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History of Technology 1: Early Tools and Simple Machines 652 Views
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Description:
What tools did prehistoric humans use to get things done? Yes, we're talking about even before Windows Vista.
Transcript
- 00:03
Let's imagine we're Paleolithic humans, we're traveling
- 00:08
around with our posse of cave homies killing stuff sleeping in caves rocking [Group of cavemen]
- 00:13
that whole you know Paleolithic lifestyle oh and following the [Cavemen sleeping]
- 00:18
Paleo diet obviously. Well back in those days humans spent
- 00:21
all their energy chasing down animals gathering nuts and berries and building [Man chucks a spear at a boar and misses]
Full Transcript
- 00:25
fires yep we have to spend energy to get energy but with all that going on how
- 00:31
does a cave homie managed to invent agriculture or build Stonehenge or [Cavemen plowing a field]
- 00:38
construct a giant pyramid or you know create an entire elaborate civilization
- 00:43
where does a cave homie find the time and the energy well here's the thing it [Caveman at a McDonalds drive-thru]
- 00:47
wasn't about working harder it was all about working smarter well here are some [Caveman chops a boulder in half with a lightsaber]
- 00:51
strategies that early humans used to make their energy go further alright well [Teacher in a classroom]
- 00:56
first there were tools and by tools we mean lumps of rock not all that impressive [Cavemen with modern tools, then the modern tools disappear]
- 01:01
but hey, better than nothing while early tools helped make human muscle power go
- 01:06
further by getting work done more efficiently the first human who figured [Caveman chopping logs with an axe]
- 01:10
out that sharpening a rock and sticking it into an animal was a great start for
- 01:14
barbecue he was definitely the most popular caveman around historical fact [Cavemen BBQing a mammoth]
- 01:19
well fire was also a lifesaver for early humans literally early human beings [Caveman lights a fire and looks shocked]
- 01:24
unlocked some of the sun's energy by burning wood creating essential light
- 01:29
and heat and once they got a taste of fire while they couldn't stop well not
- 01:34
literally they watched Grunk, they learned from his mistakes so fire good eating [Grunk jumps into a lake because his hair is on fire]
- 01:39
fire bad. Well early humans also had simple machines these are different from [Pulley wheel turning]
- 01:45
tools tools are basic things like you know hammers and axes we hit things with
- 01:50
tools sometimes we hit other with them not a good idea and yeah as a species we're [Cavemen hitting each other with tools]
- 01:55
not always that chill well point is that simple machines are more complex than [Cavemen having a disco party]
- 01:59
tools they change the amount of energy we need to get something done we're
- 02:04
talking about the lever like this and the pulley here the ramp, the wheel
- 02:10
and axle and the wedge well think pyramids can be built without simple
- 02:15
machines? Oh think again of course some people think the building of the [Caveman using a pulley]
- 02:19
pyramids required UFOs not just a slave hebrew but those people are probably
- 02:23
simpler than simple machines...
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