Changing Our Business a Bit

2016-10-07 · announcement · Hank · 3:39 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Projects (also: Nerdfighteria) · mode: Personal essay · tags: community lore, self promotion

Hank reflects that ten years and 1,400 videos of public experiments made him a kinder person and showed that imagining others and the world complexly is what the brothers do, so their production company, until now EcoGeek, is renamed Complexly.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Ten years, 1,400 chances to try something new, judged publicly; duds and hits (The Brain Scoop, Crash Course)

• ★★ Hank says the brothers are really lucky: over the last ten years they have had 1,400 chances to try something new, and tried something new in every video. — 00:00:03 · Vlogbrothers
• ★★ Hank lists past experiments: he humped things, John ate toilet paper, Hank sang songs, and they went to the developing world. (playful) — 00:00:15 · John Green
• ★★ Hank says these public attempts were judged by views, audiences, their own enjoyment, friends and family, and comments; many were duds, some amazing. — 00:00:21
• ★★ Hank says a video with someone he met at a tiny Missoula research museum led to The Brain Scoop, and their French Revolution and circulatory-system videos led to Crash Course. — 00:00:42 · Missoula, Montana, The Brain Scoop, Crash Course

00:00:58 — How the audience's kind judgement made Hank a kinder, more compassionate person

• ★★★ Hank says thousands of chances to figure out who he is before people he respects, and their kind judgement, made him a kinder, more enthusiastic, more compassionate person. — 00:00:58 · Nerdfighteria, SciShow, Crash Course
• ★★ Hank says evolving their content also evolved them, clearing up what he really cares about: it helped him find himself. — 00:01:16

00:01:27 — Themes that emerged: 'imagine others complexly', its Wikipedia page, imagining the world complexly in all their content

• ★★★ Hank says themes emerged, formats and ideas; the most important was when John distilled what the world needs into three words: 'imagine others complexly'. — 00:01:27 · imagine others complexly, John Green

  “imagine others complexly”

• ★★★ Hank says imagining others complexly is really hard, but whenever he does it he feels better and is better. — 00:01:53 · imagine others complexly

• ★★ Hank says the idea 'imagine others complexly' has its own Wikipedia page, part of Wikipedia's essays on civility, which he finds unusual and amazing. — 00:01:58 · Wikipedia, imagine others complexly
• ★★★ Hank extends the idea from people to the whole world: we must imagine the world in its complexity, as a lifelong opportunity rather than a burden. — 00:02:09
• ★★ Hank says appreciation of the world's complexity runs through all their content, and when a future project lacks it he finds he doesn't want to make it. — 00:02:20

00:02:47 — The company behind the content: from EcoGeek to Complexly, and why

• ★★ Hank explains their content company has been called EcoGeek after the blog he started in 2005, the reason for his first company, an LLC; the name no longer really applies. — 00:02:47 · EcoGeek
• ★★★ Hank announces that this week (week of 3 October 2016), after years of failing to settle on a name, the company that produces their content is renamed Complexly. — 00:03:10 · Complexly, EcoGeek

• ★★★ Hank gives the name's reasons: the world is not simple, we will never fully understand the universe, each other or ourselves, the process matters as much as the outcome, and they want to help others imagine complexly. — 00:03:18 · Complexly

  “the more you know, the more wonderful knowing becomes.”

00:03:37 — Sign-off

Threads in this video

• callback · Humpy Hank: Nerdfighter animations of Hank humping things (2011) — Hank recalls that sometimes he humped things, among the brothers' past experiments. (00:00:15)
• looked back · The Brain Scoop: Emily Graslie's YouTube show from the Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum (2012) — Hank recalls that a video he made with a person met at a tiny Missoula research museum led to The Brain Scoop. (00:00:42) → refers to Thoughts from Dead Animals
• looked back · Crash Course: launch of the brothers' educational channel (2011) — Hank recalls that the brothers' videos on the French Revolution and the circulatory system led to Crash Course. (00:00:47)
• restate · Can we imagine other people complexly, and what stops us? — Hank calls John's 'imagine others complexly' a distillation of what the world needs: really hard, but doing it makes him feel and be better; their company is renamed Complexly partly to help others imagine complexly. (00:01:45)
• restate · Why make things? — Hank says appreciation of the world's complexity is what he wants to make; projects without it he doesn't want to do. (00:02:27)
• launched · Complexly: the brothers' production company, renamed from EcoGeek (2016) — Hank announces that the company producing the brothers' content, called EcoGeek after his 2005 blog, is renamed Complexly this week (week of 3 October 2016). (00:03:10)
• retold · Hank tours the Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum with volunteer guide Emily (2012) — Hank says a video with someone he met at a tiny Missoula research museum led to The Brain Scoop, and their French Revolution and circulatory-system videos led to Crash Course. (00:00:42)

Where the stories that moved here went next

• Complexly: the brothers' production company, renamed from EcoGeek (2016) — running; last: looked back, 2026-07-03

Mentioned

Central: Complexly · EcoGeek · imagine others complexly

Also: People: Emily Graslie

Projects: Crash Course · SciShow · The Brain Scoop

Organizations: Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum · Wikipedia

Concepts: circulatory system

Places: Missoula, Montana

Events: French Revolution

Also centred on imagine others complexly: On Loving One Another or Dying

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