Love it or hate it, Psy‘s “Gangnam Style” is one of the biggest musical hits in history. And now, it’s set another record: the first YouTube video to hit two billion views.
Not two million, two billion. And yes, that doesn’t mean two billion people have actually watched it: at least five of those views are probably me. But that’s still a lot of time spent. To give you a fair idea, at four minutes and 13 seconds for the video, that’s approximately:
506 billion seconds
8,433,333,333 minutes
140,555,555 hours
5,856,481 days
195,216 months
16,045 years
What that means is that if only one human being watched the entirety of the “Gangnam Style” two billion views in a row (ignoring the fact that there would also be ads), it would predate human history.
Also ignoring that computers weren’t invented until recently, of course.
But let’s take a look at what this ancient viewer of Gangnam style would have experienced, shall we? 16,000 years ago was the Mesolithic era, ranging from about 10,000 to 5,000 BCE. Though development of humanity varies wildly from region to region, most were beginning to experiment with domestication of animals, as well as learning to live in huts and small villages, instead of caves.
Though it’s tough to pinpoint exactly when, given writing — and the entirety of recorded history — didn’t start until 5,500 years ago in ancient Sumer, we do know that around 16,000 years ago someone sculpted wisent (ancient bison) using clay in a cave named Le Tuc d’Audoubert in the French Pyrenees.
And these ancient artists pale in comparison to Psy: by 2006, only 1,142 people had visited the sculptures since they were discovered in 1912.
Perhaps they should have released the sculptures on YouTube?
How many times have you watched “Gangnam Style?” Let us know in the comments below.
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