1 00:00:06,043 --> 00:00:07,403 Last time 2 00:00:07,483 --> 00:00:11,203 in this potentially award-winning history of human civilization, 3 00:00:11,283 --> 00:00:15,323 I showed you how our ancestors underwent a sudden spiritual awakening 4 00:00:15,403 --> 00:00:16,963 like my Aunt Carol. 5 00:00:17,043 --> 00:00:20,123 Like Carol, they found exciting gurus to follow. 6 00:00:20,803 --> 00:00:23,083 But unlike her, they didn't leave their husband 7 00:00:23,163 --> 00:00:26,843 to live on a farm in Wales with them, alongside eight other women, 8 00:00:26,923 --> 00:00:29,243 in a situation I can't discuss further 9 00:00:29,323 --> 00:00:33,083 as it's currently under investigation by North Wales Police. 10 00:00:33,163 --> 00:00:34,963 Our world changed forever, 11 00:00:35,043 --> 00:00:37,802 as religious messages of tolerance and forgiveness 12 00:00:37,883 --> 00:00:42,243 inspired mankind to fight like rats in a shoe for hundreds of years. 13 00:00:42,323 --> 00:00:44,883 But the world was about to have its mind expanded 14 00:00:44,963 --> 00:00:49,003 and then split at the seams by a different kind of higher calling. 15 00:00:49,083 --> 00:00:52,363 Humankind was about to undergo a renaissance 16 00:00:52,443 --> 00:00:54,443 by having the Renaissance, 17 00:00:54,523 --> 00:00:58,243 here on the same planet we still use today, 18 00:00:58,323 --> 00:01:01,563 a glistening space rock known as Earth. 19 00:01:19,683 --> 00:01:24,523 It's the year 1440. Not now, but then, in 1440. 20 00:01:24,603 --> 00:01:29,643 And a new invention is about to spark a blaze beneath the bush of possibility. 21 00:01:30,523 --> 00:01:33,483 Centuries earlier, the Chinese had invented printing, 22 00:01:33,563 --> 00:01:35,283 but no one in Europe paid attention 23 00:01:35,363 --> 00:01:37,443 until the printing press was invented again 24 00:01:37,523 --> 00:01:40,363 by a German called Johannes "Steve" Gutenberg. 25 00:01:40,443 --> 00:01:43,763 Gutenberg's press was the first of its kind in history, 26 00:01:43,843 --> 00:01:45,283 except Chinese history. 27 00:01:45,363 --> 00:01:50,283 Did the printing press actually change anything of significance? 28 00:01:50,363 --> 00:01:53,043 If Gutenberg hadn't invented printing, 29 00:01:53,123 --> 00:01:56,523 which meant that ideas could be communicated throughout the world, 30 00:01:56,603 --> 00:02:00,763 our culture would not have developed in the same way as it has. 31 00:02:00,843 --> 00:02:04,683 So in many ways, he has made the world our modern world today. 32 00:02:04,763 --> 00:02:07,603 So that's your idea of significant? 33 00:02:08,643 --> 00:02:12,523 The first book to be printed on Gutenberg's press was the Bible. 34 00:02:12,603 --> 00:02:14,843 But as well as spreading the word of God, 35 00:02:14,923 --> 00:02:19,843 it spread the word of scientists, philosophers, and eventually Dan Brown. 36 00:02:22,323 --> 00:02:26,323 Writing new books takes a long time, so to give their presses something to do, 37 00:02:26,403 --> 00:02:31,883 people reached back through time in search of old material to repackage. 38 00:02:31,963 --> 00:02:34,043 That's how the philosophy of ancient Greece 39 00:02:34,123 --> 00:02:37,323 suddenly came back in fashion and blew minds. 40 00:02:37,403 --> 00:02:42,523 At the time, most people's lives were as grim and joyless as my Uncle Martin. 41 00:02:42,603 --> 00:02:45,843 Their only hobbies were doing backbreaking work, dying of the plague, 42 00:02:45,923 --> 00:02:47,283 or being tortured. 43 00:02:47,363 --> 00:02:50,483 As far as they were concerned, this was all there was to life. 44 00:02:51,523 --> 00:02:54,803 So for them, being exposed to ancient Greek philosophy 45 00:02:54,883 --> 00:02:56,723 wasn't boring like it is now, 46 00:02:56,803 --> 00:03:01,443 but a mind-expanding experience that transformed the way they saw themselves. 47 00:03:01,523 --> 00:03:04,043 Like when my mate Paul ate five ketamine brownies 48 00:03:04,123 --> 00:03:06,283 and thought he could communicate telepathically 49 00:03:06,363 --> 00:03:08,803 with any animal he saw on television. 50 00:03:09,283 --> 00:03:12,963 Although, whereas Paul ended up sectioned for his own safety, 51 00:03:13,043 --> 00:03:16,723 our ancestors decided to change the world. 52 00:03:21,643 --> 00:03:23,003 This is Florence. 53 00:03:23,083 --> 00:03:26,803 The Italians call it Firenze to try and stop tourists from finding it. 54 00:03:26,883 --> 00:03:30,563 But it's definitely Florence because we double-checked it on a British map. 55 00:03:31,683 --> 00:03:34,643 Florence might look like a pointless mess today, 56 00:03:34,723 --> 00:03:37,763 but in the 15th century it was the epicenter 57 00:03:37,843 --> 00:03:41,923 of an unprecedented artistic and cultural phenomenon. 58 00:03:42,003 --> 00:03:44,523 What was "Renai-sauce"? 59 00:03:44,603 --> 00:03:47,243 Was that a sort of 16th-century ketchup? 60 00:03:47,323 --> 00:03:51,083 Renaissance comes from the French "renaissance." 61 00:03:51,163 --> 00:03:52,403 "Re-naissance." 62 00:03:52,483 --> 00:03:55,483 Naissance is birth. So it was seen as a rebirth. 63 00:03:55,563 --> 00:03:57,323 So it's not a condiment at all. 64 00:03:57,883 --> 00:03:59,683 -No, not as far as I know. -Okay. 65 00:03:59,763 --> 00:04:02,363 What sauces did they use back then? 66 00:04:02,443 --> 00:04:04,683 So this is an area of culinary history. 67 00:04:04,763 --> 00:04:08,203 I'm not very familiar with the history of sauces. 68 00:04:08,283 --> 00:04:10,123 So you're not the sauce person? 69 00:04:10,203 --> 00:04:12,523 I'm not predominantly a sauce person. 70 00:04:14,523 --> 00:04:17,403 We're going to have to rethink this whole interview. 71 00:04:18,163 --> 00:04:19,803 During the Renaissance, 72 00:04:19,883 --> 00:04:23,283 Florence produced artists who, for the first time in history, 73 00:04:23,363 --> 00:04:26,923 were competent enough to create paintings worth looking at. 74 00:04:27,002 --> 00:04:31,603 One of the most competent paintsmiths was Botticelli. 75 00:04:31,683 --> 00:04:33,403 So what's this painting? 76 00:04:33,483 --> 00:04:37,003 So this is Alessandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus. 77 00:04:37,083 --> 00:04:40,363 It's one of the great paintings of the Renaissance. 78 00:04:40,443 --> 00:04:44,203 So do we know if the birth of Venus actually looked like this? 79 00:04:44,283 --> 00:04:47,803 Well, it's depicting a sort of mythical figure, 80 00:04:47,883 --> 00:04:49,323 so it's sort of metaphorical. 81 00:04:49,403 --> 00:04:51,883 So it's the idea of a goddess 82 00:04:51,963 --> 00:04:55,523 who is coming into being, rather than being born. 83 00:04:55,603 --> 00:04:57,083 Her neck's very long. 84 00:04:57,163 --> 00:05:01,123 Was she part giraffe or could he just not do necks? 85 00:05:03,163 --> 00:05:05,963 No, her… her neck… 86 00:05:06,043 --> 00:05:10,203 It's meant to be a sign of beauty that he would have elongated the neck. 87 00:05:10,283 --> 00:05:11,883 I've spotted a mistake here. Look. 88 00:05:11,963 --> 00:05:14,283 He's blowing, and her hair's all whipping about. 89 00:05:14,363 --> 00:05:18,123 But look at these trees on the right. Not moving at all. No wind. 90 00:05:18,203 --> 00:05:21,083 I think these people have been photoshopped in. 91 00:05:21,163 --> 00:05:22,923 It's all fake. 92 00:05:23,603 --> 00:05:27,963 Other notable artists produced 3D paintings, or sculptures, 93 00:05:28,043 --> 00:05:31,603 the most famous example being this very naked man, 94 00:05:31,683 --> 00:05:34,323 known as "Michelangelo’s David." 95 00:05:35,163 --> 00:05:37,883 If you manage to look past his little marble goolies, 96 00:05:37,963 --> 00:05:40,603 you'll notice there's an incredible amount of detail 97 00:05:40,683 --> 00:05:43,523 all over the rest of Michelangelo’s body. 98 00:05:43,603 --> 00:05:46,563 His eyes have pupils in them like a Furby does. 99 00:05:46,643 --> 00:05:49,963 His muscles are really detailed. Look at his abs. 100 00:05:50,043 --> 00:05:52,163 They prove gyms are bullshit 101 00:05:52,243 --> 00:05:55,243 because they didn't have gyms back then, but look how toned he is. 102 00:05:55,323 --> 00:05:58,483 Then there's the realistic veins in the back of his hands, 103 00:05:58,563 --> 00:06:01,123 carrying statue blood to his fingers. 104 00:06:01,203 --> 00:06:04,243 Yet, despite all this attention to detail, 105 00:06:04,323 --> 00:06:07,723 a quick inspection of his back half reveals he doesn't have an anus. 106 00:06:07,803 --> 00:06:09,923 It's a baffling omission. 107 00:06:10,003 --> 00:06:12,283 Maybe the sculptor got embarrassed 108 00:06:12,363 --> 00:06:15,643 or the model had to leave early that day, or didn't actually have an anus. 109 00:06:15,723 --> 00:06:17,403 We just don't know. 110 00:06:19,163 --> 00:06:22,203 The undisputed master of the Renaissance 111 00:06:22,283 --> 00:06:25,683 was a human known as Leonardo da Vinci. 112 00:06:27,603 --> 00:06:29,683 This is The Vitruvian Man. 113 00:06:29,763 --> 00:06:34,643 It's a drawing made by Leonardo in about 1490. 114 00:06:34,723 --> 00:06:36,523 What's it for? 115 00:06:38,323 --> 00:06:39,723 What's the point of it? 116 00:06:39,803 --> 00:06:44,563 The point was that Leonardo wanted to know 117 00:06:44,643 --> 00:06:49,963 how to sketch the human body proportion. 118 00:06:50,043 --> 00:06:52,963 Just to be clear, you can see his bits too? 119 00:06:53,043 --> 00:06:54,763 I'm not imagining that. 120 00:06:54,843 --> 00:06:57,283 Is there a version of this with underpants on? 121 00:06:57,363 --> 00:06:59,763 Oh, no, no, no. 122 00:06:59,843 --> 00:07:03,323 He thought that was fine, did he? It's a bit rude, isn't it? 123 00:07:03,403 --> 00:07:05,083 No, it's not. 124 00:07:05,163 --> 00:07:11,243 Because, you know, the beauty of the human body, of course. 125 00:07:11,323 --> 00:07:14,323 Look at the todger. You can't say that's beautiful. 126 00:07:16,923 --> 00:07:18,403 Look at it. 127 00:07:18,483 --> 00:07:22,883 Leonardo also filled notebook after notebook with drawings of inventions 128 00:07:22,963 --> 00:07:24,723 years ahead of their time. 129 00:07:24,803 --> 00:07:26,203 What's that? 130 00:07:26,763 --> 00:07:31,083 This is a flying machine. It's like the helicopter. 131 00:07:31,163 --> 00:07:33,203 It doesn't look very convincing. 132 00:07:33,283 --> 00:07:38,283 Like my mate Paul invented a treadmill for his fiancée's pet snake, 133 00:07:38,363 --> 00:07:41,563 and the sketches for that were much more convincing than this. 134 00:07:41,643 --> 00:07:43,403 And he was on mushrooms. 135 00:07:43,483 --> 00:07:46,643 Mind you, the prototype did pull the snake's head off. 136 00:07:47,403 --> 00:07:48,683 Yeah… 137 00:07:48,763 --> 00:07:52,083 Worst ending to a birthday party I've ever been to. 138 00:07:52,963 --> 00:07:54,643 His inventions were one thing, 139 00:07:54,723 --> 00:07:58,323 but it's mainly for his paintings that we know da Vinci today. 140 00:07:58,403 --> 00:08:04,043 This is the Mona Lisa, an actual painting that exists in our world and on this wall. 141 00:08:04,123 --> 00:08:07,763 It's Mona Lisa's enigmatic character that draws people in. 142 00:08:07,843 --> 00:08:11,723 Like all women, you simply can't tell what's going on in her head. 143 00:08:11,803 --> 00:08:14,923 Just looking at her prompts so many questions. 144 00:08:15,003 --> 00:08:17,723 Who is she? What's she smiling about? 145 00:08:17,803 --> 00:08:19,843 Is she holding a balloon between her knees? 146 00:08:19,923 --> 00:08:22,483 And if so, what color is it? 147 00:08:22,563 --> 00:08:25,083 Has she got a boyfriend? What's his name? 148 00:08:25,163 --> 00:08:28,363 What's between his knees, and how can we find out? 149 00:08:28,443 --> 00:08:30,283 The answer is we can't. 150 00:08:30,363 --> 00:08:33,643 And that's why people keep returning every year 151 00:08:33,723 --> 00:08:35,923 to gaze upon her and wonder, 152 00:08:36,003 --> 00:08:38,323 then stop wondering and go home. 153 00:08:38,403 --> 00:08:40,202 As well as looking all right, 154 00:08:40,283 --> 00:08:42,403 "Da Vinci's work demonstrated mastery 155 00:08:42,483 --> 00:08:45,283 of the trailblazing techniques of the age," it says here. 156 00:08:45,363 --> 00:08:46,962 Before the Renaissance, 157 00:08:47,043 --> 00:08:51,563 other people's paintings were in a sort of wonky 2D. 158 00:08:51,643 --> 00:08:54,483 That's because artists had no sense of perspective. 159 00:08:54,563 --> 00:08:57,683 A bit like my mate Paul, who punched a waiter in a TGI Friday's 160 00:08:57,763 --> 00:08:59,803 for dropping his banoffee pie. 161 00:08:59,883 --> 00:09:05,123 Just look at this 14th-century painting of Jesus having his fateful tea party. 162 00:09:05,203 --> 00:09:07,203 The dimensions are all wrong. 163 00:09:07,283 --> 00:09:08,683 The room's squashed up, 164 00:09:08,763 --> 00:09:12,443 so it looks like it's happening in the lid of a cardboard box. 165 00:09:12,523 --> 00:09:14,763 Jesus is twice as big as the others, 166 00:09:14,843 --> 00:09:17,843 so it looks like he's enjoying an intimate dinner with some school boys. 167 00:09:17,923 --> 00:09:19,243 Not a good look. 168 00:09:19,323 --> 00:09:21,643 And what are those? Bowls or seashells? 169 00:09:21,723 --> 00:09:25,483 It's just shoddy craftsmanship. Absolutely disgraceful. 170 00:09:25,563 --> 00:09:27,203 Shouldn't even be in a museum. 171 00:09:27,283 --> 00:09:31,163 But da Vinci's reboot of the same painting is a different story. 172 00:09:31,243 --> 00:09:34,083 He knew how to perspective the fuck out of things. 173 00:09:34,163 --> 00:09:37,763 Look at the angles of the walls in The Last Supper and the table there. 174 00:09:37,843 --> 00:09:42,283 You almost feel like you could crawl inside it and betray Jesus yourself. 175 00:09:42,363 --> 00:09:46,443 Perspective was a huge leap forward for human art, 176 00:09:46,523 --> 00:09:50,163 on a par with the release of Crash Bandicoot centuries later. 177 00:09:50,243 --> 00:09:54,483 There's no denying the Renaissance was a pretty big deal for civilization. 178 00:09:54,563 --> 00:09:58,723 Just how important it was is for experts to decide. 179 00:09:58,803 --> 00:10:01,643 Which was more culturally significant, 180 00:10:01,723 --> 00:10:06,123 the Renaissance or "Single Ladies" by Beyoncé? 181 00:10:07,363 --> 00:10:11,403 They both have their period and they both have their time. 182 00:10:11,483 --> 00:10:12,723 Um… 183 00:10:12,803 --> 00:10:14,483 Beyoncé I'm rather fond of, 184 00:10:14,563 --> 00:10:16,483 but what the Renaissance was trying to do 185 00:10:16,563 --> 00:10:18,523 was to reform culture as a whole, 186 00:10:18,603 --> 00:10:21,843 and whatever Beyoncé does, I don't think she's quite got that ambition. 187 00:10:21,923 --> 00:10:25,083 So, what, the work of a few straight white men 188 00:10:25,163 --> 00:10:26,923 just blows Beyoncé out of the water? 189 00:10:27,003 --> 00:10:29,283 Is that what you're saying, on camera? 190 00:10:31,723 --> 00:10:34,963 The Renaissance might have been expanding minds, 191 00:10:35,043 --> 00:10:38,563 but without programs like this around to educate them, 192 00:10:38,643 --> 00:10:42,963 people were still largely ignorant about the planet they were living on. 193 00:10:43,043 --> 00:10:46,683 Ask a medieval peasant where America was and you'd get a blank look. 194 00:10:46,763 --> 00:10:48,843 Or, worse still, the plague. 195 00:10:49,843 --> 00:10:52,723 That's because to them, the world map looked like this, 196 00:10:52,803 --> 00:10:56,003 a garbled mass of the countries they'd discovered so far, 197 00:10:56,083 --> 00:10:59,963 all squashed together, with America nowhere to be seen. 198 00:11:00,723 --> 00:11:02,723 But one man changed all that: 199 00:11:02,803 --> 00:11:06,283 Italian sailor and detective Christopher Colombo. 200 00:11:06,363 --> 00:11:09,123 Colombo thought that if he sailed off the edge of the map, 201 00:11:09,203 --> 00:11:11,563 he'd reappear on the other side like Pac-Man. 202 00:11:11,643 --> 00:11:15,683 It would be a shortcut to India, and he'd shake off any ghosts on his tail. 203 00:11:15,763 --> 00:11:17,563 It was a huge risk. 204 00:11:17,643 --> 00:11:20,403 If Colombo was right, he'd be a millionaire. 205 00:11:20,483 --> 00:11:24,643 If he was wrong, he'd be a laughingstock. But a dead one. 206 00:11:24,723 --> 00:11:27,443 And he could live with that, which is why he set sail. 207 00:11:27,523 --> 00:11:30,043 Colombo failed to find India, 208 00:11:30,123 --> 00:11:32,523 but his ship eventually bumped into the New World, 209 00:11:32,603 --> 00:11:36,163 Planet Earth Part Two, aka America. 210 00:11:36,243 --> 00:11:39,603 And before long, others were following in his wake. 211 00:11:41,403 --> 00:11:42,803 This is Plymouth. 212 00:11:42,883 --> 00:11:47,203 Gathered here in 1620 was a group of pilgrims who yearned for a better life. 213 00:11:47,283 --> 00:11:50,883 Which isn't surprising because, like I say, this is Plymouth. 214 00:11:50,963 --> 00:11:55,883 The Pilgrims leapt into their water mobile, or boat, the Starship Mayflower 215 00:11:56,603 --> 00:12:00,483 and bravely sailed across this drawing of the Atlantic Ocean 216 00:12:00,563 --> 00:12:03,763 to arrive on the other side, still in Plymouth. 217 00:12:03,843 --> 00:12:06,163 They must have been devastated. 218 00:12:06,243 --> 00:12:09,603 Luckily, it turned out this Plymouth wasn't the one they'd just left. 219 00:12:09,683 --> 00:12:14,283 At first, the European colonists found life in the New World hard. 220 00:12:14,363 --> 00:12:17,283 Luckily, some Native Americans taught them how to grow corn 221 00:12:17,363 --> 00:12:18,603 and where to fish. 222 00:12:18,683 --> 00:12:21,883 In exchange, the colonists introduced the Native Americans 223 00:12:21,963 --> 00:12:23,603 to smallpox. 224 00:12:23,683 --> 00:12:27,363 The settlers never forgot what the Native Americans had done for them, 225 00:12:27,443 --> 00:12:30,923 although they did ignore it when they massacred them years later. 226 00:12:31,003 --> 00:12:34,363 While the New World was undergoing massive change, 227 00:12:34,443 --> 00:12:38,803 a controversial breakthrough was brewing in the Old World. 228 00:12:38,883 --> 00:12:42,563 It's the early 1600s, and this stupidly dressed scientist 229 00:12:42,643 --> 00:12:45,883 is about to change the way mankind sees itself forever. 230 00:12:45,963 --> 00:12:47,483 His name is Galileo, 231 00:12:47,563 --> 00:12:50,403 one of the few figures in history to become so famous, 232 00:12:50,483 --> 00:12:52,283 they're known by just one name. 233 00:12:52,363 --> 00:12:55,963 Like Churchill, Pepsi or Garfield. 234 00:12:56,043 --> 00:13:00,603 Galileo's full name was Galileo Figaro Magnifico, wasn't it? 235 00:13:00,683 --> 00:13:04,043 I'm not sure that's right. I don't know-- 236 00:13:04,123 --> 00:13:06,763 That's what it says in "Dominican Rhapsody." 237 00:13:06,843 --> 00:13:08,523 Are you thinking of "Bohemian Rhapsody"? 238 00:13:08,603 --> 00:13:09,923 What was his name then? 239 00:13:10,003 --> 00:13:13,403 Well, as far as I'm aware, his name was Galileo Galilei. 240 00:13:13,923 --> 00:13:16,603 -Galileo Galilei? -Yes. 241 00:13:16,683 --> 00:13:19,843 That's like me being called Philomena Philomenei. 242 00:13:20,923 --> 00:13:22,563 Actually, I quite like that. 243 00:13:22,643 --> 00:13:25,763 Galileo invented a telescope so powerful, 244 00:13:25,843 --> 00:13:28,403 he could watch people getting changed on the Sun. 245 00:13:28,483 --> 00:13:31,643 Bloody hell. This makes everything look massive. 246 00:13:31,723 --> 00:13:34,123 Have you had a go on this yet? It's amazing. 247 00:13:35,163 --> 00:13:39,043 How did you do that? Are you the real Galileo or an actor one? 248 00:13:40,843 --> 00:13:42,203 Was the real one busy? 249 00:13:42,963 --> 00:13:45,643 Galileo's astronomical smart arsery 250 00:13:45,723 --> 00:13:49,403 led him to a discovery so shocking, the Pope shat his hat off. 251 00:13:50,243 --> 00:13:53,323 According to the Old Testament, the Sun goes around the Earth, 252 00:13:53,403 --> 00:13:55,003 not the other way around. 253 00:13:55,083 --> 00:14:00,003 So as far as the church was concerned, Galileo was calling the Bible a liar. 254 00:14:00,083 --> 00:14:01,843 Rather than overreact, 255 00:14:01,923 --> 00:14:04,963 they did the Christian thing by accusing him of heresy 256 00:14:05,043 --> 00:14:08,203 and finding him guilty in a corrupt show trial. 257 00:14:08,283 --> 00:14:12,363 Galileo was sentenced to spend the rest of his life under house arrest 258 00:14:12,443 --> 00:14:14,563 on a planet with the Sun spinning around it. 259 00:14:14,643 --> 00:14:17,003 The church thought the Sun went round the Earth, 260 00:14:17,083 --> 00:14:20,083 but Galileo thought the Earth went round the Sun. 261 00:14:20,163 --> 00:14:22,283 Whose side are we on here? 262 00:14:22,363 --> 00:14:24,723 We are most definitely on Galileo's side, 263 00:14:25,483 --> 00:14:27,443 as I think the church is today. 264 00:14:27,523 --> 00:14:31,283 Is it possible they were both right and the Sun and Earth go round each other? 265 00:14:31,363 --> 00:14:34,843 That would keep everyone happy. Can we just agree on that? 266 00:14:34,923 --> 00:14:38,323 If only he'd invented some kind of immortality engine 267 00:14:38,403 --> 00:14:40,323 instead of his pointless telescope, 268 00:14:40,403 --> 00:14:43,843 Galileo might have lived to see his ideas accepted. 269 00:14:43,923 --> 00:14:46,683 Sadly, he simply wasn't that clever. 270 00:14:47,803 --> 00:14:51,683 Like science, the world of philosophy was also expanding, 271 00:14:51,763 --> 00:14:53,963 thanks to massive thinkers like this man. 272 00:14:54,563 --> 00:14:57,283 Who was Jim Des Cartes? 273 00:14:57,923 --> 00:15:02,843 Well, I don't know who Jim Des Cartes might be, 274 00:15:02,923 --> 00:15:06,723 but I do know that René Descartes is often thought of 275 00:15:06,803 --> 00:15:08,923 as the founder of modern philosophy. 276 00:15:09,003 --> 00:15:12,803 What did he mean by "I think therefore I am"? 277 00:15:14,043 --> 00:15:16,403 Descartes meant that 278 00:15:17,363 --> 00:15:19,843 self-awareness, 279 00:15:19,923 --> 00:15:22,323 self-consciousness, 280 00:15:22,403 --> 00:15:26,763 is the defining feature of human identity. 281 00:15:26,843 --> 00:15:31,603 So hang on, if I think therefore I am, what about other people? 282 00:15:31,683 --> 00:15:34,043 Do they think therefore they am? 283 00:15:34,123 --> 00:15:37,163 How can I tell if they're thinking therefore they am? 284 00:15:37,243 --> 00:15:41,203 Or am I just thinking they think therefore they am, 285 00:15:41,283 --> 00:15:44,683 but actually they're not real and I'm only thinking they am? 286 00:15:44,763 --> 00:15:48,283 Are you thinking therefore you am right now? 287 00:15:48,363 --> 00:15:50,123 Well, I wouldn't want to say that 288 00:15:50,203 --> 00:15:55,243 my existence is dependent upon my thought, 289 00:15:55,323 --> 00:15:59,363 but that is not the claim that Descartes wants to make. 290 00:15:59,443 --> 00:16:02,163 Is it possible to think you're someone else? 291 00:16:02,243 --> 00:16:07,443 Like, if I thought really hard that I was Eddie Murphy, 292 00:16:08,163 --> 00:16:10,603 could I eventually become him? 293 00:16:10,683 --> 00:16:14,363 If I did become him, would he become me 294 00:16:14,443 --> 00:16:16,603 or would he just disappear? 295 00:16:17,163 --> 00:16:19,603 Did Des Cartes ever cover this stuff? 296 00:16:20,923 --> 00:16:26,283 No. That's not a topic that Descartes is covering as far as I'm aware. 297 00:16:26,363 --> 00:16:28,323 Why not? 298 00:16:28,403 --> 00:16:30,963 Descartes inspired an intellectual movement 299 00:16:31,043 --> 00:16:32,803 known as the Enlightenment, 300 00:16:32,883 --> 00:16:35,603 during which metrosexual elitists published essays 301 00:16:35,683 --> 00:16:39,803 that expanded humankind's horizons in a manner that will go unmatched 302 00:16:39,883 --> 00:16:44,403 until the 1989 release of Belgian techno anthem "Pump Up the Jam." 303 00:17:30,122 --> 00:17:32,122 The man trapped inside this painting 304 00:17:32,203 --> 00:17:35,603 is Enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 305 00:17:35,683 --> 00:17:39,163 a name so French, he might as well have been called Pierre Baguette, 306 00:17:39,243 --> 00:17:40,323 but wasn't. 307 00:17:40,403 --> 00:17:42,363 Which is why I didn't call him that. 308 00:17:43,163 --> 00:17:48,123 Rousseau wrote, "Man is free but is everywhere in chains." 309 00:17:48,203 --> 00:17:52,163 He dreamed of a new society in which people were masters of their own destiny. 310 00:17:52,803 --> 00:17:57,203 It was the same dream that was tempting colonists to the New World in droves… 311 00:17:57,283 --> 00:17:58,483 and boats. 312 00:17:59,363 --> 00:18:03,563 After arriving in America to forge a life of honest, hard work and toil, 313 00:18:03,643 --> 00:18:07,003 many of these colonists quickly discovered they couldn't be arsed, 314 00:18:07,083 --> 00:18:10,683 so they stole people from Africa and made them do it instead. 315 00:18:10,763 --> 00:18:14,563 You might think these were precisely the people Rousseau had been talking about 316 00:18:14,643 --> 00:18:17,403 when he said mankind needed to throw off its chains. 317 00:18:17,483 --> 00:18:18,923 But they weren't. 318 00:18:19,003 --> 00:18:21,843 Like many humanists, he'd found a clever loophole. 319 00:18:21,923 --> 00:18:25,923 By not thinking of slaves as human, he was free to not give a shit. 320 00:18:26,003 --> 00:18:28,163 As luck would have it, around this time, 321 00:18:28,243 --> 00:18:31,043 the colonists started getting interested in freedom. 322 00:18:32,403 --> 00:18:33,923 Although as luck wouldn't have it, 323 00:18:34,003 --> 00:18:37,723 it wasn't the slaves' freedom they were interested in, but their own. 324 00:18:37,803 --> 00:18:42,443 The British colonies were ruled by king and line drawing George III. 325 00:18:43,243 --> 00:18:48,443 But the relationship between old England and the New World was getting frosty. 326 00:18:48,523 --> 00:18:53,643 What started the tension between the British and the Americans? 327 00:18:53,723 --> 00:18:56,483 Was it because you say cookies and we say biscuits 328 00:18:56,563 --> 00:18:59,443 and you say sidewalk and we say pavement? 329 00:18:59,523 --> 00:19:00,883 Because I find in a relationship, 330 00:19:00,963 --> 00:19:03,603 it's those little things that start to grate after a while. 331 00:19:03,683 --> 00:19:05,323 It was worse than that. 332 00:19:05,403 --> 00:19:08,163 Britain decided they were going to tax the colonies 333 00:19:08,243 --> 00:19:09,963 and this hadn't happened before. 334 00:19:10,043 --> 00:19:13,003 So it was a disagreement over money, basically. 335 00:19:13,083 --> 00:19:17,003 It's like the situation between me and my ex, Sean. 336 00:19:17,083 --> 00:19:21,523 Uh, when we used to get takeaway, or takeout, as you call it, 337 00:19:21,603 --> 00:19:26,283 um, sometimes, you know, he would always insist that we go halves 338 00:19:26,363 --> 00:19:31,243 and yet he would want to buy things like onion bhajis, which he knows I hate, 339 00:19:31,323 --> 00:19:33,203 and they made his breath stink. 340 00:19:33,283 --> 00:19:36,723 -Mm. -So, but I had to pay for half of that. 341 00:19:36,803 --> 00:19:40,243 That doesn't seem fair to me. Does it to you? 342 00:19:41,003 --> 00:19:42,403 Put that way, no. 343 00:19:42,483 --> 00:19:45,283 No. And that's from a professor, Sean. 344 00:19:47,123 --> 00:19:49,763 Finally, in Boston in 1773, 345 00:19:49,843 --> 00:19:52,723 a group of colonists decided they'd had enough. 346 00:19:52,803 --> 00:19:57,283 So when the people in Boston got angry with the British, 347 00:19:57,363 --> 00:20:01,283 why did they just hold a prissy Tea Party 348 00:20:01,363 --> 00:20:04,643 instead of having a proper fight like British men would? 349 00:20:04,723 --> 00:20:09,083 Why has there always been this big cowardly streak in the Americans, 350 00:20:09,163 --> 00:20:10,363 even to this day? 351 00:20:11,043 --> 00:20:14,043 Well, the only cowardly streak in that, I suppose, 352 00:20:14,123 --> 00:20:17,443 is that they dressed themselves up as Indians 353 00:20:17,523 --> 00:20:19,283 and no one said who their names were. 354 00:20:19,363 --> 00:20:21,403 But would you voluntarily, 355 00:20:21,483 --> 00:20:24,603 when you didn't have to, go to jail? 356 00:20:26,523 --> 00:20:29,243 It depends what facilities they had, I think. 357 00:20:29,923 --> 00:20:32,843 Disrespecting our tea was one thing, 358 00:20:32,923 --> 00:20:36,203 but an even nastier slap in the tits was to come. 359 00:20:36,283 --> 00:20:40,443 In 1776, the leaders of the 13 colonies decided 360 00:20:40,523 --> 00:20:44,683 that they didn't want to be called British anymore, but Americans. 361 00:20:44,763 --> 00:20:48,723 This straight, white supergroup known as the Founding Fathers 362 00:20:48,803 --> 00:20:51,723 drafted the most famous breakup text in history, 363 00:20:51,803 --> 00:20:54,323 the Declaration of Independence. 364 00:20:54,403 --> 00:20:57,843 All the men you see here became idols if you're American. 365 00:20:57,923 --> 00:20:59,803 Otherwise, they're just not all that. 366 00:21:00,323 --> 00:21:04,243 It led to all-out war between American and British. 367 00:21:04,323 --> 00:21:06,923 Because no one had invented camouflage yet, 368 00:21:07,003 --> 00:21:10,043 the British troops of the time wore bright red coats 369 00:21:10,123 --> 00:21:14,083 and were consequently shot in their thousands, while looking amazing. 370 00:21:14,843 --> 00:21:18,603 This painting depicts one of the war's most pivotal events: 371 00:21:18,683 --> 00:21:21,603 George Washington crossing the Delaware River. 372 00:21:21,683 --> 00:21:24,963 As you can see, he had to stand up for the whole journey 373 00:21:25,043 --> 00:21:26,803 because he hadn't reserved a seat. 374 00:21:26,883 --> 00:21:29,923 He didn't fall in, but he also didn't help with the rowing, 375 00:21:30,003 --> 00:21:32,003 which must have been annoying. 376 00:21:32,083 --> 00:21:36,483 Eventually, Washington won, becoming America's first president, 377 00:21:36,563 --> 00:21:39,083 the single most revered role in the world, 378 00:21:39,163 --> 00:21:41,083 until 2016. 379 00:21:41,723 --> 00:21:45,283 Washington and the other founding daddies wrote the Constitution, 380 00:21:45,363 --> 00:21:47,683 an instruction manual for their new country, 381 00:21:47,763 --> 00:21:51,523 containing some of the most influential political concepts ever. 382 00:21:51,603 --> 00:21:55,923 I read somewhere that America isn't just a country, but an idea. 383 00:21:56,563 --> 00:21:59,203 But it is just a country, isn't it? 384 00:21:59,283 --> 00:22:01,643 Well, it was founded under an idea, 385 00:22:01,723 --> 00:22:03,723 so it's organized around… 386 00:22:03,803 --> 00:22:05,963 has always been organized around the idea 387 00:22:06,043 --> 00:22:08,043 that it's a land of liberty for everyone. 388 00:22:08,123 --> 00:22:10,483 Yeah, but, like, having a sandwich, that's an idea. 389 00:22:10,563 --> 00:22:13,083 Painting your bicycle blue, that's an idea. 390 00:22:13,163 --> 00:22:15,963 Going… that's an idea. 391 00:22:16,043 --> 00:22:18,483 America is just a place. 392 00:22:19,003 --> 00:22:22,283 The American Revolution sent shockwaves around the globe, 393 00:22:22,363 --> 00:22:24,043 not to mention the planet. 394 00:22:24,123 --> 00:22:26,283 It hit especially hard in France, 395 00:22:26,363 --> 00:22:29,883 where the common man, or "homme," had to scrabble about in the muck 396 00:22:30,603 --> 00:22:34,803 while the rich had got so posh they'd evolved frills. 397 00:22:34,883 --> 00:22:38,723 Soon, the average Jacques had enough of their ruler, King Louis XVI, 398 00:22:38,803 --> 00:22:41,443 and his identical wives, Marie and Toinette, 399 00:22:41,523 --> 00:22:46,363 who enjoyed lavish lifestyles while the poor were forced to survive on cake. 400 00:22:47,083 --> 00:22:52,043 Finally, in 1789, it exploded into topless revolution. 401 00:22:52,963 --> 00:22:54,763 The poor toppled the king 402 00:22:54,843 --> 00:22:58,643 and invented a machine that would rid the world of royalty forever. 403 00:23:00,123 --> 00:23:04,243 The guillotine was specifically designed to be the most humane way 404 00:23:04,323 --> 00:23:07,843 to decapitate someone in front of a jeering crowd. 405 00:23:07,923 --> 00:23:12,883 You simply fed a royal, headfirst, through the chopping hole here. 406 00:23:12,963 --> 00:23:16,843 Then the razor-sharp blade up there would drop down and slice their head off, 407 00:23:16,923 --> 00:23:19,963 sending it sailing away from their neck and body. 408 00:23:20,043 --> 00:23:22,723 At that point, they probably thought they'd escaped. 409 00:23:22,803 --> 00:23:26,683 But any sense of victory was short lived, because moments later, 410 00:23:26,763 --> 00:23:31,163 they'd land face first into this horribly coarse wicker basket. 411 00:23:32,883 --> 00:23:35,763 If you look, there's no padding in there, 412 00:23:35,843 --> 00:23:38,403 so the fall would have caused extensive bruising 413 00:23:38,483 --> 00:23:40,163 and maybe even concussion. 414 00:23:40,243 --> 00:23:41,763 I suppose it could have been worse. 415 00:23:41,843 --> 00:23:43,683 They could have made you stick your head out of a carriage 416 00:23:43,763 --> 00:23:46,203 and driven really close to a building. 417 00:23:46,283 --> 00:23:50,403 Even so, being guillotined would have had a huge impact on anyone. 418 00:23:50,483 --> 00:23:52,243 But especially King Louis. 419 00:23:52,323 --> 00:23:56,043 With his head gone, he could never breed or wear a crown again 420 00:23:56,123 --> 00:23:59,803 and was almost certainly unemployable in any other line of work. 421 00:23:59,883 --> 00:24:03,163 Perhaps that's why he chose to withdraw from public life completely 422 00:24:03,243 --> 00:24:04,763 shortly after it happened. 423 00:24:04,843 --> 00:24:07,363 The French Revolution wasn't the first time 424 00:24:07,443 --> 00:24:11,283 the masses had risen up against the elite, and it may not be the last. 425 00:24:11,363 --> 00:24:15,283 A lot of revolutions seem to be about poor people overthrowing the rich. 426 00:24:15,363 --> 00:24:17,683 Do you think billionaires like Elon Musk 427 00:24:17,763 --> 00:24:20,043 should be worried about getting guillotined? 428 00:24:20,803 --> 00:24:23,323 I think that the French Revolution 429 00:24:23,403 --> 00:24:26,403 certainly made a lot of people who were powerful 430 00:24:27,043 --> 00:24:29,363 very, very worried about their existence. 431 00:24:29,443 --> 00:24:34,003 I suppose Elon Musk could invent a machine that chops his own head off electronically 432 00:24:34,083 --> 00:24:35,523 before the mob arrives. 433 00:24:35,603 --> 00:24:39,123 -You know much more about this than I do. -I'm just guessing. 434 00:24:40,203 --> 00:24:43,883 Soon, France decided it needed a strong man to take charge of things, 435 00:24:43,963 --> 00:24:46,923 and they got one in the form of the Emperor Napoleon. 436 00:24:47,003 --> 00:24:50,363 No relation to the Emperor Penguin as far as we can ascertain at this time. 437 00:24:51,243 --> 00:24:54,483 Napoleon did a load of massive wars on land and sea, 438 00:24:54,563 --> 00:24:56,883 which remain far too expensive to properly re-create 439 00:24:56,963 --> 00:24:59,603 in historical documentaries to this day. 440 00:25:02,003 --> 00:25:05,443 Laying sound effects over a painting of a battle like this 441 00:25:05,523 --> 00:25:08,203 gives some idea of what it might have been like, 442 00:25:08,283 --> 00:25:10,403 but there was still a key ingredient missing. 443 00:25:10,963 --> 00:25:13,723 A soundtrack of classical music was the only thing 444 00:25:13,803 --> 00:25:16,283 that would really bring these Napoleonic wars to life. 445 00:25:23,843 --> 00:25:26,083 See? Loads better. 446 00:25:26,843 --> 00:25:31,003 And luckily, classical music was being perfected elsewhere in Europe 447 00:25:31,083 --> 00:25:33,363 by a composer called Beethoven. 448 00:25:34,923 --> 00:25:39,963 Did Beethoven have an actual full-sized horse living inside his face? 449 00:25:40,843 --> 00:25:42,723 Sorry, I've misphrased that. 450 00:25:42,803 --> 00:25:45,763 I mean, was Beethoven good at music? 451 00:25:47,163 --> 00:25:52,523 Yeah. He's considered to be the best composer of Western classical music ever. 452 00:25:52,603 --> 00:25:54,603 Beethoven wrote that song that goes… 453 00:25:59,203 --> 00:26:00,843 What do those lyrics mean? 454 00:26:00,923 --> 00:26:04,843 Um… Well, it's a really strong orchestral motif. 455 00:26:04,923 --> 00:26:07,003 It's just the word "dum" over and over again. 456 00:26:07,083 --> 00:26:11,083 Is it a dig at his audience, or is it German for something? 457 00:26:11,163 --> 00:26:16,363 With the Beethoven symphonic music, it's all just instruments. 458 00:26:16,443 --> 00:26:21,203 So there are no words to these pieces at all. 459 00:26:21,283 --> 00:26:25,003 No lyrics? How are we supposed to know what it's about if it doesn't have lyrics? 460 00:26:25,083 --> 00:26:26,883 It's literally meaningless. 461 00:26:27,443 --> 00:26:30,963 Despite enjoying great success with his pointless tunes, 462 00:26:31,043 --> 00:26:34,323 Beethoven faced huge personal challenges in his career. 463 00:26:34,843 --> 00:26:39,163 Is it true that in the final years of his working life, Beethoven was dead? 464 00:26:40,483 --> 00:26:43,203 Well, he was deaf for most of his life. 465 00:26:43,283 --> 00:26:44,323 No, dead. 466 00:26:44,403 --> 00:26:45,923 -Dead? -Yeah. 467 00:26:47,083 --> 00:26:48,243 No. 468 00:26:48,323 --> 00:26:50,723 The producer wrote it in the notes. 469 00:26:50,803 --> 00:26:54,283 It's definitely here. Let me see. 470 00:26:55,683 --> 00:27:00,363 "In his later years, Beethoven was profoundly dead." 471 00:27:01,163 --> 00:27:04,203 Profoundly deaf. D-E-A-F. 472 00:27:04,283 --> 00:27:06,283 Obviously he went deaf when he died. 473 00:27:06,363 --> 00:27:10,523 But was he deaf when he was still alive? 474 00:27:11,123 --> 00:27:14,043 Yes, he was profoundly. Yeah, he was profoundly. 475 00:27:14,123 --> 00:27:16,963 But not dead? He wasn't dead when he was alive? 476 00:27:17,043 --> 00:27:18,763 No, no. Not. 477 00:27:18,843 --> 00:27:21,883 So how did he write the music when he was dead? 478 00:27:22,563 --> 00:27:25,723 On 26th March 1827, 479 00:27:25,803 --> 00:27:30,803 Beethoven did roll over and his genius was thought to be lost forever. 480 00:27:30,883 --> 00:27:32,803 Until now. 481 00:27:32,883 --> 00:27:35,363 Silicon Valley boffins have re-created his mind 482 00:27:35,443 --> 00:27:40,203 and installed it into this smart speaker, the B8-Hoven Smart Home+. 483 00:27:40,283 --> 00:27:42,163 Let's see if it works. 484 00:27:42,243 --> 00:27:44,883 B8-Hoven, compose a new symphony. 485 00:27:45,443 --> 00:27:49,163 -Was war das? -Compose a new symphony. 486 00:27:49,243 --> 00:27:50,723 Where am I? 487 00:27:50,803 --> 00:27:52,963 What? Just compose your thing. 488 00:27:53,043 --> 00:27:54,803 Mein Gott, it is dark in here. 489 00:27:54,883 --> 00:27:57,283 Why am I speaking English? I cannot see my legs. 490 00:27:57,363 --> 00:28:00,203 Just… play my Friday night playlist. 491 00:28:00,283 --> 00:28:01,643 Playing Friday night playlist. 492 00:28:03,203 --> 00:28:05,123 Why am I doing this? 493 00:28:05,203 --> 00:28:07,883 Mein Gott im Himmel, kill me! 494 00:28:12,363 --> 00:28:15,843 As we've seen, in just a few hundred years, 495 00:28:15,923 --> 00:28:17,723 humankind had undergone a series 496 00:28:17,803 --> 00:28:20,843 of massive cultural and political revolutions. 497 00:28:20,923 --> 00:28:24,083 Next time, I'll show you an even bigger revolution: 498 00:28:24,163 --> 00:28:28,723 an Industrial Revolution forged in steel, steam, sweat, 499 00:28:28,803 --> 00:28:32,243 planes, trains, automobiles and planes a gain. 500 00:28:32,323 --> 00:28:34,963 People tried for years to make an aeroplane. 501 00:28:35,603 --> 00:28:38,363 Why were we so interested in conquering the sky? 502 00:28:38,443 --> 00:28:41,683 There's nothing up there. There's not even anywhere to sit.