Can imagination and work make ideas real?
John has said since 2009 that imagined things can become real, and in 2015 that imagination and work made AFC Wimbledon real, which he calls the most beautiful thing about life. Hank agrees: in 2011 he made his 2D Glasses idea real, and in 2024 said Good Store and Crash Course exist through sheer force of will.
Axis: yes, imagined things become real through work ... imagination stays separate from reality
Positions by date: 11 records in 11 videos. The position did not change in these records.
John
| date | how | position | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-08-06 (said on 2009-08-05, implied) | first on record | John says made-up people can be real: fictional things can become real, and we all make each other up by how we imagine one another. | Robert Pattinson and DJ Railstone 00:02:18 |
| 2013-08-27 | restate | John: it is amazing to see a story that long existed only in his imagination become visible on the film set. | On the TFIOS Movie Set 00:01:37 |
| 2014-12-23 | restate | John says the truth is that the way we imagine the world ends up shaping reality, citing Agloe as a fiction that became real and readers making Paper Towns and Agloe real again. | Agloe, New York 00:01:40 |
| 2015-03-31 | restate | John says imagination and work can make ideas real, as with AFC Wimbledon, started by fans; this is the most beautiful thing about life to him. | Hank's Haircut and Related Existential Crises 00:02:48 |
| 2020-12-08 | restate | John says ideas on their own don't do much: they have to be realized. | A Love Letter to My Brother, Basically 00:00:00 |
| 2021-11-09 | restate | John says if the idea of 2D glasses could become 2D glasses, then a conference could become VidCon, an educational video company Complexly, and John with a mustache a t-shirt. | Hank Green's Million Dollar Ideas 00:01:46 |
| 2026-09-30 | restate | John spent eight years writing Hollywood, Ending hoping it would reach people and pay bills, but primarily it was fun: in Zadie Smith's words, a thing to do, imagining a bit and making it real. | The Point of Life 00:02:47 |
Hank
| date | how | position | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-04-18 | first on record | Hank says making 2D Glasses is a big deal for him: he had an idea, made it, and made his idea real. | 2D Glasses! Take the Headache out of 3D 00:01:24 |
| 2011-09-14 (said on 2011-09-15, implied) | restate | Hank says you will never know if an idea is good until you make it real. | How to Make Ideas Real: Readit1st.com 00:02:57 |
| 2021-04-09 | restate | The third stage is making the idea a thing: the implementation, the work. | A Thought is Not an Idea 00:01:27 |
| 2024-04-12 | restate | Outsiders may think Good Store, Crash Course or the iPhone are inevitable, but from inside, with Nerdfighteria supporting them and people at DFTBA and Complexly working on them, they exist through sheer force of will. | Feeling Like a Failure (During an Eclipse) 00:04:42 |
Background
| date | how | position | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-10-22 | background | John says something that existed only in his imagination now exists on his hotel bed thanks to Nerdfighters — the thematic structure of Paper Towns. (playful) | Punish Hank? Save Hank? YOU DECIDE. 00:01:33 |
Dates are upload dates, which set the order. Where the speaker gives a different recording date in the video, it is added as "said on YYYY-MM-DD, implied" (derived from the date said in the video).