I was wrong (and so was everyone)
Did 18th century firefighters really let buildings burn? Sources below. ■ AD: 👨💻 NordVPN’s best deal is here: https://nordvpn.com/tomscott – with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Here’s the full, thoroughly referenced report: https://www.tomscott.com/corrections/firemarks/
Thanks to historical consultant Paul J Sillitoe: http://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-sillitoe-avi-consultants
Thanks to Afonso Noronha for the email sparking this whole discussion! All the corrections on this channel can be found here: https://www.tomscott.com/corrections/
The original video, now deprecated and unlisted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sehyLDPeB6M
I’m at https://tomscott.com
on Twitter at https://twitter.com/tomscott
on Facebook at https://facebook.com/tomscott
and on Instagram as tomscottgo
I’d like to apologise to any 18th-century firefighters reading this. ■ AD: 👨💻 NordVPN’s best deal is here: https://nordvpn.com/tomscott – with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Read about Toronto history.
A riot broke out in a brothel when a bunch of clowns and firefighters started fighting
@MR Beasst Nice four subscribers
@Ragnhild Nord had no problem not disclosing a data breach at one of their vendors. That’s lying to me.
Nord again? Come on Tom. Find another sponsor. Thumbs down!
Ironic
That’s the cool thing about history: Being wrong is exciting! And correcting their own mistakes is what makes someone a great person. Well done, Tom.
@p75369 Being wrong is somewhat less fun as an engineer than as an academic (unless it is a pleasant surprise).
That’s not to say you don’t want to know if you were wrong, because it is still highly important to address the problem and any follow-on issues.
@The Eclectic Dyslexic Historians are scientists. They might not be natural scientists, but that’s true for many other scientists too. Also, all successful historians use natural science as a fundamental backup.
@p75369 it’s true for lots of non academics too.
Should be true for anyone who calls themselves an accademic. Being wrong is great because it means you’ve learned something new and are now closer to the truth.
@The Eclectic Dyslexic Humanities are science too, you silly.
This apology is even more interesting than the original video, because it’s taught me something that I (and apparently everyone else) didn’t know. Fascinating stuff. I love history. Well done, Tom!
huh
@Hugh O’Byrne mea culpa
What apology?
“As ever, you shouldn’t trust me.” True, but this statement is exactly why you are trustworthy. Unlike most of our so-called professional media, they just say “trust me,” and when they’re proven wrong they either sweep it under the rug or label the people with the actual facts as modern day heretics. Your challenge to fact check you and your willingness to say, “I was wrong, here’s the information that proves it” is how actual trustworthy media producers should operate. Thank you, Tom.
@rogink They also don’t even make it known that things were edited for it or do anything to ensure that people know that facts were changed.
A lot of issues with rapidly produced articles that get updated as things go on, but don’t tell anyone and you hit issues where people claim as facts that are no longer there because they were proven to not be what they’d thought and there is zero mention that the article was updated/edited.
@TreskaWe trust him not because he says not to trust him, but because he proved the reasons not to trust him, and then cited his sources.
Little finger pulled out the uni reverse card on this logic
So you’re saying you don’t trust him when he says not to trust him.
I think the point hes trying to make is never trust a fact on face value, always do your own research or think critically yourself if you want to be sure
The internet needs videos like this more often than we realise. We need constant reminders to think critically and take accountability for what we assume to know. Great video!
the irony is that these kinds of correction videos increase my confidence in tom by about 500%. literally who else in the game would pay a professional archival researcher for two weeks of full-time labor to investigate misinformation from 150 years ago.
Could have just asked ChatGPT
@Owen Leal
not youtube, but Opening Arguments podcast is really good about this, too
The Four Horsemen of Impeccable Integrity when owning mistakes:
-Tom Scott
-Kurzgesagt
-Coffeezilla
-Moist Critikal
@Barney Laurance that is unlikely I agree.
@sirBrouwer Not unless Garry is AKA Paul J Sillitoe.
I love that Horrible Histories was so accurate overall that even Tom Scott is shocked when they’re wrong
@DeShark88 hh
@Koi🌷 8 errors in HH or 8 errors in QI? I remember Dara O’Brien saying that the triple point of water was 0.0 °C and he got extra points and I was like: hell no! Then he reappeared on the show and they called him out for being wrong. It was satisfying. He was good on Taskmaster though eh?
@oniondesu idk But I’ve heard there’s only 8 errors
where did it get this reputation?
@the purple cheescake zebra I’ve picked out a few myths they’ve perpetuated, and I barely ever watched QI.
I can’t think of any other YouTube creator so dedicated to owning mistakes, even if they were not originally theirs. “Standing on the shoulders of mistaken giants” is awesome. Nicely done
Check out CGP Grey’s video titled CGP Grey was WRONG, best apology video I’ve ever seen by far.
Dr. Kat from Reading the Past is equally passionate about correcting her mistakes… nice to see these historians with personal integrity!
not a very common trait today. well put bitblt
That is such a good phrase!
I love him, but I can think of all the constellation of science YouTubers that would do just that 🤔
Thanks Tom for being honest and teaching a lesson in humility, unfortunately a trait missing in many nowadays.
A lot of channels probably wouldn’t care if what they say is true or false. Often they only care about likes and subscriptions. Tom clearly does care about the truth and I think he is brave to come out and admit his mistake. It may make him look bad briefly but it shows great integrity overall. Also, kudos to the person who brought this to Tom’s attention