When Was The Worst Time In History To Die?

By combining historical demography and epidemiology, we can (sort of) determine how people throughout history have died.
Watch our next video: • You Can’t Actually Die...
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To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:
- Comorbidity: the simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient.
- Schistosomiasis: a disease caused by liver flukes that has affected humans for more than 100,000 years.
- Meta-analysis: an examination of data from a number of independent studies of the same subject, in order to determine overall trends.
- Prehistory: the period between when modern humans first appeared and the dawn of agriculture.
- Columbian exchange: the process by which plants, animals, diseases, people, and ideas were introduced from Europe, Asia, and Africa to North and South America and vice versa.
- Zoonosis: a disease which can be transmitted to humans from animals.
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Lizah van der Aart | Illustration
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REFERENCES
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Boyle, P. (2021). How are COVID-19 deaths counted? It’s complicated. AAMC News. www.aamc.org/news-insights/ho...
Webb J., Jr (2020). Historical epidemiology and global health history. Historia, ciencias, saude--Manguinhos, 27(suppl 1), 13-28. doi.org/10.1590/S0104-5970202...
Webb, J. (2022). On Writing the History of Human Infectious Disease. Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 53(2): 319-327. doi.org/10.1162/jinh_a_01836
Webb, J. (2022). Personal Communication. Department of History, Colby College: www.colby.edu/historydept/jam...
Stearns, P. (2021). The Routledge History of Death Since 1800. library.oapen.org/bitstream/i...
Roser, M. (2022). Longtermism: The future is vast - what does this mean for our own life?. Our World in Data. ourworldindata.org/longtermism
Kandea, T. and Haub, C. (2022) How Many People Have Ever Lived on Earth? Population Reference Bureau. www.prb.org/articles/how-many...
Wolfe ND, Dunavan CP, Diamond J. Origins of major human infectious diseases. Nature. 2007 May 17;447(7142):279-83. Retrieved from: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
Historical Violence Database. Part of the OSU Criminal Justice Research Center: cjrc.osu.edu/research/interdi...
Roser, M. (2013). Ethnographic and archaeological evidence on violent deaths. Our World in Data. Retrieved from: ourworldindata.org/ethnograph...
Roser, M. and Ritchie, H. (2013). "Maternal Mortality". Our World in Data. Retrieved from: ourworldindata.org/maternal-m...
Institute of Medicine (2004). Saving Lives, Buying Time: Economics of Malaria Drugs in an Age of Resistance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi.org/10.17226/11017
Carter, R. & Mendis, K. (2002). Evolutionary and Historical Aspects of The Burden of Malaria. Clinical microbiology reviews. 15. 564-94. doi.org/10.1128/CMR.15.4.564-...

[@Munchkin.Of.Pern09]

It’s reassuring to know that the top cause of human deaths actually isn’t humans. I knew it was up there, but… it isn’t the number one culprit. That’s really reassuring.

[@Samuel-7418]

Yes!

[@rhonemeyer4277]

Indeed lol

[@dannysulyma6273]

Give us a little more time

[@Samuel-7418]

@@dannysulyma6273 Noooo

[@Ruiseal]

WW3 will see to that

[@thelastcube.]

i knew that there were a lot of humans in the past, but never realized that the combined number was beyond 100B

[@thelastcube.]

i also didn't know that Malaria killed as many people as it did

[@Ziorac]

And now realise that 8billion of them are alive today.... >5% of ALL of humanity, alive right now...

[@ngiorgos]

@@Ziorac imo THAT is the real mind blow

[@markstyles1246]

A "fun" thought is to apply a version of the mediocrity principle. We're normal, average. So we're in the middle of all the humans that have or will exist. 110B have come, 110B left to come. At a birth rate stabilizing conveniently around 110M/year, humans have a time limit of another 1000 years...

[@michaelmam1490]

​@@markstyles1246 The mediocrity principle states that in the universe for some reason things are most likely to come from the majority rather than all of the minorities combined. Applying this to population in relation to time, and having the categories be periods of distinct birth rates, and seeing that, like what you said, we have a stabilizing birth rate, we have that the majority of people will be born in this period of birth rate than of any of the previous periods of birth rates. Assuming this is the number you gave, 110B, we have that more than 110B people will be born in the future. I'm not sure exactly, but I think that where your logic went wrong is some kind of an assumption that they are equal rather than the majority being greater.

[@KuruGDI]

"60 billion-ish", "30 billion or so" - What a way to quantify dead people 😅

[@MinuteEarth]

:sweat smile:

[@Samuel-7418]

😭💀

[@hebl47]

I mean it would make for centuries long video if you wanted to list them all by name... not sure even the YT algorithm knows what to do with that video length.

[@-Bill.]

Those numbers seem really really high though since we know there have been genetic bottlenecks within recent human history in which human biodiversity dropped to just several thousand people. Given the small populations and the limits of pre-industrial agriculture I don't see how 60 billion people lived even over a 9,000 year span. I also doubt human populations even remotely approached 10 billion during the prehistoric times given the limits of the land to support hunter/gatherer populations.

[@sarraceniaporrot]

@@-Bill. Those numbers aren’t the peak, they’re a total. 10 billion people didn’t live simultaneously and then all die at once in the pre-agricultural age, 10 billion people lived and died over time in those many, *many* thousands of years.

[@royrequireswifi488]

Wow. I knew malaria and violence would be in the three bug killers. But childbirth was really surprising! Not exactly a very common fact like the others.

[@royrequireswifi488]

@@drd7198 what? I’m trying to say I knew malaria and violence would probably be up there but not childbirth. 👍

[@inigochicano]

Ikr didn't expect it either lol

[@royrequireswifi488]

Bro deleted his reply

[@royrequireswifi488]

@DrD said, “Wow, whenever I see a humble bragger like you, I know they have low self esteem. I hope you get through it 😢”

[@fenhen]

Personally I knew childbirth would be there but was surprised by violence.

[@corwin32]

I’m going to hypothesize that the number of people killed by death rays from Mars has remained consistent throughout most of human history

[@jakubiskra523]

Not the number of people but percentage.

[@corwin32]

@@jakubiskra523 Good point. How does "The Iskra Corollary" sound?

[@jakubiskra523]

@@corwin32 spicy ;) (in a sexual way)

[@owendubs]

Most.

[@simarkarmani4034]

That number is 0. (probably)

[@jellovendigar]

1:49 feel sorry for the guy who died from a rat humping his head

[@_invencible_]

i hadn't noticed the rat 🤢

[@jennifersmetanko6631]

🤣😭 I bet the hearing in that ear was the first to go🤭🤣

[@maxhill9254]

+1

[@chaus1ku]

This had me rolling

[@manutosis598]

Head -crab- rat

[@AndyHappyGuy]

It’s hard to imagine all these 110 billion people were real people, who had their own lives and experiences. No matter how long ago they lived, or how short their lives were, they were still real, conscious beings who were here one day and not just some silly statistics.

[@GiantsRTheBest1]

Imagine the perfect person for you born and died 15,000 years ago. Like if you would’ve been born at the same time and met each other that would’ve been your soulmate. Kinda sad to think about

[@Dayvit78]

Well, also think what % of your life do you actually remember? You've been alive for X number of days, but the number of days you actually remember is frighteningly small.

[@cadenorris4009]

@@Dayvit78 then living must not be related to memory I lived for 19 years The amount of that I can recall in any detail is maybe half a year max, but I still lived and am still living and this moment still matters

[@potatoboy6094]

It’s hard to connect numbers and emotion, all we can know for sure about these people is that they were human, like us, some were good, some were evil, some were smart, some were stupid, some were unremarkable, and some were great. but don’t get too hung up on who we have missed, try to remember the people you know, because even at a biological level shit has not changed, no matter the era or the technology, humans do the same shit for the same reasons, we’re all still the same, maybe you didn’t meet someone with all the traits of a soulmate who was born in 1246, but you can meet a soulmate born today in the modern age, and all things considered you’d have more things in common 😅

[@flynnryder1533]

How Haruhi Suzumiya felt

[@bevanfindlay]

Encouragingly though, when I was first looking at malaria statistics (and when I got it myself) roughly two decades ago, the number of deaths per year were above a million annually. We've made massive progress to halve the effects of such a nasty killer in only a short time (down from much higher numbers prior). Also, speaking from experience, malaria is not fun. Yay for modern medicine!

[@makelgrax]

Yay for mosquito repellents too!

[@bobhart677]

Could be zero. But Rachel Carson had to publish a book.

[@mnxs]

​​@@bobhart677 oh please, stfu. DDT was causing incredible amounts of environmental destruction. It is a _very good thing_ that it was banned. To anyone who don't know what Butt Hurt here was too cowardly to name, it's _Silent Spring,_ the book famous for bringing attention to the consequences of using DDT, a super toxic (and potent) insecticide that bioaccumulates in nature; the book is so titled in reference to, well, a silent spring... because this shit had gone up the food chain and killed all the birds. That stuff was sprayed onto our food crops... Good fucking riddance.

[@prehistoricorchid3455]

I'm sorry, that must have been awful, but I'm glad you survived. I feel very lucky that I'm immune to it, I do not what to fuck with that disease.

[@raymondjjohnsonjr363]

Congratulations, I'm glad to hear that you beat it. ROCK ON

[@shinobix4925]

Anytime some guy is getting cocky and claiming that getting kicked in the balls is way worse than giving birth, just remind him that childbirth is the second biggest cause of death in all of history

[@John-qy8qd]

You can die from getting hit in the balls by an embolism.

[@SupersuMC]

Heh, "cocky."

[@josiahjray]

Tbf lethality often doesn’t directly correlate with pain

[@lenarianmelon4634]

@@josiahjray Yeah, I mean malaria is a painful disease but it's not as painful as childbirth.

[@thespectator5259]

OP....Pain in general is VERY subjective. Childbirth pain is *HIGHLY SUBJECTIVE.* I'm not going to downplay the literal struggle women go through to give us collective life, but I have heard ALL KINDS of different child labor experiences. My own mom and some women I have talked to said childbirth was a very tiring experience for a day but nothing unmanageable, a couple of these same women even said the experience was "oddly satisfying". Like the longest, most strenuous after full body workout high "satisfying" 😲. Other women wanted the doctor to sh*ot them both during labor and after they were done delivering 💀. I reckon most experiences lie somewhere between those extremes. Also, I have read that women who have had kids before and later get kidney stones almost all universally say the later is more painful than the former. Both women and men get kidney stones so make of that what you will. 🙅‍♀ It's kind of like getting your wisdom teeth removed. I got all four of mines pulled out at once while I was away from home during military training with only local anesthesia+laughing gas during the procedure. Not saying the experience was pleasant at all, but I walked out of the office not much worse for wear, and took ZERO of the given pain medication afterwards. I didn't even take over the counter stuff, just a lot of ice and rest. Flip that over to some of my peers getting ONE wisdom tooth pulled and they were still complaining about the pain all throughout AIT despite being on oxycodone.

[@beyondcatastrophe_]

It would be interesting to see this related to the numbers for old age, since that seems a pretty common cause as well

[@King_Shroom]

Dying of old age isn't really a thing you can die from. The term is often used to generalize someone's death.

[@MinuteEarth]

Deaths from old age are actually a really tricky thing to measure, since as you get older, lots of different things can fail (and your body can get weaker at fighting off infections) so you can't really lump them all together in one catch-all category! Actually might make for a good video topic!

[@slavikvsvega]

Heart attack and cancer are mostly dying of old age

[@slametdinatadinata645]

@@MinuteEarth what about some videos about tigers?

[@sedled2829]

I did not know malaria is so old.

[@DangerRanger333]

Am I the only one surprised that starvation isn't on the list at all?

[@ratoim]

*adjusts fedora* Akshually, most starving people don't die of starvation. They starve a bit, then they get too weak to swat away the mosquitoes or fight other diseases, so they die of sickness instead. It's kind of like how nobody actually does from AIDS.

[@Sp3ctralI]

@@ratoim good point

[@SgtSupaman]

Isn't on what list? It is specifically mentioned right here -> 1:20 Either way, this quick rundown is certainly not an exhaustive list and might not even be accurate (see disclaimer at 0:32 ).

[@DangerRanger333]

@@SgtSupaman thanks! I missed those quick words

[@thorr18BEM]

Dehydration kills quicker and malaria diarrhea dehydrates.

[@mrmimeisfunny]

Wouldn't "Died of Malaria" count as "Died from infection or parasite"?

[@Arturos90210]

My guess is that “dying from an infection and parasite contains all of them, while malaria holds a separate medal as an efficient killer

[@haph2087]

Yes, but it’s still interesting how large malaria’s share of infection deaths are.

[@bentoth9555]

Malaria just gets singled out because it's an especially large share all by itself.

[@elektro3000]

It would, but the implication was that malaria has killed more humans than all the other infections and parasites combined.

[@Tethloach1]

what will each of us die of ? Cancer? Disease? Violence? Immortality?

[@ImnottheJayBird]

We do die a lot

[@MinuteEarth]

Death is undefeated (so far)

[@guiguspi]

@@MinuteEarth I argue that there is no such thing as defeating death. Extremes aside (universe heat death or some other universe ending scenario), what would even be the marker? Just like no big number represents an infinite quantity, no big age is big enough to have defeated death. There's always a tomorrow to die in. Perhaps uploading your conscience to a machine, but does that even count?

[@doyrte]

@@MinuteEarth Bruh your video is wrong the top 1 reason of death is being born

[@BossOfAllTrades]

@@doyrte ?

[@doyrte]

@@BossOfAllTrades 100% of people who died have existed, therefore existing is the #1 cause of death

[@BeeBwakka]

The fact that there are more humans alive right now than have ever died from violence is very pleasantly surprising

[@swedishmeatballs7818]

Just you wait that number can go up really fast

[@StarkRG]

Is it just me or did the video not actually answer the question "When Was The Worst Time In History To Die?" Sure, it dealt with what was the single most deadly thing throughout history. It mentioned (in a roundabout way) that we're currently living in the best time (since old age diseases are becoming among the highest killers). However it didn't say when the highest rate of non-age-related deaths were. Or when the rate of particularly nasty, painful ways to die was the highest. Though I guess that would require more in-depth discussion about what kinds of ways those would be and how to categorize them.

[@Cr4zyKitty]

Personally, if answer with during the Spanish inquisition if someone asked my opinion.

[@Gronolo_31g]

they never directly answer questions

[@makelgrax]

Ye, title changed to address this

[@mintybadgerproductions]

@@Cr4zyKitty Not really as the Spanish inquisition was only limited to Spanish territories and the number of actual deaths is far lower than most people think. I'd say during the Black Death of the 14th century, an estimated one third of the population of Europe died, rising to over half the population in some towns and cities. It must have felt like the end of the world.

[@BlockyBookworm]

It gives you all the information you need to make the decision Would you rather go by infection, other infection, war, or childbirth?

[@beretperson]

It was kind of spooky how I made a joke about how if I tried to live in the woods I wouldn't last two days before dying from Malaria, and then instantly saw this had just been uploaded ("6 minutes ago"), and instantly knew that the punchline was going to be malaria.

[@karsten69]

The worst time to die must be in times of great prosperity, because that's when you lose the most to live for by dying. dying early during times of disasters spares you the years of living through it.

[@whatthebeepvideos]

I think that's called a defeatist attitude.

[@BenjaminCronce]

@@whatthebeepvideos Nah. Just being a realist. Existential nihilism. Existence is pain and wanting to exist is irrational, even if you think you want to. But since we're already here, meh. BUT... if life has too much pain, why want to stick around? Anyway, you die every time you go to sleep. YOU are your consciousness. Every time consciousness ceases to exist, you're gone. Eventually the body wakes up with similar memories as the prior consciousness, but it is a NEW consciousness. The old "you" has died and the new one has been created, just with the prior consciousness' memories. In the end, the universe will end and all traces of life will be wiped away, as if we never existed. Our lives have no objective meaning. The only value we have is the value we subjectively feel. No one can tell you if your life is worth it, for better or worse. Similar as "I think therefor I am", if you think life is worth it, it is. If you don't think it is, you're also correct. But you only get one shot and you can't change your mind. Your decision how hard you want to play the game. Don't think of this is the ramblings of some internet person. I've been dealing with these thoughts since kindergarten. I think they're important because it allows me to rationalize my existence rather than just mindlessly "going with the flow". I know I got one life and I use this to make sure I'm making reasonable decisions. I've been dealing with insomnia and anxiety. Decided it's time to try some therapy. Sampling some therapists and they think I'm quite insightful and healthy in this regard. /shrug

[@kamcorder3585]

You must be fun at parties

[@karsten69]

@@kamcorder3585 I dislike parties. But in this instance you misunderstood the message. "The worst time to die, would be when you have the most to enjoy."

[@taramaforhaikido7272]

Dying in the best of times means it's something worth having. Would you rather die being nothing?

[@cerosis]

I wasn't expecting the #1 killer to be what it was

[@bazoo513]

I did. Terrible, isn't it (as are other two.)

[@macgreeze8287]

What is it like falling over ? Damn wasn't expecting that.

[@joaosignoretti11]

I thought it was going to be hunger

[@kabeloignatiusmosala9769]

Good Job non-spoiler!

[@brunofeitosafl]

I spend years thinking it was Smallpox...

[@blahblahblah1441]

1:19 i heard ‘mass starvation' as mast*rb*tion 💀💀💀

[@rhonemeyer4277]

Dang I love these videos! Really cool facts and additional knowledge I learn along the way

[@God_Yeeter]

I’d rather get annihilated by a Gamma ray burst but that’s kinda rare

[@YTBKd]

This was as surprising to learn as learning that a smoker’s lungs are more radioactive than even nuclear explosion sites.

[@SupersuMC]

Say WHAT?!

[@YTBKd]

@@SupersuMC Here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ioOvaKJooLWkrZI

[@caelestisnox7045]

Wait, what?

[@nosegrindv4951]

a mosquito is the most frightening animal on the planet.

[@Solomon0424]

Was terrified of them as a child

[@schizophrenic_rambler]

I run in terror when I see a mosquito

[@boarbot7829]

I disagree.

[@Emy-xo3bv]

@@boarbot7829 Well…what do you think is the most frightening animal then?

[@boarbot7829]

@@Emy-xo3bv well, I would be most terrified to encounter a great white shark whilst swimming, or something like a polar bear! But some animals are frightening in a different way- just creepy. Like lampreys or those cave centipedes.

[@dan_asd]

The worst time in history to die was right before immortality was achieved

[@gorgefood9867]

I'll argue it's the best time to die. So that I won't be able to see what horrible atrocities people come up with now that everyone is immortal.

[@MercurySteel]

"Immortality" isn't the right word here, I believe. You can't creat an indestructible, unkillable physical form. Immortality can only be achieved by moving your consciences from one body to another but even then that's still technically not immortality. You can only be a mortal being who can get a new mortal body when your current one starts to fail.

[@michaelgusovsky]

immortality not possible. everything that has a beginning, has an end. if you want to be immortal, then don't be born in the first place.

[@branlex1315]

@@MercurySteel How about moving your conciousness into a machine?

[@MercurySteel]

@@branlex1315 Machines too are mortal. We live in a mortal realm. Nothing lives forever.

[@spacedolphincorp318]

The human death museum looks just like dark souls

[@brokenacoustic]

With some rare exceptions, I'd have guessed *anytime* would be the worst time to die...

[@orsaz924]

I assume what was said at 0:57 was said for the sake of simplicity, but I want to point out that there's been evidence showing that human beings living then actually had some form of medicine (amputations were performed on multiple individuals whom continued living afterward)

[@diracio]

Excellent video! Thanks as ever to all the Minute Earth gang

[@JingelJjay]

I think the worst time to die is right now, because it takes longer to actually die. Health care is really good right now but it can't prevent you from getting sick and later on die. Especially diseases like Alzheimer are terrifying for me. You are sick but you won't die from it until many, many difficult years later.

[@josephrion3514]

The rate of heart attacks being fatal has gone down, people are surviving them. The rate of heart attacks happening have gone up. That's the vibe I am hearing here.

[@EJeremyStern]

1:20 Whew 😅 he said “mass starvation”

[@ehehehehhehehehe]

i thought that too

[@dio_fumo]

masturb- my lawyer has advised me against continuing the sentence

[@ShiroganeABA]

I had to listen to it 6 times to make sure

[@CharlieChopCham]

@@ShiroganeABAsame

[@jarancrane2462]

Why haven't I watched a Minute Earth video in years!? I'm loving this quality!

[@JayFolipurba]

It's so weird to think. We're talking about people from the early days and we think of them as alive in our imagination, because they have lived, otherwise we wouldn't be here. But 100% of them have died, there is no one from back then who hasn't died

[@kamikeserpentail3778]

I have the opposite problem. I see people alive now as if they're already dead, because they will be. Unless we can defeat death entirely.

[@AmaraJordanMusic]

I love this so much. I’m voraciously curious about this kind of thing.

[@byzantine5761]

Who’s more dangerous to humans: Themselves, wanting to gain territory, resources, or twisted satisfaction A single small bug

[@LambdaCreates]

A single small bug

[@Angel-Kitten]

Thank you for the video, I have been interested in the answer to this question for a long time.

[@sophieclk7004]

great information, thank you

[@JackPitmanNica]

I'm curious what the numbers are for Tuberculosis, I've been under the impressions TB is up there with Malaria as far as humas-killed-over-time

[@Andrew-gn9qp]

Malaria is really insiduous, it's not merely hygienic, but environmental. Which is why it was so hard to subdue until modern technology. If you have a warm climate with still water, that's already breeding ground for malaria. When modern technology first arrived there were lots of restructuring to reduce likelihood of open still water. For example, defensive moats were breeding grounds for malaria, lots of them were drained or filled in by the early 20th century. That's why you only ever see moats these days on colder climates, they were dismantled in warmer climates to prevent malaria.

[@JackPitmanNica]

@@Andrew-gn9qp I live in Nicaragua and here they send government workers to people's houses to inspect them for standing water for malaria prevention. Whats funny is that the government workers don't give two shits about anything else - they've seen my house a mess, I've left a weed bong out, that sort of thing, and they never cared. They just look for standing water and are very happy when they do not find any

[@squidwardfromua]

I like how currently just starting nuclear war humanity can push this 2:26 near to first place (10B) in one day

[@MinuteEarth]

So let's not do that...

[@isaacdalziel5772]

That's not true. There have been a few projections of nuclear war. The best idea we have is that 0.2 billion would die in the first day, and another 0.9-2.5 billion would die due to miscellaneous causes in the months afterwards.

[@squidwardfromua]

@@isaacdalziel5772 I know, just hyperbolizing 😁

[@Perrito770]

I love these videos! Really cool facts and additional knowledge I learn along the way. Looking forward to see moreinterestingg topics

[@somemonkeyunderatree33]

thanks for the tips

[@Yarrsi]

Very interesting, i did not know malaria was that big of a problem, but how does this video have anything to do with the question asked in the title?

[@josephrion3514]

It actually made this video hard to search back up. The content is what I wanted and the title is unrelated. I want a title like "leasing causes of human death throughout history."

[@simarkarmani4034]

@@josephrion3514 leading*

[@Originormality]

Based on the title, i thought this would be about treatment and healthcare and what the options + prognoses were depending on the time period. Can we get a vid on that?

[@TonatiuhCalmecac]

This is the video I'll probably be the most interested in from this channel

[@natancesarprado1514]

Interesting video also im hoping for the video explaining why some animals such as the glass catfish are transparent because a youtuber named ajvn the fish biologist hates glass catfish

[@elsandwich7481]

So I was just watching Greg Hancock's show on Netflix. I am intrigued by the theories presented by Greg, and I would like to know your thoughts on the matter.

[@hazelgrunts]

You’d think that childbirth would be a safer process considering that our species depends on it

[@MakeSureYouCleanUp]

I wish but too many things adds onto the factors of making it deadly (several involving other humans). But anyway plenty of animals/insects have it bad as well, like some eating their way out of their mother.

[@markstein2845]

It is safe. You're more likely to die being the president of the USA than from childbirth. It's just that not many people have been the president of the USA in the human history, but if you're here is because billions of people became parents, and half of them had to childbirth the next generation.

[@thetommeister4121]

This video came out just in time for Christmas🎄😄

[@drimpractical3900]

I cant believe some bug beat humans at their own game

[@NotFlappy12]

Do these stats also account for infant and child deaths?

[@danielbickford3458]

I'm kind of curious if scientists can break down the causes of the causes of death. For example a famine could have very well been started because of a religious figure starting a holy war versus a king starting war. Both cause widespread devastation, but the causes can be very different.

[@cloudystarsky8381]

wow love the upbeat and happy music ☺❤🥰

[@artornis606]

Perfect Christmas video

[@orderofazarath7609]

The numbers for heart disease (blood clot like with strokes?) and cancer are somewhat missing. They're just swept under the rug as "old people dieseases" like they wouldn't count.

[@matiashogden1240]

While i agree, i also suppose that attributing a cause to an older person dying isnt neccessarily the easiest. What is death from old age, vs various underlying causes? Who gets 'credit' so to speak

[@maxchronos4567]

Humanity finding the common cause of death is like looking through the mirror asking and pointing.

[@markstein2845]

only if this mirror is a cage of mostiquos xD

[@eliscerebralrecyclingbin7812]

Thanks

[@LavenderLushLuxury]

Nice Video, I always love watching your, MinuteEarth, Scientific Videos on your channel, Guys... 💙💚🖤!!!

[@MinuteEarth]

Thanks!

[@twbishop]

@2:39 and of course, babies died during and after childbirth, like some mothers. child mortality rates historically reached to 25%, and higher during times of wars and famines.

[@AustinIsTheGreatests]

Dang, I thought it would be the black plague, cancer, or polio but it was malaria all along

[@Zaxares]

I knew it would be malaria taking the top spot (I've read a number of trivia stuff in the past that put mosquitos as THE biggest killer of humanity ever. And the number is even bigger if you factor in other mosquito-borne diseases like dengue fever or West Nile virus), but I was surprised that violence and childbirth were the next top contenders. I thought that starvation would be the #2 spot.

[@Br3ttM]

Cancer is pretty common now, but it is much more likely to affect older people, since mutations accumulate over time. Many people don't live long enough to get to the point where it affects a large percentage of people.

[@zweiwing4435]

Excellent.

[@BlackBanditXX]

1# & 3# weren't surprising to me, but 2# was. I figured it'd be in the top 10 somewhere, but I would've NEVER suspected 2#!

[@cheezemonkeyeater]

Is there ever really a good time to die, though?

[@MinuteEarth]

Should we live and let die? Or die another day? Perhaps is a simple as there is no time to die.

[@woodfur00]

There is if you're Klingon

[@slavikvsvega]

No there isn't. Living is awesome.

[@stefanhoover9201]

"Today is a good day to die" lol

[@johnjohnjohnson7720]

"When Was The Worst Time In History To Die?" Wouldn't this question be answered in as the 21st century? Worst time to die would be because it was the best era. I can't tell if the video is about time with most deaths or time with most gruesome deaths. If the second shouldn't it be "When was the most gruesome death era?"

[@haydendunmusic]

It’s about none of them. It needs to be renamed to “what has killed the most people throughout history?”

[@blacky_Ninja]

I knew it would be high on the list, but place two for childbirth is enormous. And yet there‘s still people today who act like birthing a child is something you do on the side as a hobby without any health consequences. And this video even just counts the deaths. Sad really.

[@JustToke]

2:17 one of the gohsts is mad bro is like 😠

[@kalkuttadrop6371]

3:30 I have heard this exact same claim for both Smallpox and TB as well. So I question it somewhat.

[@makelgrax]

No need for doubt, they're all simultaneously true. Diseases are no joke.

[@by9diz8]

If this is true, then why haven't I experienced any of these myself? 🤔

[@MinuteEarth]

You are one of the lucky 7 or so percent of all humans who has never died. Not even once!

[@MagnakayViolet]

Can't die from giving birth if you don't give birth. Congrats on surviving your birthday!

[@by9diz8]

@@MinuteEarth Thanks 😂👌🏻

[@by9diz8]

@@MagnakayViolet I was born at such a young age 😢😳

[@andrasfogarasi5014]

Check mate, liberals.

[@jujuoof174]

Very interesring!!!

[@9786oof]

the new title makes a lot more sense to me than the old one

[@bazoo513]

Excellent video. It is unthinkable that we rely mostly on charities to develop better prophylaxis and treatment and, ultimately, vaccine against malaria. Since environment in Europe and North america became less suitable for proliferation of malaria carrying mosquitos, we, "civilized West", lost interest. Now most of the research is funded by a handful of billionaires as a salve for their guilty conscience (much like all those US universities founded by various kinds of robber barons.)

[@dan_loup]

There's also probably some billionaires that want to keep the thing alive on purpose due having caught the overpopulation scare.

[@bazoo513]

@@dan_loup Underpopulation scare. They understand that, as Musk keeps repeating, "the West" is getting older and older, with lower and lower natality rate. They might be afraid that "we" will be overrun by "them". As far as I am concerned, _One World is Enough For All of Us_ - we will either survive and prosper together, or not at all.

[@Ttegegg]

@@dan_loup and yet. Some people really want woman to be stupid

[@dan_loup]

@@Ttegegg yep. Control freaks in general always have the dumbest ideas

[@szhzs6121]

ummm there's also some billionaires who genuinely want to help people and donate to charities.

[@DurvalLacerda]

People forget that we are are living in the most SAFE era of human history.

[@kamikeserpentail3778]

Because some people only hear bad news. I like to think we'll continue to improve.

[@Axel1Axel2Axel]

every time he said 'the other three killers, which we'll get to soon' I could feel myself filling with rage

[@alphaapple1375]

What can I say about passing away? I accept it. I accept my mortality. I accepted the inevitability. "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley (1849-1903), written in 1875 and published in 1888. Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud; Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the horror of the shade; And yet the menace of the years Finds and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate; How charged with punishments the scroll I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.

[@Bigzthegreat]

0:53 Prehistory Era Causes of death: violence disease disease 1:10 Agricultural Era Causes of death: disease famine disease 1:37 Urbanization & Trade Era Causes of death: disease disease disease 2:00 Current Era Causes of death: aging/disease aging/disease aging/disease 2:19 3 Biggest killers 3: violence 2: childbirth 1: disease

[@aszechy]

One thing is not mentioned: infanticide. We know that in antiquity, it was entirely common and acceptable to just put out unwanted babies to die, and I'll wager the same must have been the case in earlier times as well. Before agriculture, how else would humans have kept their numbers at a level that their environment could sustain? They didn't exactly have access to contraception... (And, like the others, this killer is also still with us, albeit in much reduced numbers - in some parts of the world, baby girls are still at risk of being immediately dispatched by their families...)

[@Casual2270]

I swear I heard John Green scream "TB!" in my head thorought the whole video

[@AthAthanasius]

Of *course* "Saber-Toothed Tigers" haven't killed many humans, because in fact it's zero. There's never been such a thing, the correct terminology is "Saber-Toothed Cat", because the species in question are *not* related to Tigers (other than being a cat).

[@MinuteEarth]

Sure! But just like we commonly call thylacines "Tasmanian tigers" I think it's ok to refer to smilodons as "Saber-toothed tigers" even though neither of them are particularly closely related to Panthera tigris.

[@terdragontra8900]

The term is quite common, so although its confusing i would hesitate to say "incorrect". You wouldn't say "jellyfish" is incorrect because they aren't fish, i assume.

[@aniasparkle]

Eradicating miliaria would be such a cool thing to do. That feels deeply significant somehow. Like genuinely feels like a significant thing humanity needs to do in honor of all the humans who have died from this disease. Also stop fighting wars and give women/people with wombs body autonomy.

[@Ggdivhjkjl]

The title of this video is misleading. I expected you to say it was 2:38 pm on Tuesday.

[@kirito3933]

00:25 the mimic lol

[@Valery0p5]

The idea that, on average, there where only 50k humans on earth each year for 200k years, is oddly reassuring. Sounds like I could meet all of them if I had a time machine and picked a random year.

[@DaHaiZhu]

Happy Holidays from Minute Earth! 🤣 Fun Fact: Death rates rise over the holidays

[@Chris.Davies]

"Killed by a sabre-toothed cat" is probably one of the rarest deaths humans have ever encountered. Much like "Killed by a shark", "Killed by lightning", and, "Killed by bees". A human is generally not a good target for a land-based predator, unless it is a child. A predator can't risk injury, and humans are more than capable of injuring a big cat, even if all they have is a basic club. P.S. They were not tigers, either.

[@silvergamer7250]

I don’t think lighting hunts for food

[@Zephyriia]

Here I quote Iosef Stalin; "A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic." Never was more fitting...

[@LauPaSat-pl]

Can you upload it on Nebula?

[@rainbowcake8650]

I wasnt expecting that I was wxpecting that TB was the #1 killer

[@MinuteEarth]

Some researchers actually think that it is!

[@rainbowcake8650]

@@MinuteEarth oh? They do? Interesting! I remember in 2011 they found TB in bones and all thag from ur video

[@x31arf]

Loved the Star Wars reference ....😂

[@appa609]

How did you account for maternal mortality during childbirth and fail to account for infant mortality? Infant mortality has historically been a consistent 25%. That means 25% of all the people who ever died were less than 1 year old. This is a lot more than any other single category.

[@CarthagoMike]

Surprising really how relatively few humans have been before us, given the current world population.

[@nyuh]

What a way to end the year !!!

[@viveladecadence]

1:20: "...caused death from *mass starvation*..." yeah, so, I totally misheard that one.

[@GMSlash]

Does the figure from childbirth only refer to the mother, or also the child that might die of complications?

[@lynx.O_O]

Only mothers

[@drawer_resp3858]

Well, I didn't expect malaria to be categorised outside of plagues. But yeah It's so common in my tropical country for so long it have a nickname "forest fever"

[@Account_ded]

"What's the worst time to die in history" I don't know, MAYBE ALL THE TIME!?

[@ombricshalazar3869]

more people have died from childbirth than violence? so making life is more dangerous than taking life?

[@stuffynosepatrol]

Yes

[@woodfur00]

Glad I'm not the only one bothered by the clickbait

[@notDundi]

The worst time to die is RIGHT NOW. What's the most entertaining thing that a person from, say, 1200's would miss out on by dying? The next public hanging? A local hobo singing his heart out with a makeshift guitar? You, on the other hand, have a whole world at your disposal, and it would really suck to perish knowing just how much of it you'll never get to experience

[@marvalice3455]

The worst time in history to die, is whatever time you die in. There's no way for the material circumstances of death to make change the essence of death. Only the interior condition of the person matters im whether a death is "better" or "worse"

[@chimkinstudios3862]

It’s funny how there’s relaxing guitar music playing over the “top ways people have died”

[@littlemeow124]

I knew malaria was the biggest human killer, but I never expected childbirth to be THAT deadly

[@andrebenites9919]

I loved to see the proportions of how many people lived in pre-history, agricultural revolution, urbanism and current. Although Pre-history was by faaaar the longest in terms of time, it had few people living in tribes, no large governments. (10B, 190K years) Agriculture has a great mixture of large government and long period of time. (60B, more than half of all human existence; 9K years) Both urbanism (30B, 800 years)and current (10B, 200 years) have A LOT more people in the globe, but far too recent to compare with agriculture era. Cool to think that in 100 years, our current population will probably die, and a bit more, so, it will be another 10B in 100 Years. And we will see if human population will finally reach its peak and descend or not. Cool data and very interesting questions.