Neil deGrasse Tyson - Columbus Discovering America Was a Great Achivement - Joe Rogan

So let me tell you that story about Christopher Columbus. Please. So... The dick story. No, no, I already told you the dick story. Yeah. No, let me tell you just something else about him. Okay. I think him coming to America was the most significant thing to ever happen in our species. Whoa. Silence. Not internet porn? No, that's just porn in another medium. Right. Wow. Yeah. So yeah, internet porn is just a matter of degree. Not a matter of... Yes. Does it exist or does it not? Right. Okay. I think it was the most significant event to happen in our species. Kind of amazing when you stop and think about the fact that at that point in time, other than the Native Americans who lived here who are living a nomadic tribal existence, very few people that had the wheel, that had firearms, that had all these things that had already been achieved in the rest of the world had made their way to this place. So now watch. Okay. Here's how it worked. Right. So you're going to hear... So I presume that you have some skepticism of this claim as most people would, especially the Columbus haters who are out there. All right. I don't really have any skepticism about it to be honest with you. Okay. So let me describe to you why I think this is true. Okay. And then you can tell me whether you agree or not. All right. We are hunter-gatherers. We haven't settled down yet. Early humans. And we're basically wandering. We're following the herds. All right. And then the Ice Age hits. Well, what is an Ice Age? An Ice Age means it is so cold that when the moisture evaporates from the oceans, goes to the clouds, the clouds go over the land, it doesn't rain, it snows. And the snow falls and then it stays. So the water that had lifted up from the ocean does not return to the ocean. It accumulates on the land. And this accumulation, when it's significant and sustained, we call glaciers. Glaciers is not itself a snowfall. It is compressed snow that's basically changed state into this ice river that flows very slowly back to the ocean. But the oceans are getting drained faster than they're getting replenished. So during the Ice Age, the ocean levels dropped. Exposing the Bering Strait land bridge between Asia and what is now Alaska. Basically North America. Our ancestors who come out of Africa, go into Europe, some stayed, others kept wandering. Some stayed low above the Mediterranean, others went high. They populate Asia. They keep walking because there's a land bridge there. They don't even know it's a bridge, it's just more land. So they walk and they enter North America. And from there, this kind of only way you can go is south at that point. The weather gets a little better. The Ice Age ends. The glaciers melt back into the oceans. The oceans level, ocean levels rise. Closing the land bridge. Stranding a branch of the human species. For 10,000 years. Those humans who made it across that land bridge and spread out into North America, Central America, South America, have only a few families as their parent genetic origin. Okay? It's like, some research says it's like eight family lineages, populated the entire North and South American continents. Then the land bridge breaks. Now you have Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America, and they know nothing of one another. Two separate branches of the human species. The Vikings notwithstanding, maybe they found, came over, they didn't. Even if they did, their influence was near zero relative to the Europeans. So we're talking about influence here. This is a branch. Had this continued? This is how you speciate. This is why the species on Australia, that's why you have mammals there that have pouches. All right? No other mammals do that. They split off and they evolve their own way. Okay. So 10,000 years is not enough to grow three heads or, you know, 12 fingers, but our species is separate. Now, Columbus crosses the Atlantic. Makes contact with humans. This is the first time that has happened in 10,000 years. We have rejoined two branches of the human species. We are now one common genetic group. And that genetic crossbreeding, now continues to this day. We fly to any corner of the world and mate. Okay? And the mating already began immediately. Yes, there were diseases that Columbus brought to North America, much written about that. Less written is that he brought syphilis back to Europe. First cases of syphilis of 1492. Whoa. And then it skyrocketed. They got syphilis from the Native Americans? Yes. Did they have no problem with it? Well, I don't know the details of how the physiology of the natives dealt with that, or whether it mutated. You know, and there may people know that. I'm not among them. That's fascinating. Just look at the graph of reported syphilis cases in Europe. It all began in 1492 when he came back. Whoa. So what I'm saying is, this was a hugely significant event. The rejoining of the branches of the human species. Yeah, I would imagine that that makes sense. That is the most important event then. And by the way, Native Americans, you know this famous infamous problem with metabolizing alcohol. Okay? With Native Americans. You know what else has that problem? The Chinese. They do? Yes. Really? Yes. Yes. So it's an Asian issue. Well, so, who stayed in Asia? So you look at who populated North and South America after the, you know, before the land bridge. It's whoever was right at the edge of Asia. Right. Then the land bridges. So Asians and North American and the natives of North and South America have more in common with each other because of this than most other pairs of groups you might grab around the world. But my point is, obviously, there's a lot to blame Columbus for, but he just happened to be the guy who did it first. Europe was coming to the New World no matter what. Everybody was trying to find a faster trade route to the Indies. And so if it wasn't Columbus, it would have been Arnold Schmednick. Whatever. It doesn't matter. Somebody did that. And the rest is, as they say, history. Wow. So personally, I think it is the most significant thing to happen in our species. Otherwise, we'd still be two stranded branches of humans. It would be fascinating, though, like Australia's stranded, to see what would happen if this has gone on for hundreds and thousands of years. If hundreds and thousands, that would have been a different story. Right. Yeah. And your immunities would be different. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, that's a good point.