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Steve Jobs and a Song

2011-10-07 · Hank · watch on YouTube · Philosophy & meaning · reflection essay

Lower-confidence wave

2011 videos did not pass the QA gate (17 %); their analysis is shown but less reliable.

Hank sings a song, built on a loop of his own mouth sounds, saying ordinary acts are how people give to the world and nobody does it all alone; then, after Steve Jobs's death, he argues that not being special is normal and necessary, and that maybe we just have to be good.

What is said

00:00:00 — Intro (a song written to a loop of Hank's mouth sounds); greeting; the song: giving to the world through ordinary acts, nobody does it all alone

  • ★★ Hank introduces a song written to a loop made from sounds he made with his mouth. — 00:00:02
  • ★★ In the song Hank says everyday acts like making a meal are his way of giving to the world, and he would rather sing than give people soda. — 00:00:26
  • ★★★ The song says there is so much to be done and many people to do it; it can be hard, but together we get through it, because nobody does it all alone. — 00:01:14 · collective action > «No one does it all alone, nobody does it all alone.»

00:02:06 — Thanks to the hundreds who made beats with his mouth sounds at star.me; why the video is black and white

  • ★★ Hank thanks the hundreds of people who made beats from his mouth sounds at star.me, and says viewers can still do it via the link in the description. — 00:02:06
  • ★ Hank made this video in black and white to do something different, and so viewers wouldn't see the natural colour of his teeth. (playful) — 00:02:17

00:02:23 — The song is about not being special: ordinary things like caring for kids and emptying septic tanks make the world work

  • ★★★ Hank says the song is about not being special, which is not only really normal but also really necessary and really wonderful. — 00:02:23
  • ★★★ Hank says the normal everyday things, like taking care of kids, emptying septic tanks, learning, having fun and being silly, are what make the world work. — 00:02:34

00:02:45 — Steve Jobs, one of Hank's heroes, has died; he made the brothers' work possible; the world is less good without him; maybe we don't have to be special, just good; sign-off

  • ★★★ Hank reports that Steve Jobs, one of the most special people of his generation and one of Hank's personal heroes, died a couple of days ago. — 00:02:45
  • ★★ Hank says it is risky to talk about someone right after they die, since we inflate their importance, but he finds it hard to imagine inflating Steve Jobs's. (hedged) — 00:02:54
  • ★★★ Hank says Steve Jobs made what the brothers do possible: from their first computer, the Apple IIe their dad got, to the computers bought in 2007 for this project and all their editing software. — 00:03:03 · Brotherhood 2.0
  • ★★ Hank says the brothers are in the very not-unique situation of having a job that depended on Steve Jobs's existence. — 00:03:16
  • ★★★ Hank didn't know Steve Jobs, only his creations, but through them Jobs made his life better, and Hank thinks the world is less good without him. (hedged) — 00:03:22
  • ★★★ Hank suggests the goal may be for the world to be less good without us at the end of our lives; if so, maybe we don't have to be special to be like Steve Jobs, just good. (hedged) — 00:03:34

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