--- title: "Secret History #15: Capital and the Bronze Age Collapse transcript" description: "Source-synced transcript archive for Secret History #15: Capital and the Bronze Age Collapse." source_title: "Secret History #15: Capital and the Bronze Age Collapse" published_at: "2025-11-04" source_class: "episode" public_url: "https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/" markdown_url: "https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript.md" text_url: "https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript.txt" source_url: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE" data_url: "https://jianglens.com/data/lens/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe.json" --- # Secret History #15: Capital and the Bronze Age Collapse transcript - Source: [Secret History #15: Capital and the Bronze Age Collapse](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE) - Published: 2025-11-04, day precision - Human transcript page: [/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/) - Episode page: [/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/) - Transcript Markdown: [/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript.md](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript.md) - Transcript text: [/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript.txt](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript.txt) - Episode JSON: [/data/lens/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe.json](https://jianglens.com/data/lens/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe.json) ## Transcript ### 0:02 seg-0001 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0001` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0001](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0001) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2s) okay so let's start class today we are doing the bronze age collapse so let's reveal where we are in history okay so remember the four earliest civilizations are egypt mesopotamia uh indus valley and of course china and as we discussed the reason why the they are the first four major civilizations is that they have major rivers that allow them to develop agriculture as well as trade overseas and as we discuss what will happen is that they will have a major city and this major city will have colonies along the major river okay so in egypt it's the nile in mesopotamia it is the uh euphrates and the tigris and the first city is york eric china it's the yellow river right um so in this valley is in this valley uh it's in this and and now these different city states will go to war in order to control trade routes and this leads to ### 1:19 seg-0002 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0002` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0002](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0002) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=79s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=79s) a time of major innovation in human history at the same time because of these wars they need better and better equipment and so eventually they will develop bronze okay bronze bronze as you know is an alloy of tin and copper so you need both in order to create bronze which is the strongest metal it's ideal for shields for armor and for swords whoever has more bronze weaponry will win any war the problem though is that tin it's actually hard to mine and to discover and to ask to manufacture in fact tin deposits are scattered all around the world okay so this is tin over here over here over here and over here over here okay they're everywhere basically but it's not concentrated therefore you must now build more trade routes in order to access tin okay so what's going to happen now is that more trade routes will develop in order to access tin and ### 2:35 seg-0003 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0003` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0003](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0003) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=155s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=155s) the major points the major trade routes will become cities themselves okay all right and now this world is globalized in order to facilitate warfare now what's interesting is the anos valley itself it's not like egypt mesopotamia and china it is not engaged in warfare we've done archaeology in the endless valley with modern day pakistan we have not discovered weaponry okay we've we've discovered bronze but we haven't discovered weaponry in fact we believe that in this valley it is a piece ofclazani even though it's not a part of Pakistan. egalitarian and artistic civilization but it's still brought into this global system why because bronze changes from weaponry into status okay meaning people use it for pottery for jewelry and then eventually what happens is that bronze itself becomes capital all right now what we also know is that this world is heavily globalized there's a lot of trading and this in this world is complete meaning ### 3:51 seg-0004 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0004` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0004](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0004) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=231s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=231s) it touches every corner of the world but starting in about the year 1200 this system collapses in fact the collapse is sudden and hidden and the collapse is sudden and the collapse is sudden and the collapse is devastating so remember in if you know Chinese history you will know that this is a Shaan dynasty right guess what guys about the year 1200 it collapses all right and we know this because Egypt is under attack during this time by by the Sea Peoples what we believe is that the Sea Peoples are actually refugees who are fleeing the destruction of Europe what we believe is that there's a perfect storm engulfing this world at this time okay so this perfect storm includes climate change climate change leads to drought which leads to famine which leads to a migration crisis what's going to happen is that the Sea Peoples are going to come in from the north and ### 5:03 seg-0005 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0005` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0005](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0005) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=303s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=303s) they are going to wipe out existing civilizations including Mycenaean Greece and the Hittite Empire okay the Hittite Empire which is in Anatolia which is in modern -day Turkey why Mycenaean Greece and the Hittite Empire are important is we believe they are the two major antagonists in the Trojan War you may have heard of the Trojan War well guess where guess what Troy is here okay so Troy is in the center of global trade and that's why people fight over the location of the city so the Mycenaean Greece is being destroyed the Hittite Empire is being destroyed and Egypt is being under attack Egypt will survive the invasions of the Sea Peoples but after the invasions Egypt will be exhausted and will it will lose its global power status okay Innis Valley will be itself overwhelmed from because of refugees fleeing from the steppes okay Mesopotamia it's very interesting about Mesopotamia but it's actually the most ### 6:15 seg-0006 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0006` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0006](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0006) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=375s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=375s) resilient of all the four major civilizations and the reason why is Mesopotamia for its history is constantly at war okay so Egypt is protected by natural geography by the desert the Sarah desert and then by the Red Sea okay so Egypt has natural boundaries uh China also has natural boundaries but But Mesopotamia does not. It's a flat land. So it's very easy for the mountain people to come invade. And it's very easy for outsiders to come and build new empires. In fact, throughout Mesopotamian history, there have been three major empires. The Akkadian Empire, the Babylonian Empire, and the Assyrian Empire. And it goes back and forth. And these empires are not... They don't really last that long, maybe a couple hundred years at most. Because this area is so competitive. But because it's so competitive, it's actually much more resilient than the other areas. So again, the big question for us is... Why would this world collapse like this, all of a sudden? ### 7:25 seg-0007 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0007` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0007](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0007) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=445s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=445s) And it's really relevant for us to understand. Because many scholars have compared the Bronze Age world to our world. Because our world is also one... That is heavily globalized. And it seems like it's on the verge of collapse. So why is it that this sort of like globalized world... In which many countries are getting very wealthy... Why did they collapse all of a sudden? And the argument I will make to you today is... It has to do with the nature of capital. So what I will show you is that... This is a proto -capitalistic system. And what we know about proto -capitalism is that... It allows for rapid growth. But then it also allows for rapid collapse. Okay? So let's go over the idea of capital. What is capital? Okay, so capital has three major characteristics, okay? The first is that it is universal. Universal just means that... ### 8:40 seg-0008 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0008` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0008](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0008) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=520s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=520s) Everyone wants it. Everyone in the world believes it has value. Okay? That's number one. Number two is that it is a store of value. And what this means is that... You're able to take wealth and store it inside this commodity. Okay? And the third thing about capital that's very important is... It's mobility. Okay? Mobility. Meaning I can take this thing and then transport it somewhere else. At little or no cost. If that's these three characteristics, then it is capital. Okay? And throughout human history, there have been different types of capital. So let's look over some examples. So one example is grain, right? Just food. Grain is sort of universal because everyone wants to eat. But not everyone thinks it's valuable. Okay? And it's hard to store value in grain because it could decompose easily. Okay? And it's actually hard to transport grain because it's cheap but it's expensive to transport. Okay? ### 9:53 seg-0009 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0009` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0009](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0009) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=593s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=593s) And that's why grain never became capital. Now, let's look at cattle. Cattle, like cows and sheep, it's a better form of capital because you can store more value. And it could be universal. But it's actually hard to transport. And that's why cattle never became capital. Okay? Now, if you keep on moving on, you get into slaves. Right? Human beings. And so you can have woman slaves, sex slaves. You can also have man labor. Okay? And this is a better form of capital because it's sort of universal. Okay? You can store value in it, but the value is uncertain or unstable. And it's mobile. Okay? So slaves became an economy. But this is a very basic economy. Then you develop bronze. Okay? And bronze now is extremely valuable. Okay? Everyone wants it. So it's universal. You can store a lot of value in it because it's hard to make. And now you can move it around. Okay? ### 11:07 seg-0010 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0010` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0010](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0010) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=667s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=667s) So in other words, bronze became the first real universal currency in the world. And this allowed for rapid development. Rapid globalization in the world. So think of the equivalent of bronze today is of course the U.S. dollar. Right? The U.S. dollar is universal. Everyone wants it. It's a store of value and it's mobile as well. And so it's a U.S. dollar which allows for the rapid growth of capitalism around the world. Okay? Now, let's discuss how capital works. All right. So what we know is that we humans are actually capitalists. We are actually composed of two natures. We are composed of an altruistic nature and we are composed of a utilitarian nature. Okay? Altruistic just means that you care about human relationships. You want to be nice to people because you want to be their friends, they're part of your family. Okay? Unitarian just means that you don't care about others. You just care about the goal, the profit, money, power. ### 12:19 seg-0011 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0011` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0011](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0011) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=739s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=739s) Okay? And we are composed of both sides. So think about when you go to a restaurant. Right? If the meal is good, you pay a lot of money for it and you give the waitress a tip. When you go home to dinner and your mother is happy to see you, your mother cooks you a really nice meal and then you say, thank you. Right? You don't want to do the opposite. Right? Where you go to a restaurant and you're like, thank you. And then you leave. And you don't want to go to your mother's house. And then you say to your mother, hey, this meal was fantastic. Here's a thousand dollars for you. Okay? It would screw everything up. Okay? So we have two different natures and we keep them separate. What capital does, that's very interesting, is that it moves us from the altruistic state into the utilitarian state. ### 13:08 seg-0012 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0012` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0012](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0012) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=788s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=788s) And at first, that's good. Why? Because when you're altruistic, you don't really want to do anything. Okay? Because you don't want to offend other people. Okay? So there are lots of villages in the world and they're static. Why? Because for them, what matters is not change. What matters is harmony. And these villages, it kind of sucks to be an outsider. It kind of sucks to stand out. In fact, there are some traditions in which if you are outspoken, if you are thoughtful, if you like to explore, if you're curious, they will kill you and make you a sacrifice to the gods because they see you as a threat to their social system. Okay? So an altruistic system, it doesn't like change. So if you don't do anything to it, it just stays the way it is. So when you're in capital, people now are more motivated to work hard. People are more motivated to innovate and to explore. ### 14:02 seg-0013 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0013` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0013](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0013) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=842s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=842s) So at first, this is good. Okay? Now you're expanding the system. And then you reach a point of its maximum growth. But then what happens is the scale... Sorry. The scale tips over. Okay? And people become too utilitarian. And when you become too utilitarian, you cheat. You don't care about others. And this causes a lot of problems. Okay? You start to exploit other people. And so when you become too utilitarian, the system collapses. It doesn't make sense. Capital comes in the system and it makes it grow really fast. Once it hits a certain point, then it has to collapse. Okay? So let's use another example. Let's just say that you are a leader of a group of people. And it could be a village. It could be anywhere. Okay? And if there's no money involved, what do you care about? You care about status. You care about your reputation. You care about how other people see and perceive you. ### 15:10 seg-0014 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0014` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0014](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0014) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=910s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=910s) Right? So you care about the feelings of others. Once capital enters the equation... Then the way that the leader sees you is different. The leader sees you as a commodity to be exploited. Okay? The leader is not like, how much money can I make money off you? Not only that, but the leader... Okay? The leader will do what? The leader will align with other leaders. And they will become a cartel. Okay? Or an elite. And they will together exploit people. Okay? But not only that, but they will expand and look for new areas to conquer. Okay? Because all they care about now is money. How to expand the capital. But once the capital expands too far, then what happens is only a few people have all the capital. And the people down below, they're enslaved, they're exploited, and they want to destroy the system. They become indifferent. ### 16:15 seg-0015 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0015` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0015](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0015) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=975s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=975s) If you force them, they will revolt against you. So the system must collapse. Okay? So, the argument I'm trying to make to you is, this is just the way capital works. And there's nothing you can do about it. That's why the Bronze Age grew, but that's also why the Bronze Age collapsed. And that's why our world grew, but this is also why our world will collapse as well. Okay? That's the argument I'm making to you today. Any questions before we go to the PPT? Is this clear to you guys? All right. Let's go to the PPT. All right. So... This is a map that shows you the world of the Bronze Age. And as we discussed, these are the four major civilizations, right? China, Indus Valley, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. Okay? And they now, because they're at war, they have an insatiable need for bronze. And where... And bronze needs tin. Where's tin located? Tin is located where the stars are. ### 17:17 seg-0016 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0016` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0016](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0016) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1037s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1037s) Okay? And you can see, they're scattered over the place. So, what they're going to do now is they're going to build trade routes into these tin places that allow them to extract the tin to build, to create bronze armor. Okay? But when they do so, they also create new civilizations and new cities until you get a completely globalized world. So, this is China. And as you can see, they're always at war, and so they need weapons. Okay? This is pottery. Bronze pottery from China during the Shang Dynasty, during the Bronze Age. All right? So, how do we know that it's a completely globalized world? Because over the past 20 years, we've discovered shipwrecks. Okay? So, we've discovered ships that were transporting goods during the Bronze Age. And so, when you dig up these ships and you analyze where the products are from, you're able to rebuild the trade networks. ### 18:21 seg-0017 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0017` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0017](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0017) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1101s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1101s) Okay? And that's why we know about the Bronze Age. Okay. So, what's going to happen is this. The green is the copper sources. Okay? And as you can see, there's a lot of copper sources. The problem is the tin sources are spread out. So, in order to create bronze, you need to constantly expand your trade networks outside. Okay? And as you can see, what's happening is that the expansion keeps on expanding. It's ongoing until it encompasses the entire world. So, the dark brown is the earliest trade routes. And then the pink are the later trade routes. But as you can see, it's always expanding outwards in order to facilitate more and more trade. And what's really important for us to understand is the entire world is encompassed. Okay? So, this is Britain. This is Ireland. This is Scandinavia. Okay? This is important because if you study history, the British Isles, Scandinavia, aren't often discussed in the Bronze Age. ### 19:24 seg-0018 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0018` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0018](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0018) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1164s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1164s) But recent research has shown us that it's all interconnected. Okay? Okay. So, as I mentioned, these are trade networks. Okay? And these gray spots are areas that are major nodes in the trade network. They come about because of trade. The red are the major consumption areas. Okay? So, the gray are areas that are being created. They're being created in order to better facilitate trade. And eventually, you reach a point when it's completely globalized. When every source of copper and tin has been discovered and there's a massive trade network built around each area. ### 20:11 seg-0019 - Speaker: UNKNOWN - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0019` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0019](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0019) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1211s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1211s) Okay? ### 20:11 seg-0020 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0020` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0020](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0020) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1211s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1211s) All right. But again, as we know, even though this area is extremely globalized, extremely wealthy, only in about 50 years, it completely collapses. Okay? And we know because of the Egyptian records. Okay? The Egyptians write about the coming of the Sea Peoples. And so, if you just watch the arrows. Okay? This is the movement of the Sea Peoples. These are refugees fleeing famine. And what do they do? Well, they team up with pirates. Okay? And the pirates and the refugees together overwhelm existing civilization, including the Mycenaeans. Okay? President of Greece. Including the Hittite Empire. President of Turkey. And they... They keep on attacking. Okay? Even from the South, people are attacking the major cities. This is a world in complete collapse. ### 21:05 seg-0021 - Speaker: UNKNOWN - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0021` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0021](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0021) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1265s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1265s) Okay? ### 21:09 seg-0022 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0022` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0022](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0022) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1269s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1269s) This is another map showing the invasions. Okay? These, again, are the Sea Peoples. These are just economic migrants. These are refugees. Similar to what's happening today, where if you're following the news in Europe, you've got all these Middle Eastern refugees coming into Europe, overwhelming their economic systems. So, this is a trend that we can expect to continue for a very long time. Okay? All right. The Sea Peoples are just a mix of different people. We've tried to identify where they come from, who they are. We really don't know. Okay? So, the assumption is they come from everywhere. And they are being led by pirates who are expert at raiding other nations. Okay? And this is a painting from Egypt. Again, we know because the Egyptians... Egyptians left records of the invasions of Sea People. There were at least three major invasions of Sea People. We're talking about like 100,000 people attacking Egypt at the same time. ### 22:05 seg-0023 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0023` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0023](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0023) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1325s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1325s) And Egypt had to expend tremendous resources to repel these invasions. But it ultimately left Egypt bankrupt. Okay? This is Eric Klein. He's an anthropologist at the University of Washington. He wrote a book called 1177. Okay? And he lists the reasons why the Bronze Age collapse happened. And he says it was a perfect storm of crisis. Including climate change, which led to drought, which led to famine. There were also earthquakes. We're able to do analysis and discover that there were major earthquakes during this time. There were revolutions. There were civil wars. There was a migration crisis. Okay? So, it's a perfect storm of crisis. But what I want to show you today is it all has to do with the nature of capital. Okay? This is a total capitalistic system. All right. So, my argument to you today is, yes, the Bronze Age collapsed because of a perfect storm of crisis. That's what we know. ### 23:02 seg-0024 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0024` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0024](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0024) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1382s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1382s) But I want to extend this and say it has to do with the fact that it was a total capitalistic system. And so, capital drives you to prosperity, but it will also drive you to crisis. Okay? That's the argument I will make to you today. All right? And we've seen this before. So, this is the world right before World War I. As you can see, it was heavily, heavily globalized. Okay? And people thought that because of trade, because of prosperity, we can't go to war. Because why would we? And then, you know, a couple years later, World War I, where tens of millions of people died for no reason. Okay? Tens of millions of people died for no reason. It was just a slaughter. And what I want to argue to you is that this is a very common thing. And if you look at the Bronze Age collapse in World War I, we are in a very similar situation. ### 23:56 seg-0025 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0025` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0025](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0025) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1436s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1436s) Where the world is heavily globalized. It's heavily interconnected. But because of the nature of capital, we will probably fall off the edge at some point. Okay? And people would argue that we're already reaching this point. Okay. So, again, during the Bronze Age, okay, the high Bronze Age, the late Bronze Age, 1400 to 1200 BCE, you can see this entire world is interconnected. And what you will also see is that the center of this world, is really the Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea. Okay? And which city is the most important strategically in this world? It's called this city. Troy. Right? Troy. Which is why we have the Trojan War. We will discuss, actually, the Trojan War next class. Okay? But I point this out to you. Okay? So, why is this happening? Well, think about how, in a proto -capitalistic system, that depends on tin and copper, how do you make money? ### 25:01 seg-0026 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0026` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0026](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0026) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1501s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1501s) Okay? Well, there are different ways. The first way you can make money is mining. Guess what? It sucks because it's hard work and you don't make that much money out of it. Okay? It's just labor. Another way is processing it into ingots. Ingots are just ways to transport the tin and the copper. Okay? You can also manufacture into jewelry, pottery, and weapons. Okay, that makes more money. Transporting, it's hard work, but you make more money. Okay? Another way is just piracy. Just steal the stuff. But the best way you can make money, actually, is by controlling trade routes. Okay? That's what Troy is. Troy is a control of a trade route. And so, that's how you make real money during globalization. Okay? That's why, even today, the Middle East is so important because the Middle East is the center of all global trade. So, if it controls the Middle East, it controls global trade. ### 25:53 seg-0027 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0027` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0027](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0027) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1553s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1553s) Okay? So, remember this idea. We have empires because empires really order. Empires are trade routes. Empires are just control of trade routes. Empires back then is very different from empires today. Empires today would be like nation states, which controls borders and have their own language. Back then, empires were just a collection of different trading points. Okay? That were aligned with each other. And the Trojan War was just a trade war. That's all it was. We'll discuss this next class. Okay? Okay. So, you can see why. Okay? That's why Troy is so important because if you're in Anatolia, it's many mountains. It's good because you can mine for precious metals and it's easy to defend, but it's hard to access the sea. That's why Troy is so important. Okay? All right. So, again, we know about globalization during the Bronze Age because of shipwrecks. Okay? So, this is a very famous shipwreck that we discovered off the coast of Turkey called Öluburun. ### 27:01 seg-0028 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0028` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0028](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0028) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1621s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1621s) Okay? Okay? And inside it, you can see all this precious pottery. And we can actually date the location of where the pottery came from. Okay? So, these are major sources of tin. And what's really important this map tells you is that they're actually in mountains. Okay? So, they're hard to reach. That means you have to spend a lot of effort to create trade routes based on tin. Okay? These are ingots. Okay? This is how you transport tin and copper. You transform it into ingots. And what's going to happen is that because the tin is located in isolated areas and it's high mountains, they have to use every form of transportation. And so, in Europe, they mainly use the river system. And that's why all of Europe is brought into this trading network. This is Scandinavia. And as you can see, there's a lot of trade focused on Scandinavia as well. ### 28:09 seg-0029 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0029` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0029](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0029) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1689s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1689s) Okay? And this is something that we've not known before. We just assumed that Scandinavia didn't actually exist back then. It did exist. Okay? And it's a very important part of the trade network. Okay. So, let's talk about the Innis Valley Civilization. The Innis Valley Civilization, for the longest time, we know was peaceful, egalitarian, and religious. And we know because we're able to dig up the cities. And what we discovered is that it's very much similar to Kalahoyaks, where the houses are isolated. It's very similar where irrigation, where hygiene, it's all very advanced. And we have no evidence of warfare because we can't find any weaponry. Okay? So, why is Innis Valley so peaceful as compared to Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China? I think it was because they were able to trade with Mesopotamia, China, and Egypt and discovered, we don't want the system. We don't want a system where everyone's killing each other. Okay? ### 29:10 seg-0030 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0030` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0030](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0030) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1750s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1750s) That's my guess. But I don't know. No one knows. Okay? This is one of the Innis Valley's major cities that we've dug up. This is another. As you can see, it's pretty advanced. The houses are pretty equal. It's very similar to Kalahoyaks. Okay? A much bigger version of Kalahoyaks, which we discussed previously. This is an artist's rendition of what the Innis Valley city would look like during that time. Okay? What's amazing is that it's very advanced. It's very hygienic. It's very peaceful. It's very egalitarian. And religion was a major part of their lives during this time. Okay. So, the Innis Valley civilization will also give rise to something called the Bemak culture. Okay? And this is in actually North Afghanistan. And how this developed was because of trade, right? Because as I discussed previously, tin is found in the mountains. And so, you need to create a community around the mountain. So, it's a mining town, but it's also for manufacturing. ### 30:16 seg-0031 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0031` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0031](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0031) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1816s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1816s) It's also for transportation. It's also for trade. So, this is a pretty sophisticated, pretty complex area. But over time, what will happen is that the Bemak culture will bring people from the steppes. Okay? These are the Proto -Indo -Europeans we discussed previously. And then, because of climate change, because of the collapse of the Bronze Age, they will come and they will occupy both modern -day Iran as well as India, giving rise to two religions, the Zoroastrian religion as well as the Hindu religion. We'll discuss this at a later date. Okay? This is pottery from that Innis Valley civilization. Okay? Let's move on to the Mycenaean civilization. Okay? The Mycenaean civilization is really important because it gives us Greek civilization. Okay? Which is considered the birthplace of all Western civilization. We'll discuss the Greeks next class specifically. But I want to introduce the Mycenaeans now. Okay? ### 31:18 seg-0032 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0032` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0032](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0032) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1878s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1878s) Mycenaean is in the center. We believe that the Mycenaean culture, it is a warrior aristocracy. So, the people in charge are warriors as opposed to a priest aristocracy. Okay? So, remember in Sumer, it was a priest that were in control. Now, it's the warriors who are in control. And we also know that the Mycenaean people are descendants of the Proto -Indo -Europeans. Okay? So, the Proto -Indo -Europeans swept into Europe and then they went all the way down to Greece. ### 31:46 seg-0033 - Speaker: UNKNOWN - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0033` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0033](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0033) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1906s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1906s) Okay? ### 31:52 seg-0034 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0034` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0034](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0034) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1912s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1912s) And as you can see, Mycenaean is really important because it's the center of all trade. At this time in history, the easiest way to get around the Mediterranean is by sea. Okay? Land, it's very costly. It's very slow. And there's lots of bandits. So, sea is the best way. So, in this system, the best way to make money is actually piracy. So, as you can see, there are lots of islands scattered around Greece. And so, the Greeks, in the beginning, were mainly pirates. Okay? So, the people who invaded Troy during the Trojan War were pirates. Okay? The Mycenaeans were famous for being pirates. Okay? So, as you can see, this is a much clearer map. Mycenaean civilization, they had pottery. They had olive oil. They had certain great goods for trade. But mainly, it was really about transportation, logistics, piracy, and controlling trade routes. Okay? That's why Mycenae was so important at this time. This is Troy, by the way. ### 32:56 seg-0035 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0035` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0035](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0035) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1976s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1976s) Okay? As you can see, during the Trojan War, what will happen is you have different people of Mycenae go attack Troy because it's such a strategic location. Right? If they're able to control Troy, they control the entire Aegean Sea. ### 33:09 seg-0036 - Speaker: UNKNOWN - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0036` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0036](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0036) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1989s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1989s) Okay? ### 33:11 seg-0037 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0037` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0037](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0037) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1991s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=1991s) Okay. So, this is an artist's tradition of what the Mycenaean civilization looked like. It is what we call a palace economy, meaning all the center of the economy was a palace. What happened is that all the farmers had to give the palace their food. And the palace would then take this food and redistribute it to the artisans. Okay? People who made pottery. People who made clothing. Clothing and textiles for trade purposes. Okay? So, it was a control and command economy. Center of the palace. Okay? This is what the palace looks like. This is what the economy looks like. Okay? So, all the food would go to the palace. And the palace would redistribute the food. And the palace would then take the food to give to the artisans to make textiles for trade. Okay? And this is what the economy... It was a very simple economy, but it was very effective. It was an extremely wealthy place. ### 34:09 seg-0038 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0038` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0038](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0038) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2049s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2049s) This is a gold mass. Okay? Gold is very rare, as you know. And they turned it into a king. Some have speculated this is the mass of Agamemnon, who is a major character in the Iliad. We'll discuss the Iliad in the next class. We actually don't know who this is. Okay? This is a sword with a gold hilt. So, it just shows you how extremely wealthy they are. Right? Even the warriors had gold. This is something called the Lion's Gate. So, the entrance into Mycenae. This is a very wealthy place. Rough time. Lots of wars. Lots of piracy. So, there's lots of walls. ### 34:47 seg-0039 - Speaker: UNKNOWN - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0039` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0039](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0039) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2087s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2087s) Okay? ### 34:51 seg-0040 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0040` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0040](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0040) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2091s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2091s) The other thing about the Mycenaean civilization is their tombs are very, very elaborate. Okay? This is the entrance into one of their tombs. Over time, we see the tombs become more and more elaborate. So, we know that over time, they became a much more wealthy civilization. Okay? This is what their tombs look like. They're huge places. Okay? This is what the outside looks like. Where did the Mycenaeans learn this? Well, they learned this from Egypt. So, at this time in history, the Mycenaeans and the Egyptians were in close contact with each other. The Egyptians have a habit of burying themselves with all their treasure. Okay? So, this is their coffin. This is a mastaba, which is their tomb. Okay? As you can see, it's huge. It's almost as big as a house. So, the question then is, why would they do that? Okay? We've discussed it previously, where throughout most of human history, we've understood ### 35:49 seg-0041 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0041` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0041](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0041) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2149s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2149s) that this is a material realm, and then once we die, we go off to the spiritual realm. Guess what, guys? You can't take your money with you. So, why are you burying your money with you? Right? Okay? This is a mastaba. Okay? As you can see, it's a very elaborate, ornate place. And the Egyptians were known for this. But also, China. Right? The first emperor of China, the terracotta warriors. Why is he buried with an army and such wealth? That makes no sense. If you die, you die. So, why is this happening? So, the argument I want to make to you is that this is happening because money, capital, too much of it changes the fundamental chemistry of the brain. It makes you crazy. Okay? So, let's do a thought experiment. Okay? The thought experiment is this. Let's just say Satan were to come into this room and said, hey, I'll give you guys a billion dollars, but you have to live forever, and you have to be my slave forever. ### 36:51 seg-0042 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0042` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0042](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0042) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2211s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2211s) We'd be like, no. Why? Why would we want that? You know? Like, to have a billion dollars, but then be a slave for all eternity, like Satan? No. But, okay, let's assume we are the richest people on earth. We all have a 10 billion dollars, right? Now, Satan says to us, you know what? 10 billion dollars is a lot of money. I'm sure you enjoy your life, but you're going to die. And when you die, you can't take that money with you, but hey, I can make you live forever. I will let you keep this money, but you have to be my slave for all of eternity. Do you agree? We would agree. That's the difference. You see what has happened, right? Money makes people crazy. All right? So, bronze. Okay? So, remember, bronze started off as just a weapon in order to obtain power. ### 37:40 seg-0043 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0043` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0043](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0043) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2260s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2260s) But then, over time, as powerful people became more stable in their lives, they used bronze to make jewelry and pottery to show their strength. Okay? And then, over time, because rich people wanted it, everyone wanted it, and so bronze just became a currency, wealth. And it was just easy to store, universally recognized, and mobile. And this happened over centuries, over hundreds of years. Okay? That's a pattern here. All right? So, this is a map, a table, that shows you how capital is formed. Okay? So, capital needs to have universality. The more people want it, the more valuable it is. It has to be able to be, it has to store value. Okay? It has to be permanent. Okay? Does that make sense? It has to be mobile. It has to be available. Okay? It has to be rare enough. So, once it has these different elements, then it becomes a currency. ### 38:39 seg-0044 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0044` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0044](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0044) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2319s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2319s) So, if you just look at history, we've used different sources of currency. So, we have seashells, cattle, grain, woman, slaves, drugs, oil, bronze, gold, and US dollar. We've always had money as a concept. Okay? But money, for most of human history, signified a debt that could not be paid off. Okay? So, David Grabber, who's an anthropologist, he wrote about this in his book, Debt. Why do we create money as a concept? Because there are certain transactions in which there was so much debt, you couldn't pay it off. Okay? So, most of human actions, it's reciprocal. Right? So, you help me, I help you. Okay? But there are three things in which the debt can't be really paid off. Okay? The first example is, let's just say I kill your brother. Well, now you come kill me. Right? And you kill me, then my family's going to go kill you. Okay? ### 39:35 seg-0045 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0045` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0045](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0045) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2375s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2375s) And it creates a vicious cycle of vengeance. Right? So, the way to get rid of this problem is, if I kill your brother, I acknowledge that it's a debt I cannot be paid off. So, I give you something valuable. It could be gold. It could be jewelry. It could be anything. Okay? All right? So, that's what money is. That's the first example. The second example is, if a woman marries into your family, right, then that's also a debt that can't be paid off, because you've just taken away a daughter. So, you give me a gift, maybe some gold, maybe a cow, a horse, it doesn't matter. Okay? That's the second example of a debt that can't be paid off. The third example, and this is a really important example, is let's just say that you have a great person in the community. He's a great leader, or he's a great priest, or he's just a great person in general, and he's done a lot for you, but he dies. ### 40:28 seg-0046 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0046` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0046](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0046) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2428s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2428s) What do you do then? What you do is, you bury him with gifts, with gold, with money, okay? And so, it's a monument to his legacy. You know that he can't take the stuff with him to the afterworld, but it doesn't matter. All you're doing is, you're acknowledging his contribution to your community, and that's why when you dig up graves in ancient times, you'll see people burying their graves. They're buried with gold, because the community is acknowledging this person was great. We will forever remember him, and so the money is a way to acknowledge this fact. Okay? Does that make sense? Right? So, for most of the human history, that's what we use money for, to symbolize money that cannot be paid off. But then over time, as society became more sophisticated, we use other forms of currency, okay? And as you can see, all these different forms of currency, okay, whether it's seashells, cattle, grain, women, drugs, oil. ### 41:19 seg-0047 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0047` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0047](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0047) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2479s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2479s) It doesn't really work, in terms of universality, sort of value, and mobility, but bronze does, okay? And after bronze, gold does. And then after gold, today we have the U.S. dollar. Okay, does that make sense? Okay? So, once you have a universal accepted currency, you can now have globalization, right? And so, bronze was a major discovery, which allowed for globalization. Yeah? Yeah. Go ahead. ### 41:47 seg-0048 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0048` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0048](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0048) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2507s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2507s) I think bronze and gold is commodities and U.S. dollar is money stuff, but why does bronze, is it because drugs and oil does not count as capital? So, it is not. ### 42:04 seg-0049 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0049` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0049](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0049) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2524s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2524s) Okay, look, you're right, okay? Drugs can be a currency. The problem is that it's not universally accepted, okay? And also, the problem with drugs, of course, is it causes a lot of problems to your society. So, if you have a lot of money, you can buy a lot of stuff. Let's think of opium in China. And it's hard. Yeah, it creates a lot of problems. So, it can't be universally accepted. In fact, most countries would ban drugs. But at the same time, you're right in that it is valuable. It's a store of value. So, you guys don't know this, but there are a lot of governments that have secret supplies of drugs. Because if the world falls apart and you need to rebuild society, you need wealth, right? So, gold, you need gold, but guess what? Drugs is also a form of wealth because people want it, okay? People crave it. All right? So, gold, you need gold, but guess what? ### 42:47 seg-0050 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0050` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0050](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0050) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2567s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2567s) So, is this clear? All right? So, once you have a universally accepted currency, you have the basis for globalization and globalization happens naturally as a result. All right. So, capital is just a monetization of power. That's all it is. And you can have any form of capital, okay? The problem with capital is that it exploits, it alienates, and it consolidates. Okay? So, go back to the example where I'm the leader of a village. If there's no money involved, all I care about is winning the respect of my people, okay? And so, I work hard for them. But once capital is involved, I see each person as a commodity, okay? And therefore, I become alienated from my humanity and from others. And now, I want to exploit people in order to generate more capital. And over time, what will happen is that the strongest will have all the capital, which leads to mass destruction. ### 43:53 seg-0051 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0051` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0051](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0051) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2633s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2633s) Massive inequality. So, the only result of capitalism is one, massive inequality, corruption, immorality, okay? And alienation, anger, indifference. And this is the world we live in today. It doesn't make sense. It's just the nature of capital. There's no way around it. Okay. So, as we discussed previously, we have two different mindsets, okay? We're composed of two different individuals. We have the altruistic nature, so that we care about relationships. We care about empathy. We care about creativity. And then, our utilitarian side, which is all about material objectives, logic, and hard work, okay? So, in school, you have the utilitarian mindset, okay? Like, how do I get good grades? That's all you care about, all right? At home, you care about relationships. You care about maintaining good relationships with your mother and your father and your siblings and your relatives. What we also know, and it's really important, is that people who are altruistic, people who work for others, tend to be more creative than other people. ### 45:00 seg-0052 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0052` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0052](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0052) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2700s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2700s) But people who are obsessed with money tend to work harder than other people, okay? That's why globalization happens so fast, because everyone's in a rush to make as much money as possible, okay? But eventually, you reach a point where a few people have all the money, and so everyone's like, screw this. I give up because I'm never going to be rich. You lie flat, right? Tongue -ping or quite quitting. You just give up, okay? And this is the world we live in today. Okay, now, capitalism is a problem because it changes the fundamental nature of your brain, okay? So, this is an article from The Atlantic Monthly, which is a very popular magazine in the United States. There are these neuroscientists who have done brain scandals, brain scans, and they discovered that power causes brain damage, okay? ### 45:53 seg-0053 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0053` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0053](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0053) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2753s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2753s) In fact, if you look at the brain of a psychopath. In the brain of a wealthy person, it's pretty similar, okay? Yeah, they did brain scans, and it looks as though people who have too much money has brain damage. Why? Because a normal person is able to have empathy, is able to understand the feelings of others. Guess what? If you're too powerful, you're too wealthy, you don't have the capacity to have empathy. You can't appreciate the feelings of others. So, think of like, Elon Musk. Or Mark Zuckerberg. I don't care. They have actually no concept of empathy, okay? They are completely unable to relate to the feelings of other people. This is Brian Johnson, okay? Brian Johnson is a millionaire. He spends about $2 million a year on health, okay? He says some crazy things. So, for example, he has a father and he has a son, and he believes in blood transfusion. So, you know, if you, you know, transfuse the blood, your blood, you become younger. ### 47:02 seg-0054 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0054` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0054](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0054) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2822s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2822s) So, he's trying to figure out how to live forever, okay? So, he'll do things like blood transfusion. But you know, he has, he works so hard, man, because he'll get up at like five o 'clock in the morning, exercise. The food he eats is the most nutritious food in the world. And he'll regulate his sleep. He's always monitoring. He has heartbeat. He's always exercising, okay? His life sucks. And the question you have to ask yourself is, if you have so much money, why don't you enjoy it, you know? Why don't you just enjoy it? Why don't you just enjoy your life? Why are you focused on living forever, okay? And that's a problem with wealthy people. They're kind of scooping their head, okay? He looks like a vampire, guys, okay? This is him when he first, you know, started this project. And you can see he looks like a vampire now, all right? ### 47:54 seg-0055 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0055` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0055](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0055) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2874s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2874s) I'm not exaggerating here. Look at this guy. The problem is that there are lots of wealthy people in the world. And they happen to like this idea of living forever, okay? So let's just say, let's do a thought experiment. You're a billionaire, okay? You have like $100 million, $10 million, sorry, like $10 billion in the bank, $100 billion in the bank, who knows? You have a problem, which is, how do I keep this, right? Because you're going to die, okay? And you have all that money, so you can do whatever you want. So what you do is you invest in Brian Johnson. You invest in scientific research to live longer. But you also do what? You also build bunkers, okay? Because you're afraid that the world will end and you want to live forever, so you build bunkers. This is Mark Zuckerberg's bunker in Hawaii. It's kind of stupid because if the world's going to end, is your bunker going to save you? ### 48:51 seg-0056 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0056` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0056](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0056) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2931s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2931s) Probably not, okay? But he spent like $26 million, or $20 to $60 million on this stupid thing, hoping to live forever. And this is what it looks like on the inside. It's crazy to go through life thinking about how to live forever and how to survive. Why not just enjoy your life, okay? They also joined secret societies. Why? Because secret societies may have the secret to reincarnation or the secret to immortality or the secret to longevity. They don't care. They have so much money that they're willing to invest in everything, okay? So they're willing to try blood transfusion, they're willing to build bunkers, they're also willing to join secret societies. And that's why you see secret societies growing in power and popularity today. They also worship Satan, okay? Because again, if you have $10 billion, you're stuck, right, because you don't want to die. ### 49:51 seg-0057 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0057` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0057](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0057) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2991s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=2991s) Like you don't want to, like, it's what we call sunk cost fallacy, right? You're like, I worked so hard for this, and I have the best life, but I'm going to die. And when I die, all this is gone, I have to start all over again. I don't want to do that, okay? So they're willing to do anything. Including worship Satan. In fact, what we'll learn is that the religion of Satan became so popular in order to solve this problem where wealthy people, they want to live forever. And they want the world to stay the same as it is now. But as you learn in this class, it is impossible for the world to stay the way it is. Change is a constant. Things move in cycles. Capitalism gives rise to wealth, but it also destroys wealth. That's just the nature of life. Okay? All right. So that's a Bronze Age collapse. ### 50:45 seg-0058 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0058` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0058](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0058) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=3045s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=3045s) Any questions? Sorry. ### 50:49 seg-0059 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0059` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0059](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0059) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=3049s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=3049s) Yeah. Go ahead, Viet. ### 50:50 seg-0060 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0060` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0060](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0060) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=3050s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=3050s) Go ahead. ### 50:52 seg-0061 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0061` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0061](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0061) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=3052s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=3052s) Why do they worship Satan? Because you said that those millionaires, they want to keep their money forever. And what does it do with Satan? Okay. ### 51:04 seg-0062 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0062` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0062](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0062) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=3064s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=3064s) That's a really good question. Okay. So it's really desperation, right? Because what religion teaches you is that wealth is bad. And when you go to heaven, you'll be judged by God. And God is going to ask you, hey, why do you have so much money, man? And you'll be like, well, I stole this money. And I hurt a lot of people. And I cheated. I lied. I steal. Yeah. You know? And like, do we want to say that to God? Yeah. You're kind of stuck. Right? Right. So first of all, you don't want to die. You want to give up all this money that you worked hard to get, but you also don't want to face God. You want to face God and face his judgment. Okay. So what's your alternative here? Your alternative is you believe in something more powerful than God, or at least someone who you can find refuge in from God. ### 51:58 seg-0063 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0063` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0063](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0063) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=3118s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=3118s) Okay. If it means going to hell, you prefer going to hell than facing judgment from God. Okay. Because you and your heart know exactly what you did to get that $10 billion. Okay. You know what you did. Maybe other people don't know, but you know what you did and God knows what you did. And you really, really want to face judgment. All right. Okay. So yeah. Does that make sense? Okay. Any more questions, guys? All right. So that's it for the Bronze Age. So we will discuss the Iliad next class. Okay. And so what I'm going to do is I'm going to introduce the Iliad today, and then we'll continue the Iliad on Thursday. Okay. So the Bronze Age collapse is important. Because it will give rise to Greek civilization, which we believe to be the basis for Western civilization. Okay. So the question then is, how does this happen? Okay. ### 53:05 seg-0064 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0064` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0064](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0064) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=3185s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=3185s) So if you look at Mycenaean Greece, and then we transition into the Dark Ages. Okay. The Dark Ages does not, all it means is that the Greeks lost capacity to write. Okay. And so what will happen is Mycenaean Greece will transform from a past economy into something called the polis. Okay. Polis just means city -state. Okay. This is where we get the word politics from. Okay. So this is a major political transition where you went from a centralized economy to now city -states competing against each other. That's the first thing. Second thing that's important is the writing system changes. It went from linear B. Linear B becomes linear B. And that becomes, do you guys know? What's the new writing system called? I'm sure you guys know the name. Alphabet. ### 54:02 seg-0065 - Speaker: UNKNOWN - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0065` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0065](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0065) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=3242s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=3242s) Okay. ### 54:03 seg-0066 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe@transcript:v1#seg-0066` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0066](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-rkt0hqooghe/transcript/#seg-0066) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=3243s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkt0HQOogHE&t=3243s) All right. And the big, the third big change is you go from censorship. Okay. Because remember, in a policy economy, in a centralized system, bureaucrats are in control. And bureaucrats control what is talked about. Okay. Or what is expressed. And they censure and centralize content. Okay. They basically create propaganda. So now, without censorship, you have a new person emerge named Homer. Okay. And we will discuss Homer next class. And these three things together become the basis for Greek civilization. And this is why the Greeks became the greatest civilization ever in human history. So the main lesson I want to leave you today is, yes, collapse is bad. But collapse also gives opportunity for a new civilization. For a new civilization to arise. For a new humanity to emerge. And we will discuss this next class. Okay. The birth of Greek civilization. All right. Great. All right.