till modern day that's 300,000
years finally now our species Homo Sapien evolve. Homo sapiens means wise
one because we have a pretty high opinion of ourselves don't we? A man
living right now will become the ancestor of all men. If you have a
y-chromosome like I do you can trace it back all the way to him. By now
our shorter and stockier cousins Neanderthals have evolved and like us
they use stone tools and fire but unlike us they will not make it till the end of
our timeline. There is a woman living right now in our timeline in Africa and
she will become the ancestor for all of humanity. Your mitochondria in almost
all of your cells as well as in mine they can be traced back directly to her. Right
now humans start to wear clothes for the first time right now in an instant a
giant volcano erupts and that creates a 10-year long winter and that winter
nearly causes the human population to go extinct our population plummets to only
around a thousand individuals somehow we make it through and we continue we leave
Africa for the first time Homo sapiens walk their way into Europe and they walk
through Asia to Australia but around this time
Neanderthals go extinct. We probably helped cause their extinction and in a
way they're still with us around 4% of my DNA is Neanderthal DNA but in a
literal sense they are gone forever but what a different world it might be if
they were lot walking -if they were walking alongside us to this day. By now
humankind's best friend the dog has been domesticated and we figured out how to
make twisted rope and cave paintings and pottery and now we make our way to North
America which means we are on every single continent other than Antarctica
there are still only around a hundred thousand to three hundred thousand
humans at this point but it's about to change. By now we've started farming, we
domesticate corn, wheat, and rice, and with farming we can settle
down and our populations can specialize. The human population explodes to two
million people
we start building with bricks we smelt with copper we roll the first
wheel into the Bronze Age and we start writing and with writing our thoughts
can take on a physical life of their own and that allows for human ideas to soar.
We create the first fractions, we figure out how to measure the size of the earth,
and we print the first books. Our population reaches 1 billion people.
We fly planes, we walk on the moon, and it's modern day. That is human
history. To go from walking on our hind legs to inventing the wheel that took 42
kilometers but to go from inventing planes to inventing rockets that could
fly us to the moon that only took 66 centimeters. That is exponential
development. But if you want to get a sense of how this timeline the human
history timeline fits into the story of everything we need an entirely different
timeline and I actually did that earlier this year by setting up thousands and
thousands of handmade dominoes in this warehouse when I made a history of the
universe in thirteen thousand and seven hundred and ninety-nine dominoes go and
check that video out if you want to get more context for what our story truly
looks like if you like this video and want to see more like it then please
give it a thumbs up and click Subscribe. For the record for logistical reasons I
ran the marathon and film the video on different days
I literally just ran the marathon like two minutes ago 42 kilometers is a long
way it took me 4 hours and 40 minutes to run it
that's not terrible timing it's just far but it was neat to like trace those
steps from a spiritually scientific sort of lens it was cool for me I'm gonna go
eat all the food and then lie down thanks for watching