From the description: Milo Rossi makes archaeology videos, and I really admire the research put into all of his videos (full bibliographies in video descriptions as well). He got his start in...
From the description:
In this video essay we take a deep dive into the enduring mystery of the African Humid Period or the Green Sahara. A period about 16,000-5,000 years ago when monsoonal rains brought a lush grassland to the Sahara Desert. We will be exploring the ancient civilizations that once called this land home as well as the biodiversity it once housed. All in an attempt to learn more about the mysterious and fascinating cultures that once existed in the Green Sahara.
Milo Rossi makes archaeology videos, and I really admire the research put into all of his videos (full bibliographies in video descriptions as well). He got his start in debunking pseudoscience and pseudoarchaeology on TikTok, but has since moved into also doing general history/archaeology videos as well. While I do think the whole video is worth a watch, I do want to highlight something he says at the end of the video as particularly good argument regarding the relationship between the lack of science education and the rise of pseudoscience and conspiratorial thinking, as well as a poignant statement on how modern day people think about those who came before us:
Quote from 55:20 to 57:15
By understanding the past, we can better interpret the future, and we do ourselves a disservice by not adequately teaching science and history. By teaching people these things, you give them the tools to be able to interpret it for themselves. I've said a million times before when talking about pseudoscience that the number one thing to combat pseudoscience is education. It's not me sitting here dunking on people. It's giving you guys the tools that you need to teach your friends how archaeology works. The amount of conspiracies that revolve around poorly interpreted geology blows my mind, and it blows my mind even more to know that none of this would happen if people had a single geology class.
But the thing about history and science is that it's something that requires a lot of work to be able to understand.
Science is not the type of field that you can just show up in and be like "Yeah, I think it's like that. And so it's like that." This is also why I believe people have a really challenging time conflating modern climate change with the way that the climate has changed in the past, because we don't have any education about this stuff.
But if we were to have any chance at succeeding in the future, we need to be able to look back at people as people, not as primitive barbarians, savages, or highly advanced atlanteans, or as the ever pious indigenous. We do so much to view our ancestors as something other than us. We either pedestal them to these ridiculous standards, or we crush them under our boot heels trying to claim that we have somehow gotten better than they were. But the truth of the matter is that neither of those are the case.
The truth of it is that they were just like us. These people who called the Sahara Desert home were not atlanteans or cavemen. They were people like you and I, people who thought like us, people who cared like us, who believed like us, people who buried their dead on a bed of flowers.
It's important, as archaeologists and historians, to not lose our humanity. I want you to not only think about how these stories impact where you are in the human story, what we can learn from them, what you relate to about them, or what stuck with you the most. But I also want you to think about what this means for us in the future.
If you know of any Youtube channels that have similarly well-researched long-form content on subjects you find interesting, feel free to recommend them here. I'm on a binge recently for that kind of video.
Two similar but not quite the same channels- Technology Connections - very detailed info on how house appliances and older technology works. Really useful if you are getting into DIY in your...
Two similar but not quite the same channels-
Technology Connections - very detailed info on how house appliances and older technology works. Really useful if you are getting into DIY in your house.
Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't - Ever wanted to hear the grungiest looking guy you've seen wax philosophical about plants? He truly loves Botany, and is a little rough around the edges but I love it.
From the description:
Milo Rossi makes archaeology videos, and I really admire the research put into all of his videos (full bibliographies in video descriptions as well). He got his start in debunking pseudoscience and pseudoarchaeology on TikTok, but has since moved into also doing general history/archaeology videos as well. While I do think the whole video is worth a watch, I do want to highlight something he says at the end of the video as particularly good argument regarding the relationship between the lack of science education and the rise of pseudoscience and conspiratorial thinking, as well as a poignant statement on how modern day people think about those who came before us:
Quote from 55:20 to 57:15
If you know of any Youtube channels that have similarly well-researched long-form content on subjects you find interesting, feel free to recommend them here. I'm on a binge recently for that kind of video.
Two similar but not quite the same channels-
Technology Connections - very detailed info on how house appliances and older technology works. Really useful if you are getting into DIY in your house.
Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't - Ever wanted to hear the grungiest looking guy you've seen wax philosophical about plants? He truly loves Botany, and is a little rough around the edges but I love it.
Stefan Milo
Historia Civilis
Horses
Trey the Explainer
Told in Stone
Enjoy! Thanks for sharing this.
This is my first time encountering this person's YouTube channel. Thank you very much for this.