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Me from the Past: A Pizzamas Miracle

2020-10-13 (said on 2020-10-05 — implied: date said in the video; uploaded 8 days later) · letter vlog · John · 3:59 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Philosophy & meaning (also: US politics & society, Internet & YouTube) · mode: Personal essay · tags: calendar ritual, timely hook, community lore, self promotion

Filming on October 5, 2020 for upload eight days later while he is away from all devices, John makes predictions about the viewers' present (weather, COVID cases, shirt sales, AFC Wimbledon, the debate, social media) and argues that predictions say more about the present than the future; what frightens him are the unknown unknowns.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — The Pizzamas mustache returns; the video was filmed in the past while John is away from devices for 72 hours

  • ★★ John announces his mustache is back, a Pizzamas miracle, adding that not all miracles are good. (playful) — 00:00:00 · Pizzamas
  • ★★ The video was filmed in the past because John is scheduled to be away from his computer and all electronic devices for about 72 hours, his longest such break since around 2006. — 00:00:00

00:00:29 — Pizzamas ad; John is filming on October 5, eight days before upload, to predict the viewers' present

  • ★★ John asks viewers to get Pizzamas gear at pizzamas.com, available only for a few more days, with all proceeds going to charity. — 00:00:29 · Pizzamas
  • ★★ John is filming in the late morning of October 5, 2020, eight days before upload, to predict the viewers' present, and expects his predictions to be pretty terrible. — 00:00:29

00:00:58 — Predictions from data, partial data and scheduled events: weather, COVID cases, shirt sales, AFC Wimbledon, the debate, Trump's hospitalization

  • ★★ Using modeling and data, John predicts that on upload day it is unseasonably warm in Indianapolis. — 00:00:58 · Indianapolis
  • ★★ On 5 October 2020, John predicts that US newly diagnosed COVID cases the day before upload were higher than a week earlier, probably by around 10 to 12%. (hedged) — 00:00:58 · COVID-19 pandemic, United States
  • ★★ On 5 October 2020, John predicts about 40 people will buy the Pizza John shirt on upload day, and tells viewers not to be afraid to beat that expectation. (playful, hedged) — 00:01:27 · Pizza John
  • ★★ On 5 October 2020, with some data but not enough, John guesses AFC Wimbledon might eke out a draw against Swindon Town based on current form. (speculative) — 00:01:27 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★ On 5 October 2020, from scheduled events, John suspects the upcoming presidential debate is being much discussed in the viewers' present. (hedged) — 00:01:27
  • ★★ John notes the main news on the morning he films: the US President has been hospitalized for COVID, and many people close to him caught it after indoor maskless gatherings. — 00:01:56 · Donald Trump, COVID-19 pandemic, United States
  • ★★ John suspects that news, very big to him, will not feel big to viewers eight days later because news cycles are moving much faster. (hedged) — 00:01:56 · Donald Trump

00:02:26 — Vague predictions that are always right: social media dumpster fires and feeds that feed fear

  • ★★ On 5 October 2020, among vague predictions that are always accurate, John predicts Twitter, Reddit and Facebook will be dumpster fires he can't stop refreshing unless he physically leaves the internet. (playful) — 00:02:26 · Twitter, Reddit, Facebook
  • ★★★ On 5 October 2020, John predicts the platforms will keep recognizing that usage rises with uncertainty and fear, so the feeds they show us will increase that uncertainty and fear. — 00:02:26 · attention economy, recommender system
  • ★★ On 5 October 2020, John predicts that we will feel there is cause for alarm. — 00:02:26
  • ★★ On 5 October 2020, John also predicts that there will be cause for alarm. — 00:02:26

00:02:55 — Predictions say more about the present; unknown unknowns, like a football season with no football, make the future hard to look at

  • ★★ John says we'll be left wondering whether algorithms wanting us scared, to capture and monetize our attention, came before or after our political, social and economic instability. (unsure) — 00:02:55 · attention economy
  • ★★★ John says all these predictions say more about the present he lives in than about the future the viewers live in. — 00:02:55
  • ★★★ What freaks John out about the future is not the things he knows he doesn't know, like the AFC Wimbledon score, but the unknown unknowns. — 00:02:55 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★ In November 2019 John could never have imagined AFC Wimbledon would win no game in April 2020, not from poor play but because there was no football. — 00:03:24 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★ That makes the future really hard for John to look at right now, so he is trying not to look at it much. — 00:03:24

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: unknown unknowns

Also: People: Donald Trump

Projects: Pizzamas

Organizations: AFC Wimbledon · Facebook · Reddit · Swindon Town FC · Twitter

Terms: Pizza John

Concepts: attention economy · moustache · recommender system

Places: Indianapolis · United States

Events: 2020 United States presidential debates · COVID-19 pandemic

Also centred on unknown unknowns: John Predicts the Future!

Later videos replying to this one