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Memo to the Fourteenth Century (and to the Tobians)

2008-06-19 · John · watch on YouTube · Nerdfighteria · announcement promotion

In 3.5 parts John retracts Hank's insult 'Tobian' (it is a real island people, language and surname) in favour of 'Decepticonian', plugs Daniel Biss and welcomes his baby, delivers a comic 60-second memo to the 14th century, and asks what he can do for Nerdfighters.

What is said

00:00:00 — Intro to 3.5 parts; Part 1: apology to Tobies and Tobians, retiring 'Tobian' for 'Decepticonian'

  • ★ John says the video comes in 3.5 parts because he's tired of making four-part videos. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • ★★★ John tells Hank that proposing 'Tobian' as the opposite of nerdfighterly in his last video might have been a mistake. (hedged) — 00:00:00 · Hank Green
  • ★★ John reports comments from people named Toby who are nerdfighters, then three emails from people whose surname is Tobian. (playful) — 00:00:43
  • ★★ Anthropology nerdfighters pointed out that the island of Toby in the South Pacific has 22 remaining residents, who speak an extremely endangered language called Tobian. — 00:00:43
  • ★★ John says the central reason so few people live on Toby is that the island is shrinking due to rising sea levels. — 00:00:43
  • ★★★ To apologize to Tobies and Tobians, John proposes removing 'Tobian' from the Nerdfighter vocabulary and replacing it with 'Decepticonian', which has a nice Draconian ring. — 00:01:12 · Nerdfighteria > «replace it with the word Decepticonian, which has kind of a nice Draconian ring to it»

00:01:12 — Part 2: plug for Daniel Biss's state-representative campaign; birth of his baby; ActBlue donation ask

  • ★★ John recalls that Daniel Biss, the brothers' 'resident mathematician', was one of the very first Nerdfighters and is running for state representative. — 00:01:12 · Daniel Biss, Brotherhood 2.0, Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ Daniel Biss and his wife have had a baby; John does his seated happy dance and says the chosen name is also good, though everyone rooted for 'John Hank Bubbles'. (playful) — 00:01:41 · Daniel Biss, Happy dance
  • ★★ John says this is probably the last time he'll talk about politics on the channel, but he really believes in Daniel's candidacy. (hedged) — 00:01:41 · Daniel Biss
  • ★★★ John asks viewers to consider donating to Daniel via ActBlue, adding that it would be very funny if Hank went to the Sex and the City movie dressed as Carrie Bradshaw. — 00:01:41 · Daniel Biss

00:02:18 — Part 3: 60 seconds with the 14th century: plague, science and a warning about Europeans

  • ★★ Inspired by a post on his friend Lindsay's blog, John imagines what he would tell the people of the 14th century in a video only 60 seconds long. (hypothetical) — 00:02:18
  • ★★ In the memo John tells them the plague is spread by rats and is a tiny living thing inside the body, that the right amount of penicillium kills it, that washing with soap prevents spread, and that leeches don't work. (hypothetical) — 00:02:18
  • ★★ He lists science for them: the earth is round, the sun is at the centre of the solar system, the speed of light is invariant, the moon is rock, not cheese; plus Schrödinger's cat. (hypothetical) — 00:02:48
  • ★★ On the future course of history, John warns 14th-century people outside Europe that they are about to be in big trouble, and jokes they should kill any dude who looks like him. (playful) — 00:03:17 · Europe

00:03:17 — Part 3.5: ask not what Nerdfighteria can do for me; John asks what he can do for Nerdfighters

  • ★ John notes that in recent weeks they have asked a lot of Nerdfighters: money for Daniel Biss, Tetris pieces, T-shirt ideas and a collaboratively written novel. — 00:03:17 · Nerdfighteria, Daniel Biss
  • ★★★ John asks Nerdfighters what he can do for them (jumping jacks, pudding, a poem recited shirtless) and says he'll do ten of their requests in a video filmed this weekend. — 00:03:46 · Nerdfighteria > «ask not what Nerdfighteria can do for me, ask what I can do for Nerdfighteria»

Humor (significant)

  • John lists the escalating complaints about Hank's word 'Tobian', from Tobies to Tobian surnames. — 00:00:43 > «we were, in fact, insulting the 22 remaining residents of the island of Toby in the South Pacific»
  • Welcoming Daniel Biss's new baby, John admits the chosen name is also good, though everyone was rooting for another. — 00:01:41 > «name their baby John Hank Bubbles the nerdfighting baby Biss»
  • John explains germ theory to the 14th century in internet slang. — 00:02:18 > «It gets inside of your body and it pwns you.»
  • Among the science facts for the 14th century, John addresses medieval scholastic debate. — 00:02:48 > «It turns out the question of how many angels you can fit on the head of a pin isn't very interesting»
  • Ending his memo on the future course of history, John addresses the 14th-century peoples outside Europe. — 00:03:17 > «Listen closely, peoples of non-Europe. If you see a dude who looks like me, kill him.»

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