Is change good?
John said in 2012 that he hates change though things had changed for the better, later calling change a dangerous and beautiful force and hoping to be different again in 15 years. Hank says he came to love change as he aged, though in 2022 he found fast change unfun, and in 2025 he wants things to get weird.
Axis: change is good / beautiful ... change is overrated / threatening
Positions by date: 10 records in 10 videos. The position was refined (2015, 2016, 2018), never reversed, in these records.
John
| date | how | position | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-01-02 | first on record | John says he hates change, yet things have changed for the better over five years; later, 'I know change sucks'. | Changes to Vlogbrothers 00:00:00 |
| 2016-06-28 | refine | John expects Icelanders to refuse, liking their country where it is; maybe that says something about Icelanders, or about change, which he calls a dangerous and beautiful force. | New Iceland 00:03:13 |
| 2021-08-24 | restate | John hopes that 15 years from now he will be different again, and toasts that hope and life, just not a million years of it. | It's My Birthday. I Gave Myself This Video. 00:03:35 |
| 2023-09-29 | restate | John says that, in a lovely way, he feels very distant from his 2007 self, and wonders what his 2039 self knows: amazing things, he is sure, and terrible ones. | Like Apocalyptic Horsemen 00:04:03 |
Hank
| date | how | position | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-03-30 | first on record | Hank says that as he has gotten older he has come to love change where he used to hate it, because it brings new things; online video and Nerdfighteria are always changing. | Springtime Hunger Games Zit Bully Walk 00:02:26 |
| 2015-09-11 | refine | Hank says Yellowstone's honesty reminds him that the inevitability of change, though it terrifies him, also excites him. | Yellowstone: The Terror of Change 00:02:27 |
| 2018-02-23 | refine | But, being old, Hank recognizes that a society without change is destined for a sorry, sad end. | Dear Young People, You Terrify Me 00:03:02 |
| 2022-12-09 | restate | Hank says fast change in people and societies is usually not fun; he wouldn't mind things getting less interesting for a while, but we don't get to choose. | Things are Changing Very Fast 00:03:49 |
| 2025-10-06 | restate | Hank says change never stops happening and that someday — which is okay — this place here will be a ghost town. | The Web is Going to Die 00:04:23 |
| 2025-10-24 | restate | Hank says he wants things to get weird. | What Will Books Become? 00:05:13 |
Background
| date | how | position | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-03-31 | background | John says he is not a huge fan of change and thinks it tremendously overrated: life is change, but so is death. (playful) | Hank's Haircut and Related Existential Crises 00:00:54 |