Our Fight Against Death | Origins: The Journey of Humankind

less than 1m read

·Nov 11, 2024

Humanity's struggle against death has been our most enduring fight. History has given us one weapon in this existential battle: we fight back with medicine. Tens of thousands of years ago, our ancestors scavenged the natural world for remedies. Imagine the incredible leaps of faith we had to take in an effort to ease the pain, mend the broken, and revive the sick.

Medicine was a dark art, full of false starts and false gods. But when we struck upon some form of relief, it swept like wildfire through humankind. We built on every success until medicine became a form of science. That's when we discovered the real killers within us: microscopic armies hidden within our bodies, waging war on our species for thousands of years.

Medicine is our great weapon to fight back against invisible, unthinkable death. [Applause] From superstition to science, medicine has become one of humanity's most powerful tools. And with each new challenge, we may stumble, but we find a way to get stronger and smarter to beat back fatal diseases and extend our lifespans. We even crack open our genetic code.

This is the story of how our fight against death has determined our fate, how it became the driving force of our evolution, how our tireless pursuit of medicine has made us modern, and even made us superhuman. This is origins. [Music]

Are You A Nihilist?

Why I Stopped Buying Real Estate

View All

Thomson's Plum Pudding Model of the Atom

So the word atom means uncuttable, so the Greeks were thinking of it as a tiny hard sphere. Phil: That’s right. Derek: And even up until the eighteen hundreds, that was the idea of an atom, the smallest piece of matter, a tiny hard sphere. But then we f…

How to Study Way More Effectively | The Feynman Technique

This video is sponsored by brilliant.org, a math and science problem-solving website that helps you think more like a scientist. In a 2007 graduation speech, Charlie Munger told an interesting, but fictional, story about two people: the great scientist Ma…

The Spirit of Takumi | National Geographic

[Music] While I was in Hiroshima, Japan, I met craftsmen who embodied the Japanese tradition of takumi. Takumi means, in Japanese, a master craftsman, but it is so much more than that. It’s not just a job; it’s a passion; it’s a total dedication to a sing…

Wildfires 101 | National Geographic

[Narrator] On average, wildfires burn up to five million acres of land in the United States each year. While they can start naturally, wildfires are often caused by humans with devastating consequences. Wildfires are large, uncontrolled infernos that bu…

Why “Looking Poor” Is Important

What’s up you guys, it’s Graham here. In the last few months, you might have come across one of these videos: the importance of looking poor. After all, when you really dig into it, it is insane how many people these days are pretending to be rich, diggi…

Chicago's Coolest Historical Spots | National Geographic

This vibrant city of art, culture, and industry is also a treasure trove of storied sites. While you’re enjoying public art at Millennium Park and savoring deep-dish pizza, make time to check out some of Chicago’s coolest historical spots. The Chicago Riv…

Our Fight Against Death | Origins: The Journey of Humankind

More Articles