# Christopher Columbus coming to America is the most significant thing to happen in our human species **URL:** \ **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:** 2
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/21 "2023-06-25T08:05:51Z")
Neil Tyson’s pick whiffs a little like American exceptionalism. IMO, Columbus etc. is way too late to be No 1. Things such as colonialism are built on a foundation, without which there is nothing. Adopting fire is the biggest thing ever, if you ask me. It was the prerequisite for everything, from colonization to agri to metalwork to warfare to engines. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/22 "2023-06-25T08:57:37Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Is mastery of fire in the running at all? Fire was first mastered by a _different_ species of hominid, not by our particular species. Arguably, learning to use fire was the most important thing to happen to our _genus_. Ditto for flint knapping/tool making. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/23 "2023-06-25T09:39:08Z")
With the calculator. On the watch. Do try to keep up! ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/24 "2023-06-25T10:06:35Z")
We never should have left the oceans. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/25 "2023-06-25T10:18:48Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > > > Surviving the genetic bottleneck about 70,000 years ago. > > That is a good one. The linked article suggests it’s in dispute- what’s the over/under? > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > Except we’re not smart or dexterous enough to catch anything yet; we’re just wading, groping, and stumbling, not catching the speedy crayfish. > > I, for one, welcome our Alien Crayfish Overlords. But they’re so _tasty_! ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/26 "2023-06-25T13:14:47Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Fire was first mastered by a _different_ species of hominid, not by our particular species. Possibly also true for language, come to think of it. We don’t know, and I don’t see how we’ll have a way to know. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/27 "2023-06-25T13:25:33Z")
I’d say the development of written language. Verbal communication and memory are good but they place a limit on the amount of information a society can hold and transmit. Once a society develops writing, it can store and thereby accumulate information. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/28 "2023-06-25T14:02:33Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > “Yeah, they gathered a few extraterrestrial rocks and took some pretty space pictures, then ‘poof’— global warming snuffed them out.” This is a good point, the most significant thing might not have manifested itself yet. Ditto for AI. It might save us, it might doom us, hell, maybe we will never achieve it. > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > But they’re so _tasty_! Not “but”, because. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/29 "2023-06-25T15:36:09Z")
I think the Monolith teaching us how to murder each other with hand tools is significant. 🤪 Alright, I’m going, I’m going. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/30 "2023-06-25T15:49:35Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I think the Monolith teaching us how to murder each other with hand tools is significant. 🤪 There’s one thing. ONE THING that humans are really good at, and we can’t even take credit for THAT? ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/31 "2023-06-25T15:58:55Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Fire was first mastered by a _different_ species of hominid, not by our particular species. Different species? Have you seen my robust bone structure with the massave jaw and pronounced brow? Okay, that’s fair. When I think of the most significant things to happen to us I’m thinking it terms of what changed us the most. I can point to how the development of agriculture changed us, but I’m not sure how the bottleneck 70,000 years ago changed us. Can anyone help me out with that? I’m not arguing the event isn’t a good candidate, I’m saying I don’t get it, but then a good friend once told me, “You were not put on this Earth to ‘get it,’ Odesio.” ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/32 "2023-06-25T17:37:46Z")
More focused on inventions I remember reading a strong defense of sewing as the one of most impact. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/33 "2023-06-25T18:33:03Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > More focused on inventions I remember reading a strong defense of sewing as the one of most impact. - It makes sense that sewing would be the common thread. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/34 "2023-06-25T18:45:16Z")
You’re just needling me. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/35 "2023-06-25T18:49:24Z")
We are just rebels without a clew. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/36 "2023-06-25T19:05:35Z")
I’d say that developing language is the most important, except that I think I’m also inclined to call the development of language the origin of our species, and so “thing that happened to the human species” has to be since then. So my next choice would be writing. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/37 "2023-06-25T19:26:03Z")
How about compound tool use? Albeit likely closely concurrent and related to language development. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/38 "2023-06-25T21:15:15Z")
The thing is, I’m not convinced either language or compound/complex tool use is unique to _H. sapiens sapiens_. I can’t prove it because I don’t have the science and research chops to do so, but I’m pretty sure _H. neanderthalensis_ had both of those. It may have been different than the versions used by our species, but I think they did have them. For “most significant for our particular species” I’d suggest candidates are agriculture and writing. Sure, the Age of Exploration with people like Columbus and the Columbian Exchange are also very important and I can see an argument for that. Also an argument for the Industrial Revolution and basing so much of our society’s energy on petroleum sources, and for computers and automation, but I think those candidates are much weaker at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/39 "2023-06-25T23:56:32Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m also inclined to call the development of language the origin of our species Wow, this kind of blows my mind, the idea that our species starts with development of an innovative rather than biology. > [@Broomstick](#): > > The thing is, I’m not convinced either language or compound/complex tool use is unique to _H. sapiens sapiens_. While possibly true, I’m not sure this is a disqualification. They aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066/40 "2023-06-26T00:16:31Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > How about compound tool use? Swiss Army knives??? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-columbus-coming-to-america-is-the-most-significant-thing-to-happen-in-our-human-species/986066.md?page=3)