You Will Be Forgotten ...And That's OK

2015-02-06 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:43 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Philosophy & meaning (also: Internet & YouTube) · mode: Personal essay · tags: self promotion

Hank argues that being remembered forever is unachievable and that 'success' does not exist; lasting satisfaction comes from solving problems and making things, not from recognition.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Tumblr text posts as a form that reflects the culture around them

★★ Hank says he loves Tumblr text posts: those that rise to six or seven figures of notes become almost objectively great, the height of a pretty weird form. — 00:00:00 · Tumblr
★★ Hank says that, like all media, Tumblr text posts say a lot about the culture that creates, honors and promotes them. — 00:00:27 · Tumblr

00:00:36 — A text post fearing an ordinary life; John's oblivion point: being remembered forever is not achievable

★★ Hank quotes a text post about being terrified of an ordinary, routine life and not doing anything different to be remembered by, and says it has around half a million notes. — 00:00:36 · Tumblr
★★★ Hank says that, as John keeps driving home, oblivion is inevitable and no one will be left to remember anything, so being remembered forever is not a good goal because it is not achievable. — 00:00:57 · John Green
★ Hank says John repeats the oblivion point probably because he struggles with it quite a lot himself. (playful, hedged) — 00:00:57 · John Green

00:01:14 — Hank's own successes and why 'success' does not exist; joy from solving problems and making things

★★ Hank lists his successes: touring in a rock band, being written about in the New Yorker, helping raise over 2 million dollars for charity, Crash Course in thousands of schools, interviewing the President. — 00:01:16 · Crash Course, Barack Obama
★★★ Hank says none of the milestones (first recognized in public, 100,000 or a million subscribers, paying bills with YouTube) was the day he became perpetually satisfied and always happy. — 00:01:29 · YouTube
★★★ Hank says success does not exist: whoever is smart, dedicated, lucky and sacrificing enough finds it is made up; you get successes but not success. — 00:01:49

“You get successes, but you don’t get success.”
★★★ Hank says recognized achievements do not bring long-term satisfaction; satisfaction and joy come from solving problems and making things, often without recognition. — 00:02:10

00:02:19 — Advice: think about problems solved and things made; we all make ourselves; sign-off

★★★ Hank advises the half-million who liked or reblogged the post to think not about what they will accomplish but about the problems they help solve and the things they help make. — 00:02:19
★★ Hank says the things we help make and problems we help solve are what really matter and make us happy; maybe everyone is unremarkable in that we all make things, including ourselves. (hedged) — 00:02:35

00:02:58 — End screen: Games with Hank returns with Hank Green Plays The Sims (Jimmy Carter Sim)

★★ In the end screen Hank says video games give clear problems and achievements, which is why Games with Hank is back today with a new series, Hank Green Plays The Sims. — 00:02:59 · Games With Hank

Threads in this video

restate · Does human life have real meaning, given oblivion, cosmic scale and an indifferent universe? — Hank accepts John's point that oblivion is inevitable and argues being remembered forever is not a good goal because it cannot be achieved; meaning lies in what we make. (00:01:01)
mentioned · Hank's YouTube interview with President Obama (January 2015) — Among his successes Hank mentions that he recently interviewed the President. (00:01:27)
restate · Do money and success bring happiness? — Hank says none of his milestones made him perpetually satisfied; success is made up, and 'you get successes, but you don't get success'. (00:02:00)
restate · Why make things? — Hank says lasting satisfaction and joy come from solving problems and making things, often without recognition. (00:02:14)
launched · Hank Green Plays The Sims: Hank's new Games With Hank series (2015) — Hank announces that Games with Hank is back today with a new series, Hank Green Plays The Sims. (00:03:07)
milestone · Games with Hank: Hank's new gaming channel, an episode every day (2014) — In the end screen Hank says video games give clear problems and achievements, which is why Games with Hank is back today with a new series, Hank Green Plays The Sims. (00:02:59)

Where the stories that moved here went next

Games with Hank: Hank's new gaming channel, an episode every day (2014) — last documented in 2015 (looked back on in 2018)

Mentioned

Central: death anxiety · Games With Hank · Tumblr · Tumblr text post fearing an ordinary life

Also: People: Barack Obama · Jimmy Carter

Projects: Crash Course

Works: The Sims

Organizations: The New Yorker · YouTube

Concepts: video game

Events: YouTube Asks Obama

Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi

Also centred on death anxiety: Oinkbarf Pandemic! An Intellectual Response to Swine Flu · Our Grandfather · The Necessity to Struggle / The Futility of Effort · It's About a YouTuber with Cancer · Let's Talk About Death

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