How Humans Broke the Game | Tierzoo Reaction

How humans broke the game as explained by Tierzoo. Commentary on Neanderthals, thoughts on their extinction and a literary recommendation.
Original Video: • How Humans Broke the Game
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (paperback): amzn.to/3xs93Qj
Try Audible for Audiobooks: amzn.to/3QMwv2G
PBS Eons, When We Met Other Human Species on theories of neanderthal extinction and such: • When We Met Other Huma...
-Articles
South Asians probably have the most Neanderthal DNA: www.discoverma...
Neanderthal DNA: www.nationalge...
More Neanderthal DNA: humanorigins.s...
Could Neanderthals Speak: www.sapiens.or...
Hyoid Bone Analysis: phys.org/news/...
More Neanderthal articles from the last video:
Neanderthals speaking articles:
- www.bbc.com/ne....
- www.sciencefoc....
- www.syfy.com/s....
- www.haaretz.co....
- www.mpg.de/744....
Stanford Scientists link Neanderthal extinction with human disease:
-news.stanford.....
-Why did Neanderthals die out?: www.sciencefoc....
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[@onliwankannoli]

The spear is a superior weapon, from mere sharpened sticks down through the ages to even a bayonet on an automatic rifle.

[@Snipergoat1]

It's got reach and it's got sharp, the two most valuable things a hand held weapon can have.

[@gaming4K]

You mean we didn't put a bayonette on a gun but we buffed the spear? :O Interesting

[@DidntExpect]

@@gaming4K That's right. We gave a spear a projectile instead of giving a projectile weapon a spear. And bows and arrows? Those are just long distance spears

[@DidntExpect]

"It's all spear?" "Always has been"

[@withnosensetv]

It's just useful being able to poke things

[@DudokX]

Great book I would recommend about human behaviour and history of its evolution is "Behave" by Robert Sapolsky

[@jeffreysmith236]

So it sounds as if the extraverts took out the introvert neanderthals.

[@ub-4630]

[5:13] I've seen that video you reacted to

[@CrippledMerc]

After spears, some people developed and used the Atlatl to increase the power and distance that they could impart on the spears. It’s a really interesting weapon and I’ve used one before. It’s definitely not an easy thing to get the hang of, let alone be accurate enough to hunt with it. It was definitely an interesting and eye opening experience though. Edit: Oh goddamnit... He brought up the Atlatl just a couple minutes after I posted my comment, because of course he would. Oh well, I guess it’s good that he did bring it up.

[@DarkZodiacZZ]

I suppose atlatl would've made it possible for women to also participate in those dangerous hunts if necessary.

[@LadyDoomsinger]

@@DarkZodiacZZ Women were already capable of participating, the new weapon just made it easier/safer for everyone. The division of gender roles only really became a thing after the shift from hunter/gatherer to agrarian (farming) - a hunter/gatherer society *required* everyone of able body to pitch in to have enough food - hunters tended to be men and single women without children, gatherers were mothers, children, elderly, and the infirm.

[@DarkZodiacZZ]

@@LadyDoomsinger Atlatl let people substitute STR with DEX for throw distance calculations. 😁

[@LadyDoomsinger]

@@DarkZodiacZZ I suppose men have a +1 STR bonus and women a +1 DEX bonus when allocating attribute points for character creation? Not really a big enough difference to make one significantly better than the other, unless you go for a min/max spec.

[@johnritter225]

Atlatls are awesome. And, ironically, illegal in some areas. One can get arrested for having 2 sticks....

[@AbruptandOffensive]

Yeah, that’s true. Our ancient ancestors LITERALLY ran down their prey. All of the animals were way faster but could only run for so long. Early humans could just keep running at a job until the animal either died from exhaustion or couldn’t get away. That combined with our ability to stand up meant we could see much farther in front of us instead of down at the ground making threat recognition easier at further distances. The next trait that set humans apart is the ability to throw accurately. That allowed them to use rocks as defense against predators from a further distance.

[@PyrusFlameborn]

basically Humans are too animals what the original Terminator was to Humans. You can run but you cannot escape.

[@stonedmountainunicorn9532]

@@PyrusFlameborn So who's Sarah and John?

[@BigDawgOdin]

@@stonedmountainunicorn9532 Adam and Eve haha

[@a.e.gresel312]

The stone axe was also a powerful tool for early humans. Not only for killing, but also for tool making.

[@Soladrin]

For weapons, I believe it would be the atlatl, a tool that greatly increases the distance you can throw a spear/javelin. edit: oh it's in the video haha.

[@NoProtocol]

I also spoke too soon

[@AlbandAquino]

I was about to post that exact same comment. But I'm old now, and wise, so I waited until the end of the video and it got mentionned as you noticed :D

[@dennisfranklin8774]

agreed. The Atlatl most likely was next evolutionary step in weapon development.

[@johnmassey2980]

@@dennisfranklin8774 More like javelins/throwing spears, plus traps, nets etc. used by anatomically modern humans and did not have Neaderthals' high energy requirements, and so could live on smaller game.

[@DenUitvreter]

That reminds me of the Macuahuitl, a sword made out of wood and sharp pieces of obsidian. Any people that knew how to get sharp pieces of hard stone could make something similar, and it would probably leave too little for archeologists to identify as such.

[@curtisw502]

Something most people don't think about is that humans are also able to throw objects better than any animal. A simple sling with a stone could amplify that power even more making it a brutally effective weapon. 10-20 people with slings and rocks (plus spears) would have been more than sufficient to take on mid size game.

[@polferiferus1938]

That has the ring of truth. Are we believed to have had better aim than Nearnderthals?

[@SamuelChac0n]

Funny how our aggressiveness (one of the things that gave us an edge over other builds) is also our weakspot

[@Heywoodthepeckerwood]

It isn’t our weak spot.

[@Sprite_525]

@@HeywoodthepeckerwoodI think they’re talking about antisocial anger, not the war-like aggression that protects the group from warriors & predators

[@Heywoodthepeckerwood]

@@Sprite_525 who defines hat is anti-social? If you haven’t noticed, certain parts of our society love to change the definition of words and even behaviors.

[@nirfz]

What the tierzoo completely left out is differences in the immune systems of neanderthals and sapiens. Reacting different to "new" diseases and threats to your health can have a huge impact on survival of a species. Got this thaught from a video of the channel history with Kayleigh. She's dutch and mainly covers prehistoric topics. And in one about neanderthals, sapiens and denisovans (the 3rd of these 3 living at the same time, but mainly in asia) there was a part about modern day diseases where people with neanderthal DNA react different than those without. And it makes lot's of sense to me: look at the native/indeginous populations in africa, the americas and australia/NZ and what happened when the first europeans met them. Deaths on both sides by diseases one side had some immunity against or a treatment but the other side didn't. But more deaths by the native/indigenous populatins relative to their numbers than to the europeans. (My guess would be that it was the same with the neanderthals and sapiens.)

[@gavinbarrett2093]

I feel like you’d be that friend that has an answer to any question. Which would be really cool 😅

[@NoProtocol]

I don’t know anybody who has all of the answers lol

[@SeemsLogical]

@@NoProtocol You don't know Jesus?

[@mrloop1530]

@@SeemsLogical Cringe

[@gaming4K]

@@SeemsLogical I don't know a Jesus i've never met one. lol

[@Ripcraze]

@@SeemsLogical How can you be friends with someone you've never met or talked to?

[@martiuscastle]

Not just some people have Neanderthal DNA, unless a person is 100% african, they'll have some of that. I'm a mixed race brazilian and I got that DNA too. I love just how this fact messes with the preconceptions of "purity". Nature really doesn't give a rat's to that.

[@shadowzero3983]

I love game lingo, it was what got me into leaning/ and now speaking English, it played a crucial role in The formative years. I'd say gamify learning is the most efficient XP grind I've ever come across Much ❤️ from 🇩🇪

[@Buck1096]

The "atlatl" would be a good example of the progression of weapons at that time it was one of the first ranged weapons and it evolved out of throwing a spear. Edit: I now know the video actually mentions the atlatl later in the video.

[@thewhat6219]

My first theory was that the neanderthal were charmed, but thinking on it further, maybe they just took more energy to "run", and they had a real cost heavy "build". And I wrote this right when the narrator said energy was a factor 😂 I read the book and saw the movie, they really only cut a lot of the book's more dragging sections, and I think it's a pretty solid adaptation overall.

[@generalnawaki]

my head cannons been that they spec'd too far into the ice age tree and when the land heated back up they couldn't survive anymore.

[@noefillon1749]

Climate change (the end of ice age) might have been a key factor also I guess

[@MatthewTheWanderer]

I got a test from 23 and Me, but they didn't test for Neanderthal DNA back then, so I don't know how much Neanderthal I am. I just know I am mostly British, French, and German.

[@snuucreations1202]

I’m 2.5% Neanderthal, and I’m mostly Danish, Swedish, and English

[@CrosshairM4A1]

I have like 2 percent and I have slavic origins and I am mostly Slovak, polish and Ukrainian.

[@putzlumpen1498]

Every white European has Neanderthal genes, and everyone can imagine for themselves what effect these had

[@gustavobourguignon4995]

En Argentina le decimos "caracú" a la bone marrow y es delicioso

[@SaltyFrosticles]

I love seeing these through the "video game ranking" lens. TierZoo's videos are great 👍

[@SaltyFrosticles]

Also, I'm not cool with sending my DNA 🧬 since courts have ruled that we lose ownership of that "property". Losing legal control of your own gene sequence may not be a big topic now, but I can see it becoming one down the road. Medical and technological advancements can and will always be exploited for profit without protection.

[@NoProtocol]

The last time I read about 23 and Me specifically, it must have been back in 2021, but that was my initial deterrent as well. Perhaps they’ve updated their TOS and user protection but the curiosity of my genealogy isn’t strong enough for me to figure it out at this point. Seems like more & more people are doing it now

[@CrosshairM4A1]

@@NoProtocol i did it and it turned out i have more neanderthal DNA than 86 percent of population :D Thats like 2 percent of neanderthal DNA. When you do 23andMe you have a choice to keep DNA sample stored or they can just tell you the results and then just throw your sample out. disadvantage of that is they will not update your DNA results according to newest reseach.

[@Raaandy]

You seem like such a beautifully thoughtful person. I have really been enjoying your reaction videos. Keep up the great work!

[@sodinc]

I personally have around 1700 neanderthal genes. That is almost universal among populations that developed outside of sub-saharan Africa. Some have less, but an average is a bit higher than my number, afaik.

[@southbeatz8441]

Tierzoo is using mmorpg terminology. Those games have different servers of players. Some get into a lot of depth but for Teirzoo, you could sum it up as about 4 classes of characters. Close range melee characters having the highest attack power with high enough health to withstand damage. Ranged characters having high attack power also but lower health so instead they typically have higher mobility to avoid taking damage. The rest might not be all that relevant in Tierzoo but a good comparison would be healer/medic otherwise known as nurses and doctors in more modern times. The other class is more fantasy based as it deals in magic, mages, etc but I suppose a modern day comparison would be maybe a chemist, explosives & weapons expert? Those games sometimes have a tank character that draws attention of the enemy to deflect damage, absorb damage, etc but that wouldn't really apply to much of anything in reality unless you talk about the old days of knights wearing the big bulky metal armor.

[@conexant51]

It's safe to assume that the simpler the weapon, the earlier was its first use. As complexity of a weapon increases, so does the time it takes to develop it. But not only that, it also takes a very abstract thinking, creative mind to leap to a novel idea that hasn't been done before. *Edit* Wikipedia has surprisingly little info on ancient weapons, or it's scattered in sub-pages with few links. Can someone enlighten me, please.

[@OceanLily]

Girl what’s with the “they” instead of “we”? Are you not human?😂

[@yyakaemun]

Other human species are really fascinating. As you already have heard there are people today that have Neanderthal DNA, there are also people with Denisovan DNA which is an other different type of human. Basically, All population outside of Africa, plus North and East Africans (due to back-migrations) have Neanderthal and/or Denisovan DNA, while other Africans don't, but instead they have a third type of other human admixture which isn't present in the out-of-Africa groups. So what we have is 4 different human species that were able to create fertile offspring with one another, that doesn't much sound like different species does it. It's more likely that what we consider different human species were simply just different races of a single species. Given enough time they would have become actual different species though, and by that time interbreeding between the different groups wouldn't have been possible, but as we know, that did not happen as they reunited and started mixing and created the races we have today, each carrying some characteristics of the previous races. Really cool, interesting stuff

[@nashtrucker]

I think I've watched the vast majority of your reaction videos and can confidently conclude that you are a pretty awesome person.

[@LadyDoomsinger]

I recommend reading the *Earth's Children* series by Jean M. Auel - it's a historical novel set during the ice age, with a focus on the early human civilizations of Europe and the conflict between Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens. While the author did take some artistic liberties, it was based on archeological evidence available at the time of writing, though it is a somewhat old series, and thus some of the facts are a bit outdated and not entirely accurate based on what is currently known about that time period - but it remains a good read and a very compelling story.

[@emanuelparedes9187]

I dont know if I am part Neanderthal, but I sure act like it some times lol.

[@NoProtocol]

If you ever get your genealogy, circle back!

[@erikjrn4080]

Throwing sticks, slings, spear throwers, bows, and swords all came after the basic spear, and probably in that order. For hunting, the spear thrower and bow largely replaced the simple spear, but both are essentially implements for launching small spears. There were also weapons harder to place in a technological succession, such as various blunt force weapons and axe type weapons; they're definitely old, though (the basic wooden club possibly being the oldest of all weapons). None of them superseded the simple spear as a weapon of war. The first weapons to do that, in a general way (not for a short period, and not as part of special tactics or unrelated advantages) were the polearms of the Late Middle Ages and corresponding eras in non-European cultures (e.g. halberds). Even then, though the spear survived in pike formations and as lances, in good standing among the other polearms. Also, of course, the other polearms owed their existence to the simple spear, which transitioned through hewing spears, and then to the other polearms. The spear remained superior to guns as a mass formation weapon until the development of the musket. Even after that, pikes remained common in the role of defending musketeers, for cavalry (lancers), and then persisted as a backup weapon to firearms, in the form of the mounted bayonet. Lancers were still used in WWI, and bayonets were basic equipment in WWII, but declined after that. There are still military guns that can be mounted with knives/bayonets, tough they're mostly obsolete, now. So, what weapon finally made the spear fully obsolete? The automatic rifle. The spear has been decisive for the success of our species for hundreds of thousands of years; several thousand times longer than firearms. It's _that_ impressive.

[@johnmassey2980]

Homo went from purely thrusting spears (Neanderthals, which meant they were not the apex predators) to projectile weapons. A progression would be throwing spears/javelins, to javelins thrown with more force using atlatls (spear throwers - and they do make a very big difference), to bows and arrows, and bows and poisoned arrows. The Khoisan hunters use only weak bows but they poison their arrows.

[@andrews.5212]

Last time i read anything about nearderthal vs sapien relation the leading hypothesis was that a combination of less food requirement, outbreeding and interbreeding lead to the slow death of the nearderthal. Is it possible that nearderthal had smaller, more fragile, social tribes but that is impossible to prove. Your notes and resources are always a blessing. Being an historian by passion is always a pleasure. Do you keep spreadsheets divided by arguments? (i used to xD ) Small aside: I bet many people don't recognized that the game sounds and HP visual come from oldschool "Runescape" mine, and many others, first Online RPG. :D (i'm old xD )

[@DrBojangles007]

Very true, I think most of our theories are mostly speculative but I think bigger pack size would have given us a huge advantage. Also being physically weaker and having to fine tune the coordination with each other and adapt the tools used to bring down large game would have also given us a tactical edge when battling the less cohesive Neanderthals

[@rugbyfan808]

Holy shit you are beautiful

[@thegreatwolf5673]

Hello, just discovered this channel and its amazing! Interesting topics, good chat and if you don't mind me saying so, such a beautiful smile! Keep up the good work!

[@julius43461]

Girl just playing life on easy mode am I right?

[@robinchwan]

bone club/wod club>stone>pointy stick>group hunt>throwable pointy stick>fire>pointy stone stick>bow and arrow(wooden)>bow and arrow stone tip> then comes metal when agriculture and fishing is established along with settlements. taming also happened around the time settlements happened ( wolves and cats)

[@creemoon9546]

3:12 A spear-thrower, spear-throwing lever or atlatl (pronounced /ˈætlætəl/[1] or /ˈɑːtlɑːtəl/;[2] Nahuatl ahtlatl [ˈaʔt͡ɬat͡ɬ]) is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart or javelin-throwing, and includes a bearing surface which allows the user to store energy during the throw. stay curious yall :)

[@FrenchCelt]

According to LivingDNA, my Neanderthal percentage is 2.26% (Denisovan percentage is 0.19%). As for Ready Player One, I thought the book was ok, but Wade was a total Marty Stu. He basically walked his way from one victory to the next with no catalyst for character growth. The movie was way better in terms of character development. The changes they made were primarily to the challenges, and probably for the best as well. I don't think watching Wade play Joust against a lich would make for great entertainment on the big screen, for example, or playing through a WarGames or Monty Python and the Holy Grail re-enactment (never mind getting the rights and having to CGI/deepfake that). Those things were fine in the book, but I can't reiterate enough how much of a dud I thought book Wade was vs. movie Wade.

[@krarch6959]

I once heard the really far fetched, but still interesting theory that Euskara, a language spoken in northern spain could have some really old roots in the neanderthal's language, because there is no linguistic connection to any other language we know today, and the pyrenees are the place where we think the last neanderthals lived :) but like I said, really far fetched^^

[@JL3Wind]

Probably not, it’s a neat idea but the indo-european language expansion happened relatively late in sapiens’ history in Europe and the Basque language and the larger language group that it probably belonged to might even have replaced even earlier languages spoken by the first hunter gatherers in Europe, with it possibly being spread with the neolithic farmers a couple of thousand years prior to the indo-european invaders.

[@leemcintyre3943]

Some of the books that you've mentioned are my favorite books. I really wish you would make a simple vid of your favorite books and why! I also respect your privacy and have noticed that you don't expose your life to the world. I love that aspect of your channel. Thank You!!!

[@SerGio-mw9pc]

The evolution of weapons: stone -> bone -> iron -> spears, swords, arrows -> crossbow n gunpowder -> canons -> semi-automatic rifles -> tanks, steamboats, aeroplanes -> flamethrower, poisonous gas -> automatic rifles, jets, atomic bombs -> missiles, nuclear/hydrogen bombs (the most destructive so far) -> prediction: lasers, fussion bombs, potent viruses. No other players in the current build can compete with humans since we unlock gunpowder.

[@jasonnchuleft894]

In order of appearance in the archeological record as far as I'm aware: Clubs, Shivs, Spears, Throwing Spears, Shields, Axes, Short Pikes, Slingshots / Stone Bolas, Bow and Arrow, Knives / Swords, Composite Bows. As for your other question: 1.8% Neanderthal from Germany ^^

[@TheHarrip]

Weapon evolution. Sticks, stones, sharp stones, spear sticks, stone tip spears, slingshots, boomerang, woomeras/throwing sticks, bow and arrow, crossbow, then us....😮

[@Hugh_Jaynis]

Lookin fine!

[@unfinishedsenten]

I watched this with my dad, he really loved it. But I had to explain some words, especially since we live in a non-English speaking country. He speaks English just fine, just.. Normal English, he doesn't know any slang.. Jesus Christ just using the word "slang" feels wrong. Anyway, here are the highlights: Nerf: make something less effective (taken from Nerf-gun with soft bullets) Buff: make something more effective (buff up your muscles) OP: overpowered, too good compared to the others (current) Meta: what is the currently best selection of the roaster available basically Build: how your attributes are distributed XP: experience points, means you've gotten better at something. Get enough and you can level that particular skill. Level: improve/upgrade Think that's about it. He's 75 years. Still thought it was funny with the game comparison.

[@notthemama7296]

The 1-2% is only relatively "low", if you work it back half each generation 0: 100% 1:50% 2: 25% 3:12.5%, 4: 6.25% 5: 3.125% 6: 1.56% then having 1-2% Neanderthal DNA on average is like having a full blooded Neanderthal within 5-6 generations of you so "Low" is really all more about how you look at it. From my understanding it is manly sub Saharan Africans who do not have any really notable amount of Neanderthal DNA. Probalby because the humans that evolved for the ice age could not cross the huge dessert but could cross the bering strait pretty easily but humans evolved for the Savanah could get through the desert and brought their DNA up so a one way trade.

[@bakersmileyface]

I think the development of weapons went something like this (totally might be wrong, it's just guesswork based off of what little I know) Stones - Spears - Slings - Bows - Cavalry - Bronze weapons (and armour) - catapults, ballista, crossbows etc. - Iron and steel - Cannons - Matchlock - Flintlock - Missiles - Breech loading rifles - machine guns - bombs - atomic bombs - hdrogen bombs - Ballistic missiles.

[@MrVvulf]

5:20 My hypothesis would be multifaceted, but the primary reason they went extinct would be cultural. Neanderthals lived in smaller groups and a much lower overall population. Therefore, the results of either conflicts or interbreeding with Homo Sapiens Sapiens (modern humans) would lead inevitably to their disappearance.

[@Rak9-j8h]

I have less than 2% Neanderthal DNA but more Neanderthal DNA than 61% of people. I am 100% European. This is from 23 and Me.

[@rosshartley5807]

The only humans that don't have any Neanderthal DNA are the ones who never left Africa. Most of us that did leave Africa also have a little Denisovan DNA. I'm 1.6% Neanderthal, and probably because I'm 2% American Indian, I'm 1.4% Denisovan, too.

[@Rancorous_Ryan]

I have 7 genetic variants associated with Neanderthals, making up ~2% of my DNA. According to 23andMe that means I have more Neanderthal DNA than 80% of other customers.

[@conexant51]

I believe Europeans have the highest percentage of Neanderthal DNA. It's around 2.3 - 2.5 percent on average, if I remember correctly.

[@InstrucTube]

As far as I'm aware it's not just "some" humans that have Neanderthal DNA, but all of them. Something like 2-5% of the genome is from them. Again, this is just recall, no specific sources at the moment. This could also be out of date knowledge. Yeah, I really like Tier Zoo myself, to the point where I was frustrated there wasn't an in order playlist of them, so I made my own.

[@mooglefourteena]

Tthrowing spears were the first effective ranged weapons that were used. Bows are old but relatively speaking, nowhere near as old. Bows are only around 12,000-13,000 years old where as spears hav evidence to date back around 460,000 years ago. Huge time difference! Bows are quite advanced technology! Even now bows are still used!

[@nedames3328]

Knuckle walking evolved independently in chimpanzees/bonobos and gorillas after the spit with the human lineage.

[@mormacil]

South East Asia has the highest percentage of Neanderthal DNA, up to 10%. Europe is significantly lower but still above average, especially Northern Europe. Probably because it's the only part of Europe without an influx of middle eastern 'farmers' DNA so there was less dilution effectively. Fun fact, there's more genetic diversity in Africa then the rest of humanity combined, the power of genetic bottlenecks.

[@AbruptandOffensive]

According to 23andMe, I have more Neanderthal DNA than 84% of world. I spoke with my doctor about it and he said it makes sense based on my skeletal size, bone density, fight/flight responses.

[@garybabcock489]

I can't help myself. I'm always disappointed when videos, books etc... carelessly disseminate information as fact rather than qualifying as a hypothesis. Just my two cents.

[@Joker-yw9hl]

7:49 yeah as far as I'm aware if you're white than you have just a bit less than 2% of neanderthal DNA (but not exclusively white as there was some neanderthal spread into Eurasia and I'm obviously not an expert). A few years ago I took the 23andme DNA ancestry report thing and it was super cool tracking the paths my distant ancestors took to get from East Africa to Europe. Edit: "Of the 7,462 variants we tested, we found 237 variants in your DNA that trace back to the Neanderthals. All together, your Neanderthal ancestry accounts for less than ~2 percent of your DNA."

[@wescraven2606]

The movie has some changes compared to the book. Also, some of the contemporary references were updated. I really enjoyed the Ready Player One audio book. It was narrated by Will Wheaton which is really funny because there was a Will Wheaton pun being read by Will Wheaton. I hands down recommend the audio book! Ernest Cline had a sequel called Ready Player Two, but I didn't enjoy that book.

[@famillebeaulieu-luangkham2923]

Hi there ! If I recall well what I learnt, except black african people (and possibly aborigenes ?), every population group on the planet has Neanderthal DNA and/or Denisovian DNA (which is kind of an asian brand of Neanderthal). The amount of Neanderthal DNA in the current human blend is approximately 20% (around 2 to 3% in a specific individual though) which is too big, in my opinion, to continue to consider this species as extinct in favor of "our" species. First : if they had really been separate species, no interbreedings would have been possible... So I consider us, modern humans, not as "homo sapiens" but as "modern humans", which happens to be a blend of Sapiens, Neanderthal and Denisova. If we were rigorous, we should consider Sapiens, Neanderthal and Denisova as races and not species (even though the "race" echelon is somewhat arbitrary, I would answer that every echelon of our classifications is arbitrary as well, and that the "species" echelon has been specifically designed to sort out gorups of living creatures that couls NOT interbreed, so.........). As a matter of fact, there are debates in the scientific community about reclassifying some groups of animals as a "sub-species/race/variant" instead of a distinct species because it was discovered in some cases that some groups could interbreed while remaining fertile (so, no "dead end" like for the tigre/lion offsprings) when it was "admitted" they could not ;)

[@albinjohnsson2511]

I think almost all humans have some Neanderthal genetics in them (on average about 2% of DNA). A couple of years ago it was reported that most people outside of Africa had some genes with Neanderthal origins, but more recent studies have actually found Neanderthal-originating genes in many African populations as well.

[@mikeythehat6693]

The first Spears were stabbing weapons (only) Later these were adapted to become throwing weapons (Javelin) and later still the spear thrower was added (as with the "Woomera" in Australia) The spear thrower (known by many names throughout the world) gave extra distance and power as it effectively lengthened the throwing arm, giving more leverage. Neanderthal extinction was (almost certainly) not caused by a single factor, but a "confluence" (maybe) of several factors, including the Ice Age (Climate Change), Sapien competition, and, in my opinion the most impactful, the inability to adapt. It has been shown that their tool use was "set in stone" (see what I did there) Their tool making was unchanged for generations. Although there is no satisfactory explanation for this, it is evident. Tool kits have been found from several distinct time periods and they are remarkably similar, some were found in their last know habitat around (present day) Gibraltar that were indistinct from those found from much earlier periods, which would support this hypothesis. Everyone alive today has some Neanderthal DNA, not just some. There was an Evolutionary Bottleneck some thousands of years ago where the Sapien population of the world was reduced to a very low level (you'll have to google the amount). Every human alive today is descended from this remnant population and they carried Neanderthal DNA (please don't make me type "Neanderthal" anymore it's hurting my fingers)

[@Adamantium93]

Keep in mind that the spear, in some form, is so effective that it was used up through the 1900s. Even once gunpowder was invented and guns became the way to wage war, humans still would attach bayonettes to the end of their muskets (and later rifles) to use as spears when forced into melee range.

[@terpcj]

My report says I'm in the 92nd percentile when it comes to Neanderthal DNA (still

[@АлтайскийКазак]

My mom's twin sister did 23&me. It returned 2.6% Neanderthal. This did not surprise me at all, as my maternal grandfather looks almost identical to Neanderthal reconstructions you'll see online, save that he has dark skin, blue eyes and a chin. His palms are massive and his fingers are so stocky that it actually impairs his dexterity in various fine motor tasks. He has no waistline with extremely broad hips and shoulders. As an adult, the smallest he's ever been is 102kg at around 10% body fat and he's only 180cm tall.

[@wilgarcia1]

There was also a spear type of thing that worked like a sling. Sorry I don't remember what its called.

[@wilgarcia1]

LOL!!! they said the atlatl just after I sent that =P

[@Mixcoatl]

Actually, the "infighting" is a major strength. There's no innovation or invention without competition.

[@tjerkkorving]

True, certainly the bigger wars sparked quite a few inventions and inventions. It's debatable though if we have a need for more of that at this point. Certainly as we're already way past the spear era and can wipe ourselves out in a blink of an eye. Slower progress wouldn't hurt.

[@HKD9]

The spear basically makes the old adage, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" ring so true 🤣 it still is an effective weapon to this very day

[@JJBushfan]

I think it's self-evident that a lot of the detail in a presentation of this kind is speculative. Ten anthropologists will offer ten different theories, and every so often something new is discovered and they have to come up with new theories anyway. It's entertaining, but that's all. And I read somewhere recently that all human populations apart from pure African have some measure of Neanderthal in their DNA. Whether that's true or not I wouldn't know, but I do favour what I believe is the current theory on why Neanderthals died out: They didn't, they simply interbred with Sapiens and produced a mongrel (my term) breed. What I'm coming down to is that I think there's rather too much theory fraudulently presented as established fact in populist anthropology. (Incidentally - and for what it's worth - a friend of mine from New York who has a PhD in archeology agrees with me. Maybe we're both wrong.)

[@KovačQue]

Great hypothesis on why the neanderthals went “extinct” is probably not what you think. A lot of the oldest bones of Homo-Sapiens are shorter in height than the average height of humans today. So it’s a great possibility we’ve assimilated with Homo-Erectus or other offshoots of humans through cross breeding which can be connected to our sudden growth and usage of energy in our brain (with high energy food through cooking) and average height being taller than original Pygmy’s of Africa.

[@kinpandun2464]

Neanderthals just had smaller social unit sizes, so they didn't have a larger teamwork buff, like sapiens

[@Skele_Rat]

Ok, so uh... This is weird and I'll go with weird. Saw your thumbnail yesterday and immediately thought "She's probably fun to be friends with and I hope we could be friends", then I subd to you and haven't got time to properly check out your channel yet, will do it soon so if you think you have spare time to chat or an open spot to try making a new bud, I'm here, as weird as it might come out. Peace.

[@katnerd6712]

We're not actually sure when the bow started being used. Slings were probably used and spear throwers are thought to be a major tool used to enable humans to conquer areas outside of Africa. Neanderthals are thought to have not been spear throwers, from the injuries on skeletons it's thought that they actually charged megafauna and stabbed them. Fortunately they were also much tougher than modern humans so they could actually take being punted by a rhino and walk it off most of the time. There's a good bit of evidence that one of the major reasons Neanderthals went extinct may have been conflicts with modern humans. Seeing as how the Neanderthal DNA that is in modern humans comes from a patrilineal heritage you can imagine how that happened. If a group of modern humans showed up and their initial interaction with Neanderthals was...well the Neanderthals targeting the women...I'm thinking the modern human reaction was swift and fairly final. Also, virtually every human on planet earth has some Neanderthal DNA, with a few exceptions like the San people of Africa. Yes, even most Africans have traces. Humans like to interbreed and we've been doing it on a virtually global basis for thousands of years :P

[@jonadabtheunsightly]

There's a lot of speculation here, and some of it is almost certainly wrong. Among other things, humans kept flocks (of e.g. sheep and goats) very early; African humans later mostly stopped doing that because of desertification (with the emergence of the Sahara), but by then humans had already spread across pretty much all of Eurasia at least, and probably a good chunk of Oceania as well. Agriculture is also way older than TierZoo seems to realize. I don't think there was ever a time when most humans got most of their food from hunting. Humans are and have always been omnivores. Spears were the preferred weapon for armies for most of history. European adventure literature starting in the middle ages is more focused on the sword because that's a better weapon for a lone knight / adventurer who doesn't have ranks and ranks of brother soldiers standing side by side with him. (Alone or in very small groups, you can cover your own flanks better with a sword, than with a spear.) But actual armies mostly used spears. Ranged weapons have always been a thing (before the bow there were javelins and other throwing spears, and before that the sling was a big deal; TierZoo appears to be completely unaware of the sling, probably because he is a zoologist, not a historian), but using ranged weapons with any accuracy at any substantial distance required a larger amount of training (and standing armies of career soldiers were very limited in their numbers until the industrial and green revolutions made it possible for a small fraction of the population to produce enough food for everybody). Ranged weapons were historically mostly used for hunting (and farming and ranching are way older than you probably think), because for most of history hardly anybody had enough time to devote to military pursuits or hunting, to develop substantial skill with them. There were always exceptions, but by and large most armies had only a small number of men who were good enough with a ranged weapon, to be *accurate* at any distance; and so most armies did most of their fighting at melee range, mostly with spears. This all changed with the introduction of the rifled barrel, which allowed an army to train a group of men for mere weeks and produce a unit that could be accurate at over a hundred yards. (Equivalent levels of distance and accuracy are possible with bows or slings, but it takes decades of training, rather than weeks.) Then in the nineteenth century the percussion cap lead to the self-contained cartridge and breech loading and repeat-fire weapons, and at that point melee weapons became pretty much useless; but that's all less than 200 years ago.

[@carlopton]

I have Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA. I take issue with the extinction idea. If they became an extinct species, then I and others would not have that DNA. Also, because we do, this proves that they were not separate species. Just human variants within the overall human master plan, so to speak. Chimpanzee, while like us, is actually, truly, a separate species. I have observed that larger, more successful populations, tend to absorb smaller, less successful populations.

[@chriswhinery925]

Oof usually when you recommend a book that I've also read I tend to agree with you but I cannot support RPO. One of my least favorite books I've ever suffered through finishing. Half of the book is just in your face, blunt, non subtle 80's nostalgia references to trigger people's brains into emotional salivation, like a literary version of Pavlov's dogs. And most of the other half is the narrator talking about how awesome he is. All of it is poorly written, I've read better prose in online fan fiction. Not often, granted, but a few times. I also tried the audiobook and it's even worse, Wil Wheaton narrates it in a smug nasally tone that makes you constantly feel like punching him in the face. I love the concept of the book, but the book itself is just terrible.

[@GuardianGrarl]

Imagine the bragging rights of a Neanderthal male who successfully joined a Sapiens tribe...

[@CrosshairM4A1]

you probably watch all the educational channels that I watch. The YT algorithm probably unites us all under the same content. Folks in the comments, do you have any suggestions of other channels worth mentioning?

[@Dude_Slick]

I have seen Ready player one, but have not read the book. I'm not a big fan of getting my fiction in book format. I read mostly non fiction. My current read is The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene.

[@thamurdm]

The answer to the question: what will LOL players sound like when they PHD in paleoanthropology?

[@CleverPolarBear]

Say you got this stabby stick right? But this fella...he's way up on a tree! You can't stab him if he's up in a tree. So you get with your mates and you come up with a smaller stabby stick that can be propelled by a launching mechanism, for stabbing people who are far away. And that is how the bow and arrow was born lol.

[@zf5656]

OfflineTv we’re giving 23 and Me fake names. Not to say that it couldn’t be used against you or your family

[@zf5656]

OfflineTv we’re giving 23 and Me fake names. Not to say that it couldn’t be used against you or your family

[@spacechannelfiver]

A lot of the players have acquired a useful trait to survive the Lactose Intolerance Debuff. Players on the France server are particularly well known for their cheese eating ability.

[@jonsouth1545]

It's not just the technology of throwing spears if you look at the shoulder development of Neanderthals. it's much closer to that of a Gorilla they simply aren't capable of using throwing spears and generating the type of accurate powerful throws.

[@lava3218]

My hot take is by their own definition Neanderthals are not a different species. A species is defined as 2 organisms that can mate and produce fertile offspring. Horses and donkeys are different species because when you breed them they can't produce fertile offspring. Yet if you take species that are similar enough like different kinds of dogs or wolves and dogs or zebras and donkeys they will still be able to breed and produce fertile offspring. Same with people and Neanderthals that's why you don't see them anymore. They got bred out. I would not be surprised if there was a branch of humans that was a little bit more different than the traditional variations we see in race. For crying out loud there's a group of humans right now that have larger lungs and a greater lung capacity that have the ability to hold their breath underwater for more than 8 minutes. And why do they have this capability because they're a fishing civilization. If they can develop larger lungs I'm pretty sure a branch of humans can develop larger skulls and Brow lines and a bigger brain and still be human.

[@35906]

To answer your what came next @3:30, the Atel Atel, the ability to throw a spear VERY far and with tremendous power.

[@davidgalvez5341]

SF writer Philip Jose Farmer wrote a funny short story about a lone Neanderthal survivor in the XX century.

[@frankiesanchez2319]

NOOOOOO my covfefe!! I spit out my cafe due to laughter at the gazelle dying with the overwatch death kill noise lol

[@almor2445]

Neanderthals could speak. What they lacked was the ability to form cultures based on mimetics. They were limited to extended family numbers and we weren't. It is possible for any number of sapiens to consider themselves allies and to even die for people they aren't related to. It would've been impossible for the smaller groups of arguably superior Neanderthals to compete.

[@Varasalvi2]

What kind of an education do you have, or are currently studying? I have difficulty guessing people's age and i can't tell if you're past your school years yet. I only ask because you seem to have knowledge in a lot of different areas. Is that just because of reading, which i know you do, or is it because of your studies? Just curious, you can safely ignore me if you don't wish to disclose personal stuff.

[@SalamiSelimbo]

At 7:52 technically we all have both neandertal, sapiens and more dna, after all these generation the question is more "at wich point do we have a common ancestor?" , all the humanity shared commons ancestor and sometimes one ancestor can even figure at many point in different generations in a person family tree, when you think about it you got 8 great grand parents, 16 ggg parents, 32 gggg parents etc... , at some point in the evolution of humanity among the survivor of a generation there was like only 30 000 people that made 1 child or more so theses are our common ancestor, we all have royal blood lol. Also it's a bit like the theory that you know everyone from 8 person, like you know someone that know someone that know someone etc... that know the president.

[@mikicerise6250]

It's also been hypothesised that Neanderthal - Sapiens hybrids fared better because they suffered less hip damage when walking, as Neanderthal hips were a bit more archaic than Sapiens, which continued to become optimized for long stretches of bipedal motion. Another is that Neanderthal women had an even worse time than Sapiens women giving birth to their big-headed offspring.

[@robertmorrison107]

The biggest advance after the spear was the sling. I've seen guys able to kill squirrels at 40 to 50 feet with a shepherd sling and they can be deadly to 100 feet. Now imagine 10 guys all just as accurate and just as lethal.

[@johnmassey2980]

Yes, I have about 2% Neanderthal ancestry. So does everyone outside of Africa.

[@bugvswindshield]

at attel...(sp) a levered throwing spear came before the bow. the sling also was a major player. Blow darts , i'm not sure.

[@Snipergoat1]

Most people alive today have some neanderthal DNA, pretty much anybody with ancestry from Europe or Asia has a bit. Usually around 2-3 percent. Not enough to grant much credence to the species merge theory. We also have places where Sapiens and neanderthals lived near each other for thousands of years. They also had nearly identical technology suggesting about equal intelligence. It seems odd that they would have a spear in hand, the depth perception and coordination needed, and would not think to chuck their spears. Even without the atlatl, their native strength would allow for a powerful throw. The fact that competing species in the same ecological niche lived so near to each other and for so long and didn't wipe each other out suggests there is a lot that we don't know about them and how they interacted with our ancestors.

[@gaven5479]

An interesting theory I've heard about the neanderthals extinction is essentially that they weren't as sexually dimorphic as our species is. The archeological evidence suggests that the males and females of our species were prone to using different methods of gathering nutrition and sharing the (sometimes literal) fruits of their labor with the rest of their community. If hunting failed then that might be okay since the other half of a homo sapiens community may well have been able to forage something up closer to the camp. By contrast, the male and female neanderthals were less physically and psychologically different and relied almost entirely on hunting for nourishment. This meant that when the neanderthals found themselves in an environment that didn't reward hunting as much they starved out and ultimately went extinct Edit: I love your channel. If you ever do a Q&A then I'd love to hear about your cultural background/heritage

[@zotaninoron3548]

Javelins with the atlatl and stone throwing slings probably appeared between spears and bows. Edit:Oh, they mention atlatl in the video, silly me. :P

[@backseatpolitician]

I did 23andme and according to them I have less 2% neanderthal DNA. And some of the things they say I am, I am not. But its still cool, along with the other stuff I found out.