The Canals of Mars - Eye of the Beholder - Extra Sci Fi

[@extrahistory]

One of the most persistent and enduring images in science fiction is that of the long slow waters of the canals of Mars. But... they don't actually exist. Where did they come from?

[@calvinhayman7597]

Extra Credits I mean there's new evidence that mars still has water underneath it's serface. We will probably see a manned mission to mars in are life time. Mars is are first stepping stone of making science fiction into science fact

[@Motakhsis]

Is there a chance that you will ever do an extra fantasy?

[@RunItsTheCat]

Did you guys collab with Scishow Space?

[@swampymarsh649]

Extra Credits heck

[@wintermute93]

this series is one of the most awesome things you guys did and that’s no small compliment, congrats!

[@woestewouter96]

"Visions from within the Eye" DAMN that is a good book title....

[@cheshiregamez303]

woestewouter96 welp, that’s the new title of my sci fi story

[@bluewales73]

In a thousand years, humans will build canals on mars, specifically because this meme will not die.

[@Marylandbrony]

Well if hypothetically terraformed, Mars will end up with two large lakes relativity close to the new Martian Sea.

[@varana]

My dead self will be severely disappointed if our future Martian colonists don't build canals just for the sake of having them. :D

[@barrybend7189]

You know in order to make Mars habitable for Earth life we need to convert all of it's salt in the soil to something less harmful to Earth life.

[@gavinsmith9871]

Well according to Red Rising, they don’t

[@bigo8647]

In a thousand years we will have Colonies on Mars

[@gaiusmarcus8]

Wow the art is really upgrading

[@Marylandbrony]

Soon enough some one at Extra Credits will upgrade too much and than we will need to press "Fuck Go Back".

[@Healermain15]

You might even say it... leveled up.

[@LastofAvari]

sander heutink maybe they've got a few extra credits.

[@davidhueso]

Thanks a lot , triying to do my best in these new episodes.

[@NoMustang273]

David Hueso Good luck. Don't put too much pressure on yourself

[@TheCreepypro]

to think people once thought these things about Mars kind of makes you wonder what we presume to be true today that turns out to be nothing more the the reflection of what we want to see?

[@merrittanimation7721]

TheCreepypro A lot of things, mostly in abstract concepts like the meaning of life or society

[@philusaphur4924]

TheCreepypro that the earth is round.

[@danilooliveira6580]

for that reason science today is way more careful than it used to be. the canals are from a time that scientists were people spending their own fortune on their curiosities. today science is strict and everyone is pretty much forced to follow strong rules so things like that won't happen again. scientists now can't confirm anything until they have a certain degree or certainty, finding a way to disprove your own hypothesis is more important than proving it.

[@TheCaptn]

Because our methodological approach got a lot more sound, and our epistemology became significantly more objective in the last hundred years.

[@TheWelshDwarf]

That's already debunked, the earth isn't round, it's pear shaped!

[@nin10doadict]

I'm seeing a parallel between Lowell and that guy in Oldale Town. "I thought I was sketching rare Pokemon footprints... But they were really my own footprints." "I thought I was sketching canals on Mars... But really they were my own eyeballs."

[@simonbirrer958]

There is an anime called "Aria th Animation". It's a Iyashikeo show (slow abd soothing) about girls becoming gondoliers in Venice. Better said: Neo Venice, which is located on the planet Mars! I always thought Neo Venice is a silly but cool idea, but hearing about this background that there was one a assumption that there are canals on Mars makes it so much cooler to think about it! Just the image of the writer thinking "Hmm, canals on Mars? Maybe it's some sprt of venice?" is awesome.

[@baroncalamityplus]

And to show we are doom to repeat history, In 1976 the Viking Orbiter took a low resolution picture of the Cydonia region of Mars and someone's pattern recognition saw a face.

[@merrittanimation7721]

Yep. Now there some conspiracy theorists who look at NASA photos and see squirrels

[@mariuspontmercy2736]

Clearly he was one of the Knights of Cydonia that Matt Bellamy wrote his song about.

[@FranzFridl]

And 2 pyramids, people got crazy

[@duality4y]

@@merrittanimation7721 i saw a rabbit but i know that i want to see things there

[@cam5816]

@@duality4y It was actually a pug. It is their home world where they live in peace and graze among the fields

[@DrEllert]

Amazing. Saw the entire sci-fi episodes starting from yesterday and I couldn't stop. You guys completely changed the way I perceived sci-fi.

[@brendanprettie4067]

The thing I love most about your format is how concise it is while maintaining playfulness.

[@525Lines]

I knew an astronomy professor that made a go-cart that ran on railroad tracks. He used it on abandoned tracks to get away from city lights and use his telescope.

[@Bluecho4]

Rad.

[@GralChufy]

I had no idea this was a thing, so I asked my dad, who used to read a lot of science fiction in his youth, and to him it totally was a thing, everyone knew about the canals in Mars. It amazes me that in all these years the topic never came up and that something that's so weird to me was completely normal for him

[@Rocketboy1313]

I have, off and on for the last few years been looking at the Raygun Gothic, "WORLD OF TOMORROW!" type sci-fi. I think a big part of it came from Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles" and the idea of people on Earth building a rocket ship in their hometown to go to Mars. I did not know the origin of the idea of a dying civilization on Mars, but now I do.

[@shadowdwelling222]

I've been binging this channel and I just want to say I'm blown away at how great all of these Sci fi videos are. Keep it up

[@narri214]

this is the 4th video mentioning/about the canals of Mars i've watched today. 1 about mapping mars, 1 about the canals (why we thought they were canals) and another about writing about planets based on what we observed (sea's on the moon, canals on mars etc) and now extra sci-fi, Either this is an odd coincidence, something relevant about this topic happened around this time( giovanni schiaparelli birthday) and I didnt know about it, or the universe is telling me something

[@leeleeisgay]

Baader Meinhof phenomenon?

[@unrealization6478]

Yes. "You watch too much KZbin." But who doesn't? ;D

[@glitchygear9453]

Caleb Cavitt IT IS YOUR DESTINY!!!

[@bl33kselderij]

I just noticed this too when watching SciShow Space - exact same story about the canals :) Must be due to alien overminds controlling our zeitgeist ;)

[@z-beeblebrox]

technically true. The youtube algorithm probably registered this video as trending for users interested in science/space/educational channels, then searched out related educational videos on the subject to push to the forefront of those users to keep them watching. So if you came in late, you'd have a reverse experience where it seems like "random" recommended videos about canals on Mars have lead you toward this one. In fact it's nothing more than a result of data-driven algorithms using established viewer behavior in this niche to take predictive actions on your user experience. Or more simply, it's due to alien overminds controlling our zeitgeist

[@joesphistalin2800]

I do love boating along Mars Canals

[@MarfSantangelo]

Are you telling me Space Mongols are the reason Mars is what it is?

[@Cursetin]

Love it how events of the day influenced peoples fantasy, how your mind takes you places based on what discoveries are made

[@Torvik40]

C.S. Lewis also portrayed a dying Mars in "Out of the Silent Planet", although instead of canals it had massive canyons dug into the surface (explaining why they'd be visible all the way from Earth).

[@UpcycleElectronics]

Truth is in the *eye* of the beholder

[@christopherbacon1077]

Nah, Beholders lie all the time

[@albinococonut]

can we just take a moment to appreciate everytime he says heck a snake in an appropriate costume or setting pops up on screen i love that so much X3

[@mjbull5156]

Lowell was wrong about Pluto being Planet X. Pluto is too small and it's orbit too eccentric to have the necessary effect on Neptune's. Orbit. In fact, the wobble in Neptune's orbit he thought he saw was a miscalculation.

[@mjbull5156]

Yes, they have proposed the existance of such a planet by the observed distribution of Kuiper Belt objects that have been found. Supposedly, it should be really far out, maybe 700 AUs from the Sun.

[@jean-marcrocher1463]

And to get a sense of the scale, Pluto is only 40 AUs from the Sun.

[@beringstraitrailway]

And Proxima Centauri is believed to be 13,000 AU away from Alpha Centauri A and B so 700 AU would still be relatively close to the Sun

[@jacknederveen9453]

Been watching extra history for years, first time I ever made a comment for this channel. Keep up the good work, and I'll see you when you talk about Mars in full detail. The red planet must remain red.

[@ahmedtevez]

I am loving this series as much as extra history. Its awesome, good job you guys.

[@NunSuperior]

There are no canals on Mars, but there is a big one down the center of Uranus.

[@griffincrouch2226]

Since you mentioned it here, could you do an episode on War Of The Worlds? I recently finished reading it, and it was an important step for sci-fi advancement. Unless you do the Patreon thing for this as well.

[@Benzo7]

Please do.

[@ordinarytree4678]

Griffin Crouch patrons get to choose videos for the series that have going for a long time, like ECredits and EHistory. They started this series after they had a roadmap of a few topics planned out.

[@danmenard6917]

So glad that Burroughs' Barsoom series got a shout out here. They were my favorite Sci Fi books for a long time.

[@scarredchild]

The most telling thing about people is what they choose to read and what they think is great vs trash. My brother, who prefers biography-like stories such as '40 Years a Slave' and 'The Kings Speach', just started watching 'Star Wars' for the first time. We are watching them chronologically, and he loves the first three. Not because it's pop, but because it tells a compelling story about struggling people who inevitably fail no matter what they do. When I bring up things people don't like about the movies, he thinks it's ridiculous. Why shouldn't there be cafe's in space, is one of the things that confuse him most. We all have our 'Canals of Mars'; things we see and dream about until we think are true. Just as long as we remember what the core of those dreams mean. Like 'Star Wars' being about people struggling against both what they love about themselves and what they fear to face (among other things, I know!). =)

[@duck8dodgers]

Just for bit of added info- Lowell's observatory is still there. I don't think they mention exactly where in the show, but it's in Flagstaff, AZ. It's now part of Northern Arizona University, my alma mater. They have added more modern telescopes, and have astronomy classes there to this day. One of my big regrets is taking anthropology classes instead of astronomy while I was in college there.

[@Daisho32]

I really love your videos about scifi. I didn't really like scifi before, I saw it as just fantasy in space. But thanks to you I learned a lot about it and can now really appreciate it.

[@profharveyherrera]

I love this sci fi series! And the aesthetics of the animation, richer then you have done before. Not to mention the philosophical approximation on the genre.

[@SymphonicFreak1]

The dying planet thing comes up again in Cixin Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, and brilliantly so in my opinion. He has some character problems, as is not unusual within sci fi, but the books are very enjoyable nonetheless. Particularly because of the way he deals with the Fermi Paradox. It would be super awesome if you guys discussed it at some point, even though it’s really recent stuff. I wouldn’t be surprised if James has already read them tbh

[@LatinD]

Haven't checked your channel in a while, but I wanted to comment on how impressed I was by the art. It has improved greatly. Kudos to the artist, and thanks for the entertaining video. Also, please write about Ursula Le Guin someday. She left us today, and I'm incredibly sad about it.

[@extrahistory]

+LatinD indeed. We were all surprised and saddened to hear the news.

[@sethewing2576]

I love you guys, extra everything is so cool.

[@losalfajoresok]

Holy fuck....this channel keeps making better videos every time. This is what KZbin is about.

[@benitasanchez1770]

I read this book when I was 12 years old. I saw the repeat of history in the book and it was eye opening as to our current society. I was catholic when I started reading and by the end of the book I had questions that lead me to separate from this religion.

[@FFSamurai]

Honestly a good video that did shed a little new light on why the canals became a thing I wasn’t aware of. At the same time I do take some issue with this. According to Cosmos, which dedicates a good chunk to this issue, several astronomers from all over the world reported the canals of Mars in the same places as Lowell. Now I’ll not say that its impossible all of their eye ball veins are in the exact same places of their eyes but given how different human bodies tend to be I do find that highly unlikely.

[@barrybend7189]

FFSamurai it's also how the mind can be tricked to see the same pattern even if there's a slight difference between what they see.

[@peterbalholm2138]

The eyeball veins theory explains Lowell's observations of the "spokes" on Venus, which few but he saw, and which were always in the same places, but not the canals on Mars, which rotated with the planet and were seen by hundreds of astronomers. If you are interested after all these years, I can get you article references on this.

[@Krimhful]

6:06 Finally Extra credits uses the right weights on the scale, every reference before this had the thing "outweighing" the other on the high side.

[@benedekgagyi7465]

Thanks!

[@extrahistory]

Thank you for supporting the show Benedek!

[@Mr_Metro]

I thought I wouldn’t like this series but I do, keep up the good work!

[@kingvrox9763]

My favorite Extra Sci Fi so far! Fascinating!

[@Ozblu3y]

the art in this is incredible..

[@Kaelusk]

I adored the Martian Chronicles when I read them in middle school. Clicked on the video hoping you'd mention Bradbury!

[@byronmcdonald8076]

That moment at 3:33 when extra credits apparently hired the artists from Darkest Dungeons

[@Kalancodragon]

Saw today's scishow video, just saw this in my subscription box. HMMMMMMMM

[@mastermavrick]

heh, Was just thinking both episode's released today by very different channels worked perfectly together.

[@Duntorah]

Coincidence? I THINK NOT!

[@PieterDeStickere]

I have had this exact feeling multiple times already. They literally share certain phrases.

[@extrahistory]

None of us had any idea of this happy coincidence! I'll have to go check out their video! --Belinda

[@nakenmil]

4:17 I WELCOME YOU, NEREVAR MOON-AND-STARS!

[@Gilpow]

What a fool you are

[@waynegretzky8464]

and im talking about my morrowind brother. for he is no fool.

[@usquarter]

Can you keep making these forever?

[@rmsgrey]

Obligatory quotation: "For most of this century, Mars has been haunted by the ghost of Percival Lowell, the man with the tessellated eyeballs." - Arthur C Clarke (The View From Serendip)

[@richardwu8371]

This explains a huge pet peeve of mine. Its when people dismiss or degrade a story due to the fact that there are scientific, logical, or other fallacies that aren't actually related to the content of the story. For example saying lord of the flies is a bad book because you can't actually light bonfires with glasses.

[@garvinanders2355]

Barsoom got me into science fiction. I'll always love those books.

[@3EyeStudios]

i love how ever since that one video where dan used the heckromancer example, anytime he says "heck" a snake just appears

[@Poopdahoop]

I love everything about this series!

[@levilukeskytrekker]

Sooooo pumped for the Martian Chronicles episode!!!

[@HladgerdKissinger]

Love that Frazetta reference! Great art this episode.

[@Soundwave3591]

I do hope one day you guys will do a series about the political and social messages of Star Wars. these series are so awesome!

[@evanronnebaum7871]

Read the Martian Chronicles, now I can't wait for your next vid, keep up the great work!

[@whoaminow100]

fun fact : the Lowell observatory is still there outside Flagstaff Arizona it's an interesting place to visit if you have a few hours to kill in northern Arizona.

[@nothankyou4859]

I may be a little late on this, but here is an interesting fact. Percival Lowell was a member of the powerful Lowell family, and hailed from Massachusetts. An earlier member of the Lowell family, Francis Cabot Lowell, was a wealthy businessman and early industrialist who founded the city of Lowell, Massachusetts as a planned textile manufacturing center. To power its numerous mills and factories in the 19th century Lowell relied on the Merrimack river, and a complex series of canals were dug throughout the city. Lowell, as a result, has the largest and most complex canal system in North America. The Lowells love their canals, I guess.

[@dylansrandomchannel9533]

If mars did have canals, I wonder the water would be safe to drink.

[@adjsmith]

Can't wait for you to talk about Stranger in a Strange Land. One of my favorite books of all time!

[@volcryndarkstar]

Can't wait for Martian Chronicles. I read that in middle school and loved it.

[@zvimur]

Volcryn Darkstar 5:45, is that the jealous Martian hiding a gun behind his back? Because of the emotions mask on his face.

[@ccggenius]

Joke's on them, all that time searching for a "Planet X", and Pluto isn't even a planet!

[@barrybend7189]

ccggenius12 actually it has been reclassified as a dwarf planet.

[@CarFreeSegnitz]

Double joke on them now that a serious search is on for a planet waaay outside the Kuiper Belt hinted at by the coincidental arrangement of Kuiper Belt objects and the tilting of the ecliptic with respect to our sun's equator. There will be riots in the street if it's found and it isn't named Niburu.

[@ccggenius]

Yeah... if you have to use a qualifier to describe something as something, it really isn't that something.

[@Overhazard]

Well, currently, it's known as Planet Nine. (Me, I'd like to see it called Planet X in honor of Lowell, Nemesis because conspiracy theorists keep bringing it up, or SCP-1548 just because.)

[@batukurnaz]

Great video as usual! But please, we want a long video about Asimov as well :)

[@HaitaniMasayuki]

Damn, those illustrations are sweet! Also, I wanna see more of "Heck".

[@TheCaptn]

Is it actually more compelling though, or is it really just a degree of myopathy setting in? I mean, Kim Stanley Robinson managed to make Mars -far- more compelling for me as a young sci-fi reader by trying to create a plausible future history for the planet. He introduced me (proverbially) to Bob Zubrin and inspired me enough to join the Mars Society... In contrast the 'classic' approach to Martian storytelling doesn't actually require Mars at all. It's convenient, but the stories are fantastical enough to be set anywhere.

[@talltroll7092]

I never got on with KSR Mars trilogy. Even as a teenager, I wondered who would be stupid enough to send such a bunch of obvious wierdos and misfits off to start a colony on another planet

[@bakersbread104]

6:12 finally got those scales right

[@Luckeux]

I hope you guys plan on covering HP Lovecraft's contribution to the sci-fi genre.

[@antoniocisneros8753]

What amazing drawings of this episode.

[@maldoran9150]

especially great artwork in this one!

[@davidhueso]

Thanks a lot :D

[@gyrrakavian]

Many thanks to the David Hueso (artist of this episode) for making the color of Mars pretty accurate! For whatever obnoxious reason, lots of people make Mars's soil too saturated. It should only have a slight tinge of red and orange.

[@AlexYorim]

I find it very interesting when Giovanni Schiaparelli's quirks are passed down to his neice, who is an important figure in the fashion world.

[@SamButler22]

At 5:35 do you have a moon with stars twinkling through it?

[@Sanorace]

I've been to the Lowell Observatory, and the Pluto Discovery Observatory is this tiny two story wood and stone building. When you see the small space he had and a surprisingly short telescope, it's a wonder he ever even found Pluto at all.

[@goffrd137]

One person doesn't like that Martians didn't build canals

[@Lucarioguild7]

The bad, pulpy science in early sci fi is one of my favorite things

[@lonelychameleon3595]

There’s a sort of beauty in mistranslations, and this is a great example of that.

[@Snowy123]

Hi all you Sci-fi lovers! I want to recommend a trilogy I've recently read and quickly became one of my favorites named Bobiverse. Scifi is usually a hardcore read where authors are in an arms race to make their books more of a thesis paper than a fun to read book. Bobiverse on the other hand is just simply fun to read and in all the Scifi books I've read and love, it's the book I've had the most fun reading. It's just a fun good time dorky book to read.

[@peggyliepmann5248]

I had an eye exam a couple days ago, and yeah, if I was staring at my eye veins all night for years on end, I'd think they were some sort of map of channels too.

[@notablegoat]

That art is fantastic, I wish I could buy it for my apartment

[@jigley9higley]

Just yesterday I proposed to my fiance on Mars Hill, where Lowell Observatory is situated. So thanks for that too, Lowell!

[@ammo1317]

Literally just watched the scishow episode about this today, not complaining to see it via EC too! Better story telling :)

[@chadatchison145]

Love this Sci Fi Extra Credits show. I hope they do an Asimov series.

[@barrybend7189]

If anybody has seen Martian Successor Nadesico you know about Schiaparelli.

[@Lishtenbird]

...something something Neo-Venezia in Aria...

[@Zyl0s]

Barry Bend I've never heard of it, but that is for damn sure the title of anime if I've ever heard one lmao

[@Broockle]

I'm still a little ify with the whole Extra Sci Fi branch but this episode I could actually relate to. Crazy spending decades of your life looking at your own Eye's blood vessels thinking they were rivers on another planet... makes me want to be more discriminatory with my beliefs ^^

[@benediktgeierhofer4146]

"Pushed it to the main stream..." Tricky little pun

[@esotericmissionary]

Lovin' this series!

[@DennisMatheson]

One more point about Percival Lowell and Pluto. Part of the reason they selected the name "Pluto" is that it starts with his initials: PL. So in a way the (former) planet is named for him.

[@xtiannn1042]

1900s: Uses Telescopes to Study Planets 1970s: Uses Rockets and Wastes A sea of Fuel just to reach Moon 1980s: Mars River Canals Theory is on Fire 2000s: Actually Decides to go to Mars Me: i wonder how much Fuel will they Use?

[@sparetime2475]

You are awesome extra credits keep up the good work

[@stephenrosene1505]

I love this new series. Are we going to seen any episodes dedicated to Heinlein or Niven?

[@ckmondaviable]

New week we get your butt to Mars!

[@NicolasAlexanderOtto]

I really love the sci fi series! :)

[@arvidp.247]

Hot damn, I love this series!

[@stormchaser9738]

At some point it would be great if we could talk about Cixin Liu's Three body problem trilogy, more specifically the second book (and the best of the three) "The Dark Forest"

[@JoshSweetvale]

6:40 Waaait a minute! I recognize- Subnautica's Leviathan! Cute.

[@nebojsag.5871]

2:05 Joe-Vah nee Skyappa relly is the proper pronounciation.

[@nocx4592]

How was seeing his veins and thought they were canals on mars. Some things are just funny, this is one.

[@shibukamiya8428]

Good content

[@NimhLabs]

To be fair--the notions about "Planet X" existing these days are not about the gravitational weirdness of Uranus and Neptune (which Pluto did not actually answer)--so much as the really weird drop off the Kuiper Belt has. The issue being is it is too dark that far out for us to easily see a planet (even a large one)--and it is not an area of space our Exo-planet searching tactics work at all on. Also the fun fact about Eris having a similar orbit as what people say "Nibiru" has gotten a lot of Discordians really really happy. Happy discordians is usually a sign something hilarious is happening--and you should prolly hide underneath somethin.

[@Angelusundertaker666]

one thing i had to clarify, the squiggly shapes you see when looking at a bright area, are not your eye veins, they are blood particles going through those veins. if you saw the veins themselves the would not move or change shape and size, the would always be in your vision, and affect every painting and other recreation of our world.

[@ciary]

is it just coincidence that you released this on exactly the same day that sci-show did a piece on the canals of mars?