Are Humans Domesticated? How We Got This Way 

Earliest record of Language is approximately 3500 BCE Thoughts on this episode? Edit: this video take 10 different rewrite reshots and I still don't like it 😅 Patreon www.patreon.com/CuriousTangents Discord discord.gg/Htcngbz

Me: wait it's all an accident? Travis: always has been *cocks gun*

*Humans accidentally make a society* -Yeah, totally meant to do that.

You can tell its trustworthy because he not only cited everything but also categorized it

"Tamed being used lightly of course. Their job was murder." 😂 My favorite video so far! Good job Kangaroo!

Hey Vsauce Michael here. What is domesticated.

you know too much. you are too powerful

Yooo thanks John Green. This channel is in fact hella dope. Binging time!

Reading through this comment section is why I love watching youtubers like this one, because they are always so active with their community.

Each one of your videos is like that thing I do late at night where I wanna figure something out and then I end up reading hours of just interesting stuff.

One interesting theory I read about was that the original farmers were traders. The oldest evidence we have for what type of food was farmed points towards alcohol (from barley). Which kind of makes sense when you think about it. A drug that increases social relationships (and allows for a bit of fun) being traded for actual food. Humans were so dominant at the time, we would have definitely been able to produce a surplus of food, so trading a bit away for some alcohol...

I cant donate to your Patreon but I can comment for the algorithm.

Humans Domesticate themselves -Task Was Failed Successfully-

Wow, this channel is a hidden gem. Thanks to John Green for pointing me here.

Commented for the Algorithm. Nothing to say about the video except that it's Awesome.

This was really interesting but the I think you missed the key advantage of agriculture that lead us to create modern society, surplus. While for a hunter gatherer, it almost always took about a 1000 calories of energy to find 1000 calories of food, with agriculture it is *possible*, in specific environments usually around river basins but more and more widespread as technology progressed for a 1000 calories of energy spent on food making to reap 1250 calories of food. Four farmers could then not only supply themselves but between them, someone else too who didn't have to work. This 5th person could specialise into doing something else, occasionally they would invent a better method or tool for farming or fighting (see stone --> bronze, bronze --> iron), which means more food, which means less people have to work eating food which means more people specialising and so on. This is how we went from 100% of the population involved in food production to just 2% today. It may be one of the best ways to measure how advanced a civilisation was, regardless of quality of life, we could not do what we have done if we never transitioned to agriculture and surplus although granted, it was likely worse for people to start off with.

As my favorite book "Sapiens" by Yuval Noah Harari says: Wheat domesticated us

I came here from Vlogbrothers. Watched this video and subbed. Great content.

hi, john sent me^^ i was surprised that left out the fertile crescent, because it always comes up in agriculture history xD

John Green from Vlog Brothers recommended you. I am so glad he did. Time to get no work done and binge the channel all day!

This is a really great video as always but I have to largely disagree with the somewhat romanticized idea of the affluent hunter gatherer. The idea was popularized by a study by American anthropologist Marshall Sahlins though it has since been popularized, as you mentioned in the description, by Yuval Noah Harari in Sapiens, who cites the work in the bibliography. There are a number of problems with the studies that Sahlins uses to support his claims, one notable being that the definitions of work often didn't take into account making tools, or processing the food, thus making it far far lower, among other problems with the work, so to say that they worked for less is just wrong. To further claim that hunter gatherers EVERYWHERE had higher standards of living and more leisure time is also a vast over simplification, as is the idea that they didn't ever starve or face hard times: they did. Many of the !Kung people studied would often complain of hunger, were noted to be rather thin, often rather short due to malnutrition and lacked ready access to animal fats. This isn't true everywhere and it varies from climate to climate, but that's the wonder of agriculture, it allows you to be a bit more secure in your food and what you'll eat. To say as you do that agriculturalists were always less fed than their hunter-gatherer counterparts is just plain wrong. Once again, it depends on where you are, some areas make better sense for agriculture than hunter gathering than others, different types of living make sense in different environments. This isn't including the high rates of violence found between hunter-gather communities or the fact that many would be abandoned if they couldn't keep up with the tribe which needed to keep moving, or the fact that hunting is far far more dangerous than simply farming. Hunting and gathering makes sense in many situations but claiming it's simply better than farming is a vast and romantic oversimplifcation. Sources: quillette.com/2017/12/16/romanticizing-hunter-gatherer/ global.oup.com/ushe/product/war-before-civilization-9780195119121?cc=us&lang=en& www.jstor.org/stable/3631086?seq=11#metadata_info_tab_contents

I applaud the breadth of your curiosity, knowledge, and intellectual analysis. I encourage you to consider returning to college. I'm not talking about the regimented sitting in classrooms with desks arranged in straight rows facing an authority figure at the front of the room. I'm referring to non-traditionally organized schools such as Goddard College, The New School, and the University of Boston where degree programs are designed by a collaboration between students and professors to meet the needs and nurture the interests of unconventional thinkers. Imagine being in discussion groups with people who share your passion for learning, understanding, and explaining led by a person who has dedicated most of his or her life to the study of your particular interests. Imagine the synergy that could come from such interactions

John brought me here and he did well!🙏🙏🙏 Keep it up bro!

Came here from vlogbrothers, really enjoy the way you explain things. That's a subscribe from me :)

I would die for Max.

Hey CT. Love the way you speak clearly and in a erudite way. If i can offer some criticism, It seems your vedeo could use some polish. around the 9:00 mark you repeat yourself and I felt you could have made the points a bit more concise. It waas an eye opener to realize that agriculture was transported by the people by mistake and when the ice age was over it florished. But i guess it stays true to its name and you end up giving so many tangents XD anyway. great video good work and cant wait for the next!

Best _tangential_ video yet. One relevant subject connection to the next. I initially was concerned that a 14 min video wouldn't keep my attention based on my knowing how your subject-linking apparatus works. But, I was again memorized. You must be a hit at cocktail parties? Gotta get you to deliver a Ted Talk. You must be getting busy, as you didn't respond to my comments in your last video. Totally understandable. You spoke about a "discord server" and somehow monetarily supporting that? I didn't see a link for that, or is it the same as Patreon?

Thanks for making this. I was wondering this for a while now and finally got around to looking into it. I like your approach to video essays: great editing, writing, and research. I don't know if you're still active, but you got my sub.

Interesting stuff, but one truth does not make another truth now false. I know you used 'agricultural accident' and 'lie' as a provocative 'counter arguments', but if humans found wheat more consistent and chose it over hunting and then that choice brought about less migration it wasn't an 'accident' and the outcome of that choice is not a 'lie'. I believe what your argument states is that the agricultural revolution had another effect that was not wholly physically beneficial and the ramifications of it was 'domestication'. While if true (and quite interesting), your 'lie' argument is not substantiated. Love what you are doing here. Look forward to future videos.

I knew cats were probably self-domesticated (mice eating human grain stores = cat snacks, plus we think they're cute and they use us for protection from predators) but I wasn't aware that dogs were maybe the same way. Cool!

Your dog is really cute!! 🥰

Awsome video, it didint seem like it was out of you're comfort zone. I really appreciate you're videos they really open up my mind and make me question everything and I'm sure alot of others too. Thankyou

Good video, how do you turn your accumulated knowledge into words so consistently and easy to digest? You know your stuff.

This episode is easily one of my favourites on your channel, love the variety of themes and thoughts coming together smoothly

Your vids are amazing. You deserve more views! :D

Great video! There’s a weird jump at around 14:05, just to let you know

You've covered so many interesting topics in such a short amount of time. Thankyou for your effort put into these.

I'm so glad I've stumbled upon your channel. It's ridiculously interesting, entertaining, funny, and thought-provoking.

Delightful! The common environment co-evolution theory of the human/dog story is only now becoming a serious consideration. We humans can be a self-centered lot! The idea that we became who we are because another being co-existed with us and helped form our modern being can be overwhelming to the arrogant. Love your work! Keep it up.

Dope channel, my dude. Channel's gonna go big.

I expect this channel to balloon in about 6-8 days - Love your stuff (kudos to john green for recommending)

DANG! This is one of the best science videos I've ever seen. I can't believe that our propensity to dislike violence is really just societal.

I loved this video. It gave us origins story and really and truly brings to the forefront why we will be the first contactors (came from the Fermi Paradox video) all the species variation and intelligences that we have was done by accident. In all the plants that exist, the situation to create us may never occur.

One of the most interesting videos I’ve seen on RU-vid. Please do more videos on this subject

This is really good work. Yuval Harari makes a similar point about wheat being the true winner of the switch to agriculture. I'm excited to watch the rest of your videos.

sent to this channel by vlogbrothers, already do not regret it

Nice one, I clicked on hoping for something a little more in depth but for the time given you couldn't really do much more. thanks, i'll keep an eye out for an up date.

Oh you got a LAV mic haha niceeeeee. Sounds really great :) And the video is of course fantastic. I voted for the topic in the community section so im super happy to see it.

Curious to know your thoughts about "The Power"! It has really stuck with me

Searching for that Discord link... Super keen, but I seem to be missing it

damn dude this was an awesome video but one question what camera do you use and what microphone because there is room for improvement in your production (; ‾ ~‾)

Incredible video!!! You deserve so much more recognition !!!!

nice vid, keep it up; proud of u

I love the brain behind you! Too overwhelmed by responsibilities right now but as soon as I get some time I am probably going to paint one just like it!

This was a great video. Very interesting

Great video. I was quite curious of this with many people saying "return to tradition"

Great video! I laughed when i saw you get exited after a good take and spring up to turn off the camera.

I am mind blown 🤯 This is by far my favorite episode from you

Great video travis!

This is great enough for me to just leave a comment to boost the channel but also awesome video thanks for getting into such nuanced subjects, specially the different types of evolution

great content, wish you got a better mic tho

That was do freaking educational. Thanks 😊

This is great and I hope the algorithm notices

Way to go, you flipped the script on our bad history stories. Great explanation.

Commenting for the algorithm. This episode wasn’t weird, I loved it!

Really enjoyed this. I’ve learnt about the industrial revolution. I never really thought about it being an accident and being a not such a good thing. Interesting take.

Excellent summary of animal domestication and human self-domestication.

Thanks for this! It's been too long since someone took such a big swipe at something I'd taken for established knowledge. I loved seeing such a different view of the topic. Moreover, for a video this size, I think you do a good job of doing the subject justice. This is definitely a subject I'll be looking into more.

Interesting and a much more realistic conclusion on the so called agricultural Revolution and Darwin’s suppositions. I think a lot of things were accidental, some good some bad and a mixture of both. Agriculture caused new diseases, increased animals eating the grain whom we than classified as pests, needed small predators to control that , weather conditions like lack of rain leading to drought, cannibalism and people hoarding leading to increased violence between humans, not to mention how to deal with the garbage piling up and where to put human waste, leading to water sources becoming polluted and water born diseases introduced to humans. Most ancient societies infants and toddlers were exclusively feed breast milk for 3 years before weaning because that became a time of higher infant mortality, introducing water, and solids. A child could be allergic to breast milk , if an alternative source i. e. Another women or animal source, the child died. Example - my brother’s Father-in- Law born in an German village before WW2- was allergic to human breast milk, they tried cow, sheep and goat milk and he would throw it up, losing weight and became very weak. As a last resort , an old woman suggested mare’s milk citing her great grandmother being a midwife and knew mare milk was good substitute from the generations of women before her. That information, lost by males taking over the women healers and midwives. They found a man in the next village with a mare with a colt and that saved his life, allowing him to thrive, grow up, immigrate to Canada, start a business, marry and have children , his daughter marrying my brother and giving me the privilege of being an Auntie to two nieces and being a part of their lives. One archaic piece of knowledge saved a baby’s life and my life was changed and enriched by this Man and family. How do I repay the debt owed to that Elder and her female knowledgeKeepers whose names are lost and lives unrecorded? We are here because of unknown ancestors. How do we make good on those Deeds of Hope and Sacrifices they made that led to me and you in this time and place? I would ask “Is there even a way to repay the Debt we owe”. If so, I believe we must once again become stewards of the land , respecting our natural world and protect it. Understand we must 14:43 14:43 seek healthy co-operation between individuals, communities and different cultures realizing our core ethnic group is Human of planet Earth not tribal associations that are social not biological constructs.

I read Humankind: a hopeful history by Rutger Bregman, definitely a must-read it is like the optimistic version of Sapiens from Harari and why most people are pretty decent.

Can’t think of anything funny to say so I’ll comment for video engagement, good vid btw

Bro you deserve more subs

I'm glad you made good use of Sapiens. I just love that book! I listen to the audiobook many times already. Another great recommendation, Bill Bryson's History of Nearly Everything.

We liked it. My son said it reminded him of Sapiens which I read to him last year (he's ten). I don't recall hearing about wolves domesticated themselves before, but it makes sense to hang around where the food is. Why do you not like the video?

Great video

First vid i've watched of yours! first of many

Great vid 👍

Very well spoken and concise. Great job this was very interesting

Super interesting video. Thanks!

my jaw dropped so many times, this was so interesting!! wild ride from beginning to end, i'll defnitely rewatch a few times because there was sooo many things mentioned i want to look into for myself, so glad this channel was recommended to me!!

3:37 **S T O N K S**

very good video very good knowledge

What’s so nifty about this to me is the ability to “revert,” or more accurately, adapt to becoming wild or feral when given the opportunity or lack of other option. Take peacocks or chickens for example. Many of us who keep these animals as domesticated (I have a flock of three chooks), hear the horrors of how they’re incapable of fleeing or are so susceptible to predation vs. a wild bird. But that’s not the case - plenty of chickens and peacocks escape and live the rest of their lives and are able to forage and avoid predation. Having had pigs, I’ve seen their feral counterparts seeking to make babies with them, and have little doubt that they could absolutely survive without human intervention.

This channel is fantastic. I thank Hank Green for pointing me here.

Great vid

There is way too much information in a single youtube video :D I'd love to have this split in parts somehow.

Hey man I have started a productivity and podcast channel and I would like to have you as the first guest of the podcast. Can you make it happen?

Not just a probable accident, but one that likely happened independently to three different human populations scattered around the globe at around the same time

One of the most educating and interesting videos I've watched! Great job! I didn't know that society was created as a side effect of agriculture (or by accident as you say) Very cool stuff 🙂

There's a conflict (or at least a tension) between 12:12 and 12:29....... one that our society would do well, IMHO, to think carefully about. (Being deliberately vague, because reasons... hopefully you understand me. Travis, if you'd like to hear more of what I mean, feel free to find me online (it shouldn't be too hard) and reach out. I'm not always prompt with response, but I'd happily discuss my thoughts with you if you wish.)

Fecundity is one of my favourite words. I like the way it feels in my head. The adjective form you used is a fine word, but I prefer the word in it's noun form. Fecundity.

This was a great video nice work! 👍

Hmm, a new way to look at things. Quite unexpected. Thanks mate.

This is a damn good video, I've been needing out over evolution and biology and biochemistry and genetics since college and there's a lot of cool info in here that isn't in other short documentary videos

What an interesting point of view. Unfortuantely it's hard to become a hunter/gatherer today :/ What also unfortunate is, that this awesome video has only 41 Views👀 you deserve at least a thousand times more

That is a really good episode. Now we're talking.

I just want to point out that there is a study suggesting agriculture was a much more gradual thing and that hunter gatherers dabbled with it as much as ten thousand years before it took hold, link below. So it might not be totally an accident, but it might not be as intelligent and conscious as we often like to believe either as insects such as ants have cultivated fungus and even farmed aphids for their milk for millions of years. Link to study: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150722144709.htm

This is a brilliant video!

Semantic quibble, I don't think the term revolution implies an intentional change. To me the agricultural revolution just means that it was a relatively sudden change that radically changed (revolutionized) some or many aspects of life whether the change was intended or accidental. Likewise I would not have said that people summarizing human history and talking about the Agricultural Revolution were saying oh and that was all intended and planned. However this may just reflect the fact I took an origin of human civ class 20 years ago and so had already heard these sorts of arguments and seen the evidence. To paraphrase one of my history profs history is a series of events that were accidents when they happened that were subsequently declared inevitable, so you no doubt have a point. I was reminded of an instance I read about in that human civ course of a hunter gatherer society that had the knowledge that you could farm crops and did occasionally plant yams to supplement their food supply but did not depend on such food for their subsistence and it was speculated that this might have been the situation of the earliest agriculturalists before they became dependent on agriculture due to some accident. Trying to look this up I found a reference to how New Guinea had a diverse range of ways subsistence was acquired including a range of societies where cultivated plants made up smaller and larger parts of the diet. This may have been the kind of instance I was vaguely recalling. www2.umaine.edu/climatechange/Research/projects/NewGuinea.html While looking that up I noticed an article with a different result that fits one of your themes domesticated plants also undergo characteristic side effect style transformations under domestication, such as developing larger seeds even for things that are not propagated by farmers via seed. You may have mentioned this sort of thing and it slipped my mind sorry. www.sci-news.com/archaeology/hunter-gatherers-wild-plants-04873.html On types of selection Darwin believed in at least three kinds natural selection, artificial selection (domestic breeding of animals etc.) and sexual selection. Some people just roll sexual selection and artificial selection under individual natural selection, but this suggests to me that whether or not a given thing is a different form of selection is going to depend on some pretty hairy semantic things and also unraveling various controversies in evolutionary theory. My very naive sense of the debate is that some people say look development X can only be explained by group selection (or sexual selection or whatever variant on selection is being debated), some will say X does not happen so no reason to posit group selection and other person may say X totally happened but it is explicable how individual selection concatenates to create what looks like group selection so no reason to posit group selection and so on. I get the sense it is a very difficult area to make definitive statements about... Anyway interesting stuff.

so basically bread ruined us.