Thanks to everyone who asked about our Patreon. I'll put out a full video when I get the time, but for those who want to jump the gun and get on board from the start, here's the link: www.patreon.com/rareearth It means a huge deal that so many have asked us to start an account. I never thought anyone would watch these videos, let alone support them.
Hey man I appreciate this video, your cinematography and your earnestness- but your chronology is off. Current archaeological consensus puts the timeline for settlement much later, around 1350AD. With the introduction of rats, as you stated, the island would have been treeless within a generation because of the long reproductive cycle of the palms. There is very little evidence of the use of the palms for ships or any kind of industry really. Rapa Nui society did not crumble when they lost their trees, they thrived in spite of it! Despite the pervading narrative of collapse, most archaeological models support a relatively stable society of distributed chieftains and no models support a population over 5,000. The soil, despite being volcanic, is actually relatively poor because of bad drainage and a lack of available nutrients. To cope, people would fertilize the soil with stones and make stone rings to make a sort of microclimate for their crops. For at least 300 years, Rapa Nui society maintained a holding pattern with little warfare and conflict between tribes, besides personal grudges. Why fight? There is nothing to fight over but rocks and chickens- so the clans competed in another way, the beautiful Moai that you see everywhere on the island. Now, I'm not saying Rapa Nui was a perfect paradise- far from it. Their food was unvaried and not nutritious, and if you walked outside of your ~2km stretch of land people would at the least be cold to you, and at the most kill you. What I'm saying is Rapa Nui is not a narrative of failure and decay, it's a narrative of extreme persistence against the odds and the power of human ingenuity- and boredom- to make something amazing. Despite the harsh conditions they lived in, they maintained a relatively stable and productive society that grew enough in complexity to make beautiful works of art. If you want to get updated on the most recent Archaeological arguments for the long chronology in Rapa Nui, I suggest reading "Statues that Walked" by Carl Lipo and Terry Hunt. Cheers!
New Gods will be born to replace them though, a certain amount of people will always have the emotional need for Gods and so as the old ones die so new ones will be born to replace them that has always been the case and I think that it will be with us for a long time yet if not forever.
"the God's may be dead, but their bones are beautiful" can there be anything said further from the truth. In Actuality, the chosen God of this Earth is money, and it's obviously not dead. Alternatively it's thriving. Unequivocally more followers and Faithful Servants who are willing to kill for it than any other belief system or religion that ever existed on Earth unequivocally this is a fact. Since Fiat currencies conception and birth daily ritual worship, globally, publicly, and in certain countries they even put the word God on the object itself.
STUART BRODIE True. But money is a tool that builds power and power is a tool built on money. None the less money is just about the most delicious thing this world has to offer. So to the ancient civilizations that once ruled I say this. Thank you for creating a system of true instantaneous happiness. Weather money rules us or we rule it what would a world without money look like? If one can come up with a better sustainable system then there we go. Yet until then money will continue to be the God of the poor and the King of the rich.
Faithfully. It's not animals, just humans. When a lion hunts, it takes down one, eats it, feeds the cubs and spends the next few days resting. Most animals operate in this way, despite competition for food. Humans get greedy and live with emotional insecurity, no matter how abundant is our stock.
@@gaslitworldf.melissab2897 I'm pretty sure that's not true. All species will grow to the extent allowed by the environment. Deer need to be culled periodically because they will outgrow their resources and become weak and diseased. Rats will grow explosively until they outstrip all their resources and then become cannibalistic and die in dysfunctional weakened societies. Locusts have to keep moving from place to place as they consume everything in their path. The only animals that are "successful" in the long term are the ones that are constantly culled by other predators which themselves are kept in check by something else. Humans don't have natural predators anymore.
I have had the great privilege of spending several field seasons on Rapa Nui assisting on archaeological projects, and usually I get highly annoyed by TH-cam content on the subject. This video however, was not at all bad. A bit heavy on the pre-colonial collapse theories, but not nearly as bad as it usually is. Instead of collapse, we rather see a shift in culture as a response to the changing environment, with this change being largely due to things like soil not being extremely rich to begin with, rats and the little ice age hitting the palm tree forest hard, etc. Honestly, their response to it was nothing short of brilliantly creative. Those rock gardens you mention are an amazing feat of agricultural innovation on their part. I really don't want to nitpick your video though, because there is much more I like than dislike. I especially like you emphasizing that what killed the culture as it was, and I say as it was, because there has been a resurgence of Rapa Nui culture with both the language and a version of the religion being very much alive, was not the Rapa Nui themselves, but rather colonization. I guess what I want to say is;Than you for spreading better information about a culture about which so much misinformation has been the norm.
You know, every video that you guys made so far is special. A sort of scary special. I do not think I have seen anyone make such touching series, Food for a soul. I am not a religious man, however, you're videos have made me at least understand somewhat how people feel when a prophet was preaching. Are your words the words of God? No, far from it. But it surely knocks at the door of the mysteries of the universe and makes the cogwheel of the mind start churning. There is something about Rare Earth that really taps into your emotion. And what's sort of amazing, it really makes you feel alive. Alive knowing that the world and mysteries are still vast. Even when you have technology and knowledge that makes the world tiny. Your videos at least gives you a small reality check, knocking you out of that bubble making you realize, you haven't really seen the world.
I would say it's because these guys DON'T know a lot more than us going to these places and genuinly care about how people feel and felt. Not from a pity or empathy perspective but rather from a perspective of untamed curiosity and the need to shatter the limits of their own perception again and again. That may not sound like much but it something really special very few people dare to do. Repeatedly question your own world view!
There are only a few stories of true & complete apocalypse in human history. We should talk about them more & try to learn as much as we can from their examples.
The Mound builders, Rome, the Bronze Age civilizations, the Byzantines and there are a good many more, societal collapse is actually fairly common in history but it’s hardly thought of. I recommend looking into it sometime, it’s actually really interesting,
Rapa Nui has been in my mind as a lesson and a warning since I was a little kid. I credit it with being the gateway for my younger self to first contemplate climate change, (in)sustainable resources, and the dire effects of run away environmental neglect. It's entirely possible to render your life support system inoperable by your own hand. Frightening yet informative. I'm looking forward for what else you have on Rapa Nui. Thanks again for sharing your allegorical prompts, Evan. I really appreciate and enjoy your efforts...I'm glad you and your wife had that discussion a year ago! :)
But they survived after running out of resources. They weren't as powerful than they were, but they eventually found a balance and sustained themselves until there was outside interference.
I just love this channel, I wish there was more I could do to expand the viewership. Evan and Francesco you do such an amazing job of letting the locations and their people be the stars while guiding the view through the story in a way that never overwhelms the tale being told. Do you have a patreon or something where I could support the show in the small way my finances allow?
"The point isn't to bring you new information than whenever you came in; it's to give you a parable." Quality content as always. Thank you so much for this series. The quote above from 0:56 really stuck me. My training is mostly in the hard sciences, but lately I've been struck by the personal and inter-personal value of motifs and stories---distinct from notions of truth or realness. Our gods, too, come and go like the wind.
Thing is, they weren't gods. They were ancestors. A theme reflected in other Austronesian cultures which were historically animistic. From tiki to anito, carvings in human form were almost always representations of humans. Whether recent ancestors or legendary heroes. Regardless if they were attributed with magical powers, they were all humans. The true "gods" of Austronesian animism did not have human forms, as they were nature spirits and thus their true form were always inhuman. Neither were they usually represented in carvings, with the exception of animal spirits who were, of course, depicted in animal form.
I was about to say. While he is right about the history of what happened to the people, his attempt to connect it to the idea of "gods" was less than tenuous.
. . . depends on how you define gods. In some places, ancestors function very much like gods. They are revered, prayed to, given offerings and remembered on certain occasions. So, a wider definition encompasses ancestors.(You'll find similar traditions in parts of Africa and Asia with ancestor worship. Again, this means to show reverence and put faith in. They are part of the spirit realm just as angels and demons in Christianity).
Christian's worship Jesus who most likely was just an ancestor. I think westerners like to think that their way of life is the civilized one, unlike the savages of the rest of the world, all the while not seeing the similarities they share. From an outsider's perspective christianity and its many forms are just as strange as cutting down all the trees and making giant head statues.
+Angry Kittens The Rapanui People were Polynesian and Polynesian cultures had a mixture between ancestor worship and God worship, Humans, if not seen as equal to Gods, were still seen as descendants of the Gods. Whilst we can not say what the theology of the Rapanui peoples was we can definitely show it was Polynesian in its base, even the Birdman aspect is a frequent show up in Polynesian mythologies. Also, we still don't know for sure if the Moai were meant to represent Humans or something else, perhaps they represented Guardians or Spirits of some kind which in Polynesian mythologies were sometimes represented in Humanoid forms. They are a mystery due to us losing the change to learn their culture after the slavery of their learned peoples. Also, you mention Tiki, which if you are referring to Maori Tiki (as that's the only usage I normally see online) they weren't just used to represent humans, they also were used to represent taniwha, gods and other mythical beings. it depended on context and the abstract of the art.
I love this video and this series. I pray we may get some more soon. I show this video to my art history students when we talk about the Moai. And without fail, this bunch of jaded high school kids and I are all crying by the end of the video. It's one of my favorite moments every year. Thank you for giving us this gift.
On the off chance you read this comment, I hope it encourages you and makes you happy as I love these videos and it's a nice thing to look forward to waiting for the next ones to come out :)
I've read the story of Rapa Nui before but you explained in such an eloquent and beautiful way that I'm so captivated by it. Thank you so much, discovering your channel last year was a total bliss for me. Also I want to go to Easters Island before I die!
same is true of all organisms. Life evolves to propogate itself, at the cost of its environment. Very few creatures are alive due to long-term planning, most just exploit day-to-day, have moderately successful eras as species, then die when they hit the edges of their carrying capacity. Humans have a great ability to expand our carrying capacity, but we can't expand forever. Even if we colonize other planets, our solar system, our galaxy, eventually we'll run out of room or use up too much energy.
@Mountain Whale good point. Thats the ideal scenario anyway. First we need to get off this rock though, and to do that we need more governments and billionaires actively endorsing space development. Elon Musk is a start, but hopefully we get even more Musks soon.
Mountain Whale I completely agree. Trying to drag our earth-made organic forms through the radiation-hell that is space would be incredibly expensive to do safely. I'd like to think it could happen, through genetic engineering or something, but the shortest and simplest method is to make AI and use them as our missionaries. Then we'd just need to worry about solar flares screwing with the circuitry.
A god dies when there is no one left to worship them. How a god dies is up to circumstance. But as nonbelievers of their gods, it's in our best interest to see what went wrong, so we don't repeat their mistakes. I agree with you. They may be dead, but their bones are beautiful.
How can you believe in a science that kills your entire family, your entire tribe, your entire nation? Youll die anyway, believer or not, atheist or not. This isnt some "gotcha" moment, maybe watch more Sam Harris podcasts and come back with your euphoric quotes.
Thank you Evan, and your team, for making these videos. I'm always excited when I see a new one in my subscriptions, it is one of the few series that makes consistently truly good and thought provoking content. Keep going!
I don't think it is accurate to call the Moai 'gods'. They were probably more like the totem poles of the Pacific Northwest. Social monuments indicating power, prestige, land rights, ancestry etc. They were probably a socially cohesive force in creating and moving them to their final location.
It's a pity this island saw collapse after collapse. Thanks to the Peruvian Blackbirders, now, we'll never get to know the history of this island for sure. What's more enraging is that they did seem to have a type of writing called Rongorongo, which was independently invented, but we'll never be able to read it now to know if it contains otherwise lost knowledge. Thanks for making this series, it's brilliant. Where will you be going next? Will you be talking about Rongorongo in the next video?
There are actually some pretty interesting similarities between rongorongo and the Indus valley script. I've not done enough research to state how far those similarities go, but they are more than enough to warrant comparison. Even more interesting is the fact that the Indus Valley civilization collapsed two to three thousand years before the apparent settling of Rapa Nui. Add to that the fact that some of the Moai are full bodies, buried under what I am pretty sure is sediment (don't quote me on this one tho, its again something I need to research more), and we get a somehow even more mysterious story than we were told.
Dude, I found your Channel yesterday and since then all I can do is binge watch your videos... and I really need to work!!! incredible stuff! Im just surprised how I didn't find you earlier. It's mind-boggling how TH-cam keeps feeding me vloggers in their twenties with 20 mil. subscribers (which i never watch) and not stuff like your channel... which surprisingly has 550 K... should be more. TH-cam's algorithm is NOT working. But enough of this rant :-) ...great stuff man... thank you!
There’s so, so much to be learned from the history of Rapa Nui / Easter Island, it’s all of humanity’s best and worst features played out in miniaturized time and space. One of the potentially most compelling pieces of evidence for this is that Rongrongo could be one of very few instances of humanity creating writing, if it’s ever deciphered.
Gaaaaaaaaah. The story of Easter Island is such a total mindblow. I've loved it for decades. I think it's one of the most curious developments of human history. It is an awe-striking situation.
Man, I wonder if every documentary about the Moai is done superficialy, this is the first time I have heard something like this, everytime is just like they are a mystery and that's it. Thank you for this bit of knowledge.
I’ve had the privilege of visiting Rapa Nui and I’ve watched a lot of videos about what may or may not have happened there: This is the best by far. Absolutely brilliant work, thank you 🗿🤙
Ruins (indonesian): runtuhan. Associated words: Runtuh: to fall downTuhan: God Runtuhan is therfore formed from the words runtuh + tuhan meaning 'toppled god'. So the geographic origin of the word 'Ruins' in indonesian language refers to a toppled statue of a God (specifically Tuhan, the Toppled God). Tuhan, The Toppled God The island of Sulawesi comes with numerous megalithic stone statues that would qualify as gods, a few of them most certainly toppled. That of course means that this location is originally called Runtuh-tuhan, and the toppled god was named Tuhan. Han has some associated words: Hantu: ghost Hantjur: smashed, crushed Hantar: to leave (together) Hantam: to beat violently So it is a haunted place of broken artefacts that the people who dwelled there left behind.
Amazing video . I just want to precise one thing : the bird man was changed every year and was the guy who was able to find the first egg of a special sea bird ( don't know the name in english ) on a rock over 2 kilometers from the island . Without boat .
I am very glad to announce that this has touched me so strongly, tomorrow i'm handing in a paper i wrote (loosely) inspired on this video. Thank you for putting out information i never thought i would encounter, about a subject I never thought I'd fall in love with.
I'm amazed at how every single video you put out there gives another unique perspective on a piece of this earth... it's really eye opening and thought provoking!
Would you consider posting your transcript? Your videos are the perfect embodiment of the phrase, "Video Novel." Being able to read along with the transcript transcript would be crucially complementary. Thank you!
Cheers for the effort and I generally enjoy your videos, but there are too many factual inaccuracies in this particular video's narrative for it to be taken as anything more than overly moral finger-wagging.
Thank you so much for this video! It was so incredibly interesting that I've been reading about the Polynesian culture, and their Lapita descendants. I was quite amazed to find that the Austronesian language family, which includes the original language that would have been spoken on Easter Island stretches all the way to Madagascar. It seems the ethnic group started in Southern China and Southeast Asia, and traveled as far east as Easter Island (almost all the way to South America) and as far west as Madagascar. That's absolutely incredible. It seems likely that if they had gone as far west as Madagascar, surely they would have also traveled that extra little distance to mainland Africa, right? I wonder if they were killed by the natives when they did, or if they just turned back when they found the land inhabited. Or perhaps it was disease. Ancient humans were amazing, crossing those oceans on canoes, I can't even imagine it.
Every couple of months I come back to this video, mainly just for the quote "Our god's may be dead but their bones are beautiful" it gives me chills every single time!
this is a concept ive been fascinated with for the last little while now.. the death of the old gods and traditions and the birth of technoreligious ideas... what figures will humanity grasp onto and what new ones will be created during this huge technologically shift thats occurring atm...
Deep, informative, direct and entertaining! I've just discovered you, and I am not gonna miss any of this serie's episodes. Keep up the excellent work.
I visited Easter island during a trip to Chile a few years ago and it was one of the most important experiences of my life. just exploring the island and the history is amazing and you feel so secure when you can travel from one side of the island to the other within an hour. All the people are friendly and the landscape is beautiful. One day I swear ill return to the island, rent the same motorbike and re live the thrills I had when I visited the island the first time.
So you're saying that giant Moai that I imported for half a million sith his pearl white eyes that we put in our outdoor Tiki Bar is somehow morally questionable? Pah, nonsense.
Strange Mysteries as well as Rare Earth will be a part of my Patreon. I love questions as much as answers too. I love truth no matter how ugly if we acknowledge the truth and rebuild with the flaws of the known lies is rebirth of a nation.
I highly recommend this series to those who want to escape intellectual rubbish and not just learn about but experience these amazing places! Indeed what a wonderful world!
Polynesian sea-faring culture and technology is the most amazing thing in human history. Captain Cook's own writings and other early European observers noted the sophistication, knowledge, and highly advanced navigational abilities of these "stone age" people. In reality they had no need for metals, but probably knew where to trade for them if they wanted.
i tend to think that the greatest gift a teacher can give is the ability to use logic; the gift of questions, not answers... so onward with questions...
Hehe. Cat worshiping, like the ancient Egypts? ;) But the rats came long after the birdman culture, if I got that right? Sometimes *both* rats and cats come with ships to ports and then the balance is restored. An eco-system that has rats but no cats is just doomed. There is this lovely film about the cats in Istanbul, Kedi. The people love them and take care of their imported friends (some came all the way from Norway), because they take care of the substantial rodent population that always seems to come with ship trade. Of course the case of Rapa Nui is more complicated than that, people just exploited their own home too much, as humans have a tendency to do. It's just sad that other humans don't seem to be able to take an example of previous man-made destruction. :(
We, the Dutch, did sure did a lot in the few years we were on top of things. I'm curious whether you're planning on going to places like Indonesia or Suriname. Those are massively interesting countries on their own, but I'd love to hear you have a say about the Dutch history in those places. Anyways, great shit. Keep it up!
You guys did a number alright. It was so bad our founding father got so pissed and immediately made Asian African Conference and declared "non-bloc" group. But then USA, Soviet and China ruin it all because capitalism vs communism bullshit.
Great video. But one small gripe, the pronounciation of Rapa Nui is a little off. You say the "a" like "apple" but it should be like the "a" in "father", also the "r" is rolled or tapped.
You are a teacher, whether you think of yourself as one or not. Thousands of people watch these videos, not just for entertainment, but to learn. You probably teach more people in a ten minute video than most traditional teachers would in a full year of school/college/university. I hope you keep doing what you do for a very long time.
This was a very good video and allthough the content was not new to me, it was nice to see what the place looks like these days. It seems like this is a rare case where modern living has improved the environment (a lot more greenery than a hundred years ago) instead of damaging it more than ancient lifestyle did. If only the people of Rapa Nui had the knowledge how to manage their island like they do now, the story would be completely different.
This is what we need to remember when talking about our environment. The people of Easter Island had their island, and in time it had nothing left to offer for human life to flourish. Right now we are at the limits of our planet; we pushed all boundaries, we can go anywhere on the planet within a day if we want to. We as a species are all on our Easter Island, with no where to go when it has ran out of things to offer. Easter Island was a dead end, and in the same way our earth in its entirety also offers no way out once we push it too far. Let's hope the day that we decide to cut down our last metaphorical tree will never happen. The only thing we probably don't need to worry about is foreign invasion.
Thanks to everyone who asked about our Patreon. I'll put out a full video when I get the time, but for those who want to jump the gun and get on board from the start, here's the link: www.patreon.com/rareearth
It means a huge deal that so many have asked us to start an account. I never thought anyone would watch these videos, let alone support them.
Hey man I appreciate this video, your cinematography and your earnestness- but your chronology is off.
Current archaeological consensus puts the timeline for settlement much later, around 1350AD. With the introduction of rats, as you stated, the island would have been treeless within a generation because of the long reproductive cycle of the palms. There is very little evidence of the use of the palms for ships or any kind of industry really. Rapa Nui society did not crumble when they lost their trees, they thrived in spite of it! Despite the pervading narrative of collapse, most archaeological models support a relatively stable society of distributed chieftains and no models support a population over 5,000. The soil, despite being volcanic, is actually relatively poor because of bad drainage and a lack of available nutrients. To cope, people would fertilize the soil with stones and make stone rings to make a sort of microclimate for their crops.
For at least 300 years, Rapa Nui society maintained a holding pattern with little warfare and conflict between tribes, besides personal grudges. Why fight? There is nothing to fight over but rocks and chickens- so the clans competed in another way, the beautiful Moai that you see everywhere on the island. Now, I'm not saying Rapa Nui was a perfect paradise- far from it. Their food was unvaried and not nutritious, and if you walked outside of your ~2km stretch of land people would at the least be cold to you, and at the most kill you.
What I'm saying is Rapa Nui is not a narrative of failure and decay, it's a narrative of extreme persistence against the odds and the power of human ingenuity- and boredom- to make something amazing. Despite the harsh conditions they lived in, they maintained a relatively stable and productive society that grew enough in complexity to make beautiful works of art. If you want to get updated on the most recent Archaeological arguments for the long chronology in Rapa Nui, I suggest reading "Statues that Walked" by Carl Lipo and Terry Hunt.
Cheers!
They have a written history, if you can figure out how to translate Rongorongo: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rongorongo
yeah theres a lot of suckers
Fuck. Did not know my country killed their land. Jeeze
Damn Peru I say we nuke it
"the gods may be dead, but their bones are beautiful" is easily one of my favourite quotes of all time now.
real shit
New Gods will be born to replace them though, a certain amount of people will always have the emotional need for Gods and so as the old ones die so new ones will be born to replace them that has always been the case and I think that it will be with us for a long time yet if not forever.
solipsism...
"the God's may be dead, but their bones are beautiful" can there be anything said further from the truth. In Actuality, the chosen God of this Earth is money, and it's obviously not dead. Alternatively it's thriving. Unequivocally more followers and Faithful Servants who are willing to kill for it than any other belief system or religion that ever existed on Earth unequivocally this is a fact. Since Fiat currencies conception and birth daily ritual worship, globally, publicly, and in certain countries they even put the word God on the object itself.
STUART BRODIE
True.
But money is a tool that builds power and power is a tool built on money.
None the less money is just about the most delicious thing this world has to offer.
So to the ancient civilizations that once ruled I say this. Thank you for creating a system of true instantaneous happiness. Weather money rules us or we rule it what would a world without money look like? If one can come up with a better sustainable system then there we go. Yet until then money will continue to be the God of the poor and the King of the rich.
"The Dutch brought with them two gifts" Aww
"Small pocks and syphilis" Oh
I thought this needed a comment so I commented.
T^T
They got Amsterdamned.
i was thinking good guys ductches gave them cats, but then the truth came and i burst laughing
These are seriously some of the best video stories/documentaries on the internet
And I don't just mean this video, the entirety of the channel. I share this with everyone
"The cycle that built up these islands was rooted in unsustainability." It's amazing how often we repeat this pattern.
Yes, it's as if it is part of all living things... how quaint.
Little more than a disease with no host to spread to.
Faithfully. It's not animals, just humans. When a lion hunts, it takes down one, eats it, feeds the cubs and spends the next few days resting. Most animals operate in this way, despite competition for food. Humans get greedy and live with emotional insecurity, no matter how abundant is our stock.
in north America there's more trees now than 100 years ago
@@gaslitworldf.melissab2897 I'm pretty sure that's not true. All species will grow to the extent allowed by the environment. Deer need to be culled periodically because they will outgrow their resources and become weak and diseased. Rats will grow explosively until they outstrip all their resources and then become cannibalistic and die in dysfunctional weakened societies. Locusts have to keep moving from place to place as they consume everything in their path.
The only animals that are "successful" in the long term are the ones that are constantly culled by other predators which themselves are kept in check by something else. Humans don't have natural predators anymore.
I have had the great privilege of spending several field seasons on Rapa Nui assisting on archaeological projects, and usually I get highly annoyed by TH-cam content on the subject. This video however, was not at all bad. A bit heavy on the pre-colonial collapse theories, but not nearly as bad as it usually is. Instead of collapse, we rather see a shift in culture as a response to the changing environment, with this change being largely due to things like soil not being extremely rich to begin with, rats and the little ice age hitting the palm tree forest hard, etc. Honestly, their response to it was nothing short of brilliantly creative. Those rock gardens you mention are an amazing feat of agricultural innovation on their part.
I really don't want to nitpick your video though, because there is much more I like than dislike. I especially like you emphasizing that what killed the culture as it was, and I say as it was, because there has been a resurgence of Rapa Nui culture with both the language and a version of the religion being very much alive, was not the Rapa Nui themselves, but rather colonization. I guess what I want to say is;Than you for spreading better information about a culture about which so much misinformation has been the norm.
I wasn't ready for how sad this story is.
well that equine right at the beginning had his schlong hangn out. that's kinda funny
@@centraltexasbear9973 Always look on the bright side of life...(whistles)
HOW do these videos keep getting better? How is that possible???
to put it in words: you come to a place which is everything opposite one's usual surroundings. And in the end....
....you make yourself feel at home
You know, every video that you guys made so far is special. A sort of scary special.
I do not think I have seen anyone make such touching series, Food for a soul.
I am not a religious man, however, you're videos have made me at least understand somewhat how people feel when a prophet was preaching.
Are your words the words of God? No, far from it.
But it surely knocks at the door of the mysteries of the universe and makes the cogwheel of the mind start churning.
There is something about Rare Earth that really taps into your emotion. And what's sort of amazing, it really makes you feel alive. Alive knowing that the world and mysteries are still vast. Even when you have technology and knowledge that makes the world tiny. Your videos at least gives you a small reality check, knocking you out of that bubble making you realize, you haven't really seen the world.
Kubi Kameho this properly covers how I or may be everyone feels after watching any of the rare earth's vids
I would say it's because these guys DON'T know a lot more than us going to these places and genuinly care about how people feel and felt. Not from a pity or empathy perspective but rather from a perspective of untamed curiosity and the need to shatter the limits of their own perception again and again.
That may not sound like much but it something really special very few people dare to do. Repeatedly question your own world view!
Wow I couldn't agree more, really powerful words, amen!
Indeed. Beautiful.
There are only a few stories of true & complete apocalypse in human history. We should talk about them more & try to learn as much as we can from their examples.
I am afraid there are more than just a few...
get off your soapbox, Zoidberg.
I only know of Carthage and the Easter island civilization, the Yucatán península civilization, the Aztecs, incans, what are the other ones?
The Mound builders, Rome, the Bronze Age civilizations, the Byzantines and there are a good many more, societal collapse is actually fairly common in history but it’s hardly thought of. I recommend looking into it sometime, it’s actually really interesting,
Ryan McCoy thanks, I don’t know why I forgot Rome, lol and the other great civilization collapse.
i'm currently on a rare earth marathon since i stumbled with it about 2 hours ago
I love this series. It's entirely unique among everything else I've ever seen
It is very much the embodiment of "Learn from history, or you will be doomed to repeat it."
Rapa Nui has been in my mind as a lesson and a warning since I was a little kid. I credit it with being the gateway for my younger self to first contemplate climate change, (in)sustainable resources, and the dire effects of run away environmental neglect. It's entirely possible to render your life support system inoperable by your own hand. Frightening yet informative. I'm looking forward for what else you have on Rapa Nui. Thanks again for sharing your allegorical prompts, Evan. I really appreciate and enjoy your efforts...I'm glad you and your wife had that discussion a year ago! :)
No such thing as sustainable resource.There are always unintended/unforeseen consequences.Resources are used to find the next replacement.
But they survived after running out of resources. They weren't as powerful than they were, but they eventually found a balance and sustained themselves until there was outside interference.
I just love this channel, I wish there was more I could do to expand the viewership. Evan and Francesco you do such an amazing job of letting the locations and their people be the stars while guiding the view through the story in a way that never overwhelms the tale being told. Do you have a patreon or something where I could support the show in the small way my finances allow?
Jen Burton We're just happy you're here watching, Jen.
watch all of the ads ... that's what I do to help, it's only little bit but it adds up
you are right... tale not history
"The point isn't to bring you new information than whenever you came in; it's to give you a parable."
Quality content as always. Thank you so much for this series. The quote above from 0:56 really stuck me. My training is mostly in the hard sciences, but lately I've been struck by the personal and inter-personal value of motifs and stories---distinct from notions of truth or realness. Our gods, too, come and go like the wind.
*Excellent video, as always. side note, Horse Dong.*
LOKIUNCIA i searched far down for this comment. Maybe we are the only crude ones watching this video.
Fatty Acid right? Thank you
Ha!! Dangly parts
Floppy horse dick
I have been waiting for your easter island video ever sense you teased it!
I absolutely love this channel, the content, and presentation. Always looking forward to a new video. Keep up the great work
Thing is, they weren't gods. They were ancestors. A theme reflected in other Austronesian cultures which were historically animistic. From tiki to anito, carvings in human form were almost always representations of humans. Whether recent ancestors or legendary heroes. Regardless if they were attributed with magical powers, they were all humans.
The true "gods" of Austronesian animism did not have human forms, as they were nature spirits and thus their true form were always inhuman. Neither were they usually represented in carvings, with the exception of animal spirits who were, of course, depicted in animal form.
I was about to say. While he is right about the history of what happened to the people, his attempt to connect it to the idea of "gods" was less than tenuous.
. . . depends on how you define gods. In some places, ancestors function very much like gods. They are revered, prayed to, given offerings and remembered on certain occasions. So, a wider definition encompasses ancestors.(You'll find similar traditions in parts of Africa and Asia with ancestor worship. Again, this means to show reverence and put faith in. They are part of the spirit realm just as angels and demons in Christianity).
GaslitWorld f. Melissa B Durga and religion have plenty of connections
The church can’t shut me down fucking diddlers
Christian's worship Jesus who most likely was just an ancestor. I think westerners like to think that their way of life is the civilized one, unlike the savages of the rest of the world, all the while not seeing the similarities they share. From an outsider's perspective christianity and its many forms are just as strange as cutting down all the trees and making giant head statues.
+Angry Kittens The Rapanui People were Polynesian and Polynesian cultures had a mixture between ancestor worship and God worship, Humans, if not seen as equal to Gods, were still seen as descendants of the Gods. Whilst we can not say what the theology of the Rapanui peoples was we can definitely show it was Polynesian in its base, even the Birdman aspect is a frequent show up in Polynesian mythologies. Also, we still don't know for sure if the Moai were meant to represent Humans or something else, perhaps they represented Guardians or Spirits of some kind which in Polynesian mythologies were sometimes represented in Humanoid forms. They are a mystery due to us losing the change to learn their culture after the slavery of their learned peoples. Also, you mention Tiki, which if you are referring to Maori Tiki (as that's the only usage I normally see online) they weren't just used to represent humans, they also were used to represent taniwha, gods and other mythical beings. it depended on context and the abstract of the art.
I love this video and this series. I pray we may get some more soon.
I show this video to my art history students when we talk about the Moai. And without fail, this bunch of jaded high school kids and I are all crying by the end of the video. It's one of my favorite moments every year. Thank you for giving us this gift.
Wow that makes me so incredibly happy to hear you have no idea. New videos this xmas back on the old weekly schedule.
On the off chance you read this comment, I hope it encourages you and makes you happy as I love these videos and it's a nice thing to look forward to waiting for the next ones to come out :)
I second that
I've read the story of Rapa Nui before but you explained in such an eloquent and beautiful way that I'm so captivated by it. Thank you so much, discovering your channel last year was a total bliss for me. Also I want to go to Easters Island before I die!
Man has always been his own worst enemy, destroying everything in his path.
same is true of all organisms. Life evolves to propogate itself, at the cost of its environment. Very few creatures are alive due to long-term planning, most just exploit day-to-day, have moderately successful eras as species, then die when they hit the edges of their carrying capacity.
Humans have a great ability to expand our carrying capacity, but we can't expand forever. Even if we colonize other planets, our solar system, our galaxy, eventually we'll run out of room or use up too much energy.
Ordinary Tree That "eventually" would be infinity since the universe is so.
Charles Damery We also come up with basic human rights so I thinm its a bit 50/50
@Mountain Whale good point. Thats the ideal scenario anyway. First we need to get off this rock though, and to do that we need more governments and billionaires actively endorsing space development. Elon Musk is a start, but hopefully we get even more Musks soon.
Mountain Whale I completely agree. Trying to drag our earth-made organic forms through the radiation-hell that is space would be incredibly expensive to do safely. I'd like to think it could happen, through genetic engineering or something, but the shortest and simplest method is to make AI and use them as our missionaries. Then we'd just need to worry about solar flares screwing with the circuitry.
A god dies when there is no one left to worship them. How a god dies is up to circumstance.
But as nonbelievers of their gods, it's in our best interest to see what went wrong, so we don't repeat their mistakes.
I agree with you. They may be dead, but their bones are beautiful.
"How can you believe in a god that kills your entire family, your entire tribe, your entire nation?" Ask any Christian.
Islam is far worse in that regard.
@@fantasia55
Lmao why? They both believe in the same thing
How can you believe in a science that kills your entire family, your entire tribe, your entire nation?
Youll die anyway, believer or not, atheist or not.
This isnt some "gotcha" moment, maybe watch more Sam Harris podcasts and come back with your euphoric quotes.
Easter Island is one of the most strangely profound stories from history, imo.
This kind of anger in your video is actually therapy....
That mirrors my thoughts perfectly.
Thank you Evan, and your team, for making these videos. I'm always excited when I see a new one in my subscriptions, it is one of the few series that makes consistently truly good and thought provoking content.
Keep going!
Another amazing episode! Great job guys!
Thanks Ale! I was just telling Francesco about your buffalo mozzarella last night!
"The Gods may be dead, but their bones are beautiful" - I'm going to use this sentence from now on.
*gods
You are supposed to capitalise God or Gods.
No you capitalise God not gods. One's a proper noun the others not.
to a person that practices a polytheistic religion Gods might be a proper noun.
Guys. Do you really want to argue about one letter? I wanted to put emphasis on the word "gods" so I capitalised the first letter.
Thank you for these amazing videos :D
I don't think it is accurate to call the Moai 'gods'.
They were probably more like the totem poles of the Pacific Northwest.
Social monuments indicating power, prestige, land rights, ancestry etc.
They were probably a socially cohesive force in creating and moving them
to their final location.
It's a pity this island saw collapse after collapse. Thanks to the Peruvian Blackbirders, now, we'll never get to know the history of this island for sure. What's more enraging is that they did seem to have a type of writing called Rongorongo, which was independently invented, but we'll never be able to read it now to know if it contains otherwise lost knowledge. Thanks for making this series, it's brilliant. Where will you be going next? Will you be talking about Rongorongo in the next video?
the rongo rongo has been speculated, but sadly it is still uncomprehensible
There are actually some pretty interesting similarities between rongorongo and the Indus valley script. I've not done enough research to state how far those similarities go, but they are more than enough to warrant comparison. Even more interesting is the fact that the Indus Valley civilization collapsed two to three thousand years before the apparent settling of Rapa Nui.
Add to that the fact that some of the Moai are full bodies, buried under what I am pretty sure is sediment (don't quote me on this one tho, its again something I need to research more), and we get a somehow even more mysterious story than we were told.
They are buried because of all the erosion from the loss of the trees.
Dude, I found your Channel yesterday and since then all I can do is binge watch your videos... and I really need to work!!! incredible stuff!
Im just surprised how I didn't find you earlier. It's mind-boggling how TH-cam keeps feeding me vloggers in their twenties with 20 mil. subscribers (which i never watch) and not stuff like your channel... which surprisingly has 550 K... should be more.
TH-cam's algorithm is NOT working.
But enough of this rant :-) ...great stuff man... thank you!
I like that you dont preach or teach... you just provide perspective. You ignite curiosity. You let us think... Rare indeed.
There’s so, so much to be learned from the history of Rapa Nui / Easter Island, it’s all of humanity’s best and worst features played out in miniaturized time and space. One of the potentially most compelling pieces of evidence for this is that Rongrongo could be one of very few instances of humanity creating writing, if it’s ever deciphered.
Where are the trees?
Not a lecturer or historian, a philosopher
Gaaaaaaaaah. The story of Easter Island is such a total mindblow. I've loved it for decades. I think it's one of the most curious developments of human history. It is an awe-striking situation.
i just stumbled upon pure gold! I love your videos so much, they give me life.
Man, I wonder if every documentary about the Moai is done superficialy, this is the first time I have heard something like this, everytime is just like they are a mystery and that's it. Thank you for this bit of knowledge.
Love this series..So informative, entertaining!
I’ve had the privilege of visiting Rapa Nui and I’ve watched a lot of videos about what may or may not have happened there: This is the best by far. Absolutely brilliant work, thank you 🗿🤙
Ruins (indonesian): runtuhan.
Associated words:
Runtuh: to fall downTuhan: God
Runtuhan is therfore formed from the words runtuh + tuhan meaning 'toppled god'. So the geographic origin of the word 'Ruins' in indonesian language refers to a toppled statue of a God (specifically Tuhan, the Toppled God).
Tuhan, The Toppled God
The island of Sulawesi comes with numerous megalithic stone statues that would qualify as gods, a few of them most certainly toppled.
That of course means that this location is originally called Runtuh-tuhan, and the toppled god was named Tuhan.
Han has some associated words:
Hantu: ghost
Hantjur: smashed, crushed
Hantar: to leave (together)
Hantam: to beat violently
So it is a haunted place of broken artefacts that the people who dwelled there left behind.
Amazing video . I just want to precise one thing : the bird man was changed every year and was the guy who was able to find the first egg of a special sea bird ( don't know the name in english ) on a rock over 2 kilometers from the island . Without boat .
Excellent narration. The philosophy behind the history made it complete.
I am very glad to announce that this has touched me so strongly, tomorrow i'm handing in a paper i wrote (loosely) inspired on this video. Thank you for putting out information i never thought i would encounter, about a subject I never thought I'd fall in love with.
Woke but not pretentious. Honest and raw perspective from an educated man. Well done
"Missionaries put the final nail in", no truer words have ever been spoken.
i like how this guy is always pushing me to pull the trigger. its a nice refresh from all the youtubers acting happy all the time.
You chasing after that horse made it lose its erection. haha 1:19
So poetic. I love this series.
I'm amazed at how every single video you put out there gives another unique perspective on a piece of this earth... it's really eye opening and thought provoking!
Would you consider posting your transcript? Your videos are the perfect embodiment of the phrase, "Video Novel." Being able to read along with the transcript transcript would be crucially complementary. Thank you!
Whoever writes your script deserves a raise
"The gods may be dear, but their bones are beautiful" killed me.
it’s sad to find out how their history was taken. thanks for the well done video.
Cheers for the effort and I generally enjoy your videos, but there are too many factual inaccuracies in this particular video's narrative for it to be taken as anything more than overly moral finger-wagging.
This video genuinely changed my life and has stuck with me permanently
Thank you so much for this video! It was so incredibly interesting that I've been reading about the Polynesian culture, and their Lapita descendants. I was quite amazed to find that the Austronesian language family, which includes the original language that would have been spoken on Easter Island stretches all the way to Madagascar. It seems the ethnic group started in Southern China and Southeast Asia, and traveled as far east as Easter Island (almost all the way to South America) and as far west as Madagascar. That's absolutely incredible. It seems likely that if they had gone as far west as Madagascar, surely they would have also traveled that extra little distance to mainland Africa, right? I wonder if they were killed by the natives when they did, or if they just turned back when they found the land inhabited. Or perhaps it was disease. Ancient humans were amazing, crossing those oceans on canoes, I can't even imagine it.
I really liked the video (all of them from your channel but mostly this one).
So I translated the subtitles in French to say thank you!
Cheers!
It takes a lot to get me to press that subscribe button on any channel. Your description got me there. What a mind you have.
Just passing by rewatching Rare Earth. This series is amazing. Easily one of the best ones on youtube in my humble opinion:)
Every couple of months I come back to this video, mainly just for the quote "Our god's may be dead but their bones are beautiful" it gives me chills every single time!
this is a concept ive been fascinated with for the last little while now.. the death of the old gods and traditions and the birth of technoreligious ideas... what figures will humanity grasp onto and what new ones will be created during this huge technologically shift thats occurring atm...
By the time the video started,it had already ended.Nice work
"The gods may be dead, but their bones are beautiful"
So stealing this for some wise DnD NPC
Deep, informative, direct and entertaining!
I've just discovered you, and I am not gonna miss any of this serie's episodes.
Keep up the excellent work.
I visited Easter island during a trip to Chile a few years ago and it was one of the most important experiences of my life. just exploring the island and the history is amazing and you feel so secure when you can travel from one side of the island to the other within an hour. All the people are friendly and the landscape is beautiful. One day I swear ill return to the island, rent the same motorbike and re live the thrills I had when I visited the island the first time.
"and with that the palm was gone never to return"
Cuts to an image of palm trees.
Still love you tho
Different palm :)
Might be the finest video from rare earth
So you're saying that giant Moai that I imported for half a million sith his pearl white eyes that we put in our outdoor Tiki Bar is somehow morally questionable? Pah, nonsense.
Strange Mysteries as well as Rare Earth will be a part of my Patreon. I love questions as much as answers too. I love truth no matter how ugly if we acknowledge the truth and rebuild with the flaws of the known lies is rebirth of a nation.
I highly recommend this series to those who want to escape intellectual rubbish and not just learn about but experience these amazing places!
Indeed what a wonderful world!
This is brilliant. This is the best documentary series in TH-cam. Netflix should really hire you. Fast.
Polynesian sea-faring culture and technology is the most amazing thing in human history. Captain Cook's own writings and other early European observers noted the sophistication, knowledge, and highly advanced navigational abilities of these "stone age" people. In reality they had no need for metals, but probably knew where to trade for them if they wanted.
Nice end card. "Don't let anyone think for you; most people can barely think for themselves." is just pure genius there.
Before man stands forest, behind him there is desert.
If you look at the bigger picture...our planet is simmilar in the universe like the island in the ocean....
Thank you so much for these videos man you’ve truly opened my mind to the real problems in the world
i tend to think that the greatest gift a teacher can give is the ability to use logic; the gift of questions, not answers... so onward with questions...
Hands down my favourite channel on youtube rn
He has the same way of speaking as Cecil Palmer, just spitting out sentences that stay with you forever
This is one of the greatest channels I have seen on youtube. Keep on keepin on
I wonder how history would have unfolded, had the island had cats.
Great video about such a sad story!
I suspect birdman culture wouldn't have existed.
Hehe. Cat worshiping, like the ancient Egypts? ;)
But the rats came long after the birdman culture, if I got that right?
Sometimes *both* rats and cats come with ships to ports and then the balance is restored. An eco-system that has rats but no cats is just doomed. There is this lovely film about the cats in Istanbul, Kedi. The people love them and take care of their imported friends (some came all the way from Norway), because they take care of the substantial rodent population that always seems to come with ship trade.
Of course the case of Rapa Nui is more complicated than that, people just exploited their own home too much, as humans have a tendency to do. It's just sad that other humans don't seem to be able to take an example of previous man-made destruction. :(
I love the message in your end cap that encourages doing follow up research and to not take anything at face value
We, the Dutch, did sure did a lot in the few years we were on top of things. I'm curious whether you're planning on going to places like Indonesia or Suriname. Those are massively interesting countries on their own, but I'd love to hear you have a say about the Dutch history in those places.
Anyways, great shit. Keep it up!
It ain't pretty.
You guys did a number alright. It was so bad our founding father got so pissed and immediately made Asian African Conference and declared "non-bloc" group. But then USA, Soviet and China ruin it all because capitalism vs communism bullshit.
@@Kelkschiz Great statues. But no trees.
I very much enjoyed this. Thank you.
"Gods may be dead, but their bones are beautiful". I am stealing that for my death metal project :)
Your channel is filled with depressing content but I can't bring myself to stop watching.
Great video. But one small gripe, the pronounciation of Rapa Nui is a little off. You say the "a" like "apple" but it should be like the "a" in "father", also the "r" is rolled or tapped.
What a great beginning to this Video
I come here for this different frame of a Story I already heard :)
“Who are you that you do not know your history?”
You are a teacher, whether you think of yourself as one or not. Thousands of people watch these videos, not just for entertainment, but to learn. You probably teach more people in a ten minute video than most traditional teachers would in a full year of school/college/university.
I hope you keep doing what you do for a very long time.
This was a very good video and allthough the content was not new to me, it was nice to see what the place looks like these days. It seems like this is a rare case where modern living has improved the environment (a lot more greenery than a hundred years ago) instead of damaging it more than ancient lifestyle did. If only the people of Rapa Nui had the knowledge how to manage their island like they do now, the story would be completely different.
One of my favorite topics since I was about 8 years old: Rapa Nui
A new frame on a old message. Thanks for always making amazing content guys
Age of empires 2 when you finished all trees on the map
This is what we need to remember when talking about our environment. The people of Easter Island had their island, and in time it had nothing left to offer for human life to flourish.
Right now we are at the limits of our planet; we pushed all boundaries, we can go anywhere on the planet within a day if we want to. We as a species are all on our Easter Island, with no where to go when it has ran out of things to offer. Easter Island was a dead end, and in the same way our earth in its entirety also offers no way out once we push it too far. Let's hope the day that we decide to cut down our last metaphorical tree will never happen. The only thing we probably don't need to worry about is foreign invasion.
Wow!!!!!!!!!! It is so easy to forget the past. Thank you for this jolting reminder.
This is my favorite youtube series if I'm being honest