Are humans, on balance, good or bad?
John said in 2024 that humans are both good and bad, and in 2025 he saw folly, brilliance, cruelty and compassion in the history of tuberculosis.
Axis: humans are fundamentally good ... humans are fundamentally bad
Positions by date: 4 records in 4 videos. The position did not change in these records.
John
| date | how | position | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-10-03 | first on record | John says any simple narrative is untrue: humans are neither simply good nor simply bad but both. | Broadly in Favor of Humans 00:03:53 |
| 2025-02-25 | restate | For John, the history and present of tuberculosis reveal the folly, brilliance, cruelty and compassion of humans. | EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS 00:09:05 |
| 2026-02-14 | restate | Thanking a donor, John calls 'humane' his favorite word because it implies his fundamental belief: he is not sure humans are good news, but sure they might be, and have the opportunity to be. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 3! 01:41:31 |
| 2026-02-14 | restate | John says the Galápagos episode tries to articulate his belief that humanity can be good news: it is miraculous how much we understand about the world, and much would be lost if we ceased to exist. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 4! 00:19:10 |
Background
| date | how | position | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-02-21 | background | Hank says he is very forgiving of humans, pointing to what we have made, from Christmas lights, vodka and pickles to Beanie Sanfurbs. (playful) | No Video Today!! 00:01:18 |
| 2025-05-02 | background | Hank closes that humans are extremely weird and stupid, and that he loves us. (playful) | I Found the Dumbest Time Zone 00:06:00 |