# Christopher Columbus coming to America is the most significant thing to happen in our human species
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [June 24, 2023, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066 "2023-06-24T23:10:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2023, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/1 "2023-06-24T23:10:23Z")
Or so thinks Neil deGrasse Tyson. Source:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bP6kq3ZRPQ)
I loves me some NdGT but beyond the fact that if it wouldnât have been Columbus, it would have been someone else soon enough, I would think maybe agriculture has it beat.
What do you think is the most significant thing to happen in our species?
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### Author:  [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2023, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/2 "2023-06-24T23:18:09Z")
The contact between Europe and the Western Hemisphere was pretty important, no matter who did it. Other Europeans discovered America before Columbus, but when Columbus discovered it, it stayed discovered.
I am torn between agriculture and space travel.
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2023, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/3 "2023-06-24T23:20:00Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#):
>
> What do you think is the most significant thing to happen in our species?
Surviving the genetic bottleneck about 70,000 years ago.
> **[Toba catastrophe theory | Genetic bottleneck in humans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory#Genetic_bottleneck_in_humans)**
>
> The Toba eruption has been linked to a genetic bottleneck in human evolution about 70,000 years ago; it is hypothesized that the eruption resulted in a severe reduction in the size of the total human population due to the effects of the eruption on the global climate. According to the genetic bottleneck theory, between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago, human populations sharply decreased to 3,000â10,000 surviving individuals. It is supported by some genetic evidence suggesting tha Proponents of the g...
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2023, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/4 "2023-06-24T23:24:04Z")
Digital watches.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2023, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/5 "2023-06-24T23:26:48Z")
Great answers all so far.
Iâll take âGenetic bottleneckâ for $200 please, Alex. Thatâs the winner. Nothing else matters if we got that wrong.
The permanent discovery of the Americas and the ensuing trade & warfare was probably number 2. 600 years later weâre still working now in 2023 to level-up all the landmasses and all the people. But thereâs no significant undiscovered land or civilization left; we know who / what / where everyone is.
Space travel may eventually dwarf finding the Americas, but not until we meet our first aliens out there _and_ survive that civilizational encounter. Or plant a successful fresh civilization on some other âClass Mâ planet. Meantime itâs the equivalent of proto-apes wading into a pond hoping to capture some crayfish for dinner. Except weâre not smart or dexterous enough to catch anything yet; weâre just wading, groping, and stumbling, not catching the speedy crayfish.
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### Author:  [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2023, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/6 "2023-06-24T23:33:59Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#):
>
> Surviving the genetic bottleneck about 70,000 years ago.
That is a good one. The linked article suggests itâs in dispute- whatâs the over/under?
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> Except weâre not smart or dexterous enough to catch anything yet; weâre just wading, groping, and stumbling, not catching the speedy crayfish.
I, for one, welcome our Alien Crayfish Overlords.
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### Author:  [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2023, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/7 "2023-06-24T23:45:33Z")
Is mastery of fire in the running at all?
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/8 "2023-06-25T00:14:43Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#):
>
> Digital watches. -
Wouldnât have happened if we never came down from the trees. Which, personally, I think was a bad idea.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/9 "2023-06-25T00:53:21Z")
The printing press led to books of maps circulating around Europe which led to Columbus.
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### Author:  [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/10 "2023-06-25T01:05:13Z")
The invention of the window blind.
Without that, it would be curtains for all of us.
mmm
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### Author:  [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/11 "2023-06-25T01:06:12Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#):
>
> Digital watches.
Are you kidding? _Calculator_ watches!
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/12 "2023-06-25T01:08:32Z")
> [@needscoffee](#):
>
> > [@Darren\_Garrison](#):
> >
> > Digital watches.
>
> Are you kidding? _Calculator_ watches! -
How do you figure?
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### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/13 "2023-06-25T01:10:55Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#):
>
> I, for one, welcome our Alien Crayfish Overlords.
Yummmm - crayfish. (Former resident of Cajun land.)
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/14 "2023-06-25T01:17:48Z")
> [@Odesio](#):
>
> Is mastery of fire in the running at all?
It is to me. Itâs the first thing I thought of. Agriculture is second.
Other things not mentioned include the alphabet, the sail, and domestication of animals.
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### Author:  [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/15 "2023-06-25T01:25:52Z")
How about industrialization? That pretty much seems to have started a countdown on our overall existence.
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### Author:  [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/16 "2023-06-25T01:30:04Z")
Or possibly stopped the countdown.
What happens when CO2 is below 150 ppm?
- Below 150 ppm, **plant-life dies off on a massive scale**. The Earth actually came very close to that point many times over the last 2 million years during the ice ages. At the bottom of the last ice age just 20,000 years ago, life on the planet literally teetered on the brink when CO2 fell to a level of just 180 ppm.
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### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/17 "2023-06-25T01:31:05Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#):
>
> What do you think is the most significant thing to happen in our species?
Language.
But weâre never going to know who first used human-type language; and, by its nature, it canât have been a single person.
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### Author:  [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/18 "2023-06-25T02:18:54Z")
[Mel Brooks] **Saran Wrap!** [/Mel Brooks]
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### Author:  [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/19 "2023-06-25T05:26:34Z")
Itâs too soon to tell for some things. For example, our breaking free from the confines of our planet will be deemed supremely important to our species only if we survive and continue to be a space-faring civilization. Otherwise, space exploration will be deemed only as something cool, but insignificant humans achieved at the twilight of our existence. _âYeah, they gathered a few extraterrestrial rocks and took some pretty space pictures, then âpoofââ global warming snuffed them out.â_
If we _do_ survive as a species, I believe the most significant event that humans have achieved, even more-so than space exploration, is AI. AI will transform humanity in a profound way, though itâs hard to envision the degree it will do so since we are just at its birth. AI is a newborn baby that will grow into a mature adult that may become humanityâs savior (it will solve existential problems like climate change with ease)âŠor our destroyer (it could conclude that we climate-changing morons are more trouble than weâre worth and simply get rid of us).
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### Author:  [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/20 "2023-06-25T06:34:21Z")
> [@running\_coach](#):
>
> > [@Darren\_Garrison](#):
> >
> > Digital watches. -
>
> Wouldnât have happened if we never came down from the trees. Which, personally, I think was a bad idea.
How about banging rocks together?
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