The Humans Saw This meme took off on social media in August 2024. The meme has people posting photos and videos of gorgeous natural scenery with a simple message saying, “Humans saw this and invented…” ending the post with something that is an invention of human society that they imply is mundane or wasteful of the human existence, such as Excel, the SATs, or capitalism.
What is the ‘Humans Saw This’ meme?
This new social media trend started to pick up steam at the end of August and the beginning of September 2024. Folks on a variety of social media apps have been sharing videos and photos of beautiful landscapes such as oceans, fields, and mountain ranges with text overlay that reads, “Humans saw this and invented…” followed by a negative comparison of human invention to the beauty of the natural world around us.
The juxtaposition of the two is typically a stark comparison. Essentially saying, nothing that humans create could compare to the natural beauty displayed in the posts.
Origin of the ‘Humans Saw This’ meme
The earliest Humans Saw This meme posts on both TikTok and X appear to be from around August 25th to 29th, 2024, with some variations on the theme. The vast majority of them start with the phrase, “Humans saw this and invented…” followed by a mundane human invention.
Posts on TikTok almost all utilize the same audio clip, “Intro” by the band Black Country, New Road. They are an English rock band from Cambridge, UK. The sound is brassy and upbeat before the drums and guitar pick up, very different from the normal nature sound music that one would expect to accompany nature videos.
There are other posts using the same rough format and song that opine, “You’re telling me the world looks like this and…” followed by an anti-capitalism message about not wanting to care about work or sitting in an office all day.
The meme has spread like wildfire as people post their gripes with modern-day society next to the backdrop of beautiful scenery.
Spread of the ‘Humans Saw This’ meme
There are numerous examples of this meme on TikTok and X.
TikToker @travelyourtwenties posted one of the earliest iterations of the meme on August 25th, 2024. They shared a video from Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah and wrote, “humans saw THIS and invented Excel????”
Another TikToker, Lilli Kay (@lilli.kayy), wrote in her video’s overlay, “humans saw this and thought grades determine life,” adding in her caption, “life is worth more.”
Over on X, @thamsla had a bone to pick with one of the Big Four accounting firms, as they wrote in their tweet, “humans saw this and still created Deloitte” and shared four photos of sunsets over the ocean.
In the replies to their post, another user shared their own take on the programming language C++.
Meme examples
Below are more examples of the ‘Humans Saw This’ meme.
@johannesdahle00 No thankyou:) #norge #visitnorway #lofoten #lofotenislands #mitteventyrland ♬ Intro – Black Country, New Road
@lavidademaddy It just don’t make sense #travel #traveltok #traveltiktok #travellife #traveling #iceland #icelandwaterfalls #kvernufoss #waterfall #nature #kvernufosswaterfall #traveliceland #icelandtravel ♬ Intro – Black Country, New Road
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