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Are We The Same Person?

2021-05-07 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:55 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Personal life (also: Books & writing, Philosophy & meaning) · mode: Personal essay

Finding that many people think he and John are the same person, Hank argues this isn't all bad: their different skills and shared identity make the partnership work, John's success (like his new book) feels like his own, and imagining oneself as more than one person reflects what humans are.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — People think the brothers are the same person; different skills and a shared identity in their partnership

  • ★★ Hank searched Twitter for four words (Hank, John, Green and same) and found that a lot of people think he and John are the same person. — 00:00:00 · Twitter
  • ★★★ Hank argues that being confused for one person isn't all bad, and that they might actually be a little bit the same person. (hedged) — 00:00:00
  • ★ Hank says Ciara put it well with 'wow he is so versatile', something he would love both to be and to have people think of him. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • ★★ In Alexandre Daly's analytics, the most viewed videos are more likely Hank's, while the best like-to-dislike ratios are almost always John's. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ The brothers have different skills and are energized by different things: John often reins Hank in, while Hank often draws John out. — 00:00:47 · John Green
  • ★★★ Different interests and skills are why people work together, and working together is greatly helped by a shared identity. — 00:00:47
  • ★★★ With careers, community and content tied together for so long, the brothers share an identity Hank finds really healthy: one's success is the other's success. — 00:01:18
  • ★★ Some may find this weird, but Hank bets that historically the opposite is weird: counting only one's own success as one's success. (hedged) — 00:01:18

00:01:47 — Reading John's new book and experiencing his success simply, as one's own

  • ★★ When John succeeds Hank feels no competition, because it feels like his own success, even better than his own. — 00:01:47
  • ★★ Hank got John's book in the mail, leafed through it for Easter eggs, then started reading and read a lot of it in an hour, surprised how easily it sucked him in. — 00:01:47 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (book)
  • ★★ Hank imagines them as sharing much identity, yet there is a lot about John he doesn't know. — 00:02:12
  • ★★ The book's biggest sensation for Hank is that it feels like a success, not his own, yet he feels really good about it. — 00:02:12 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (book)
  • ★★★ When you are connected enough to someone, you experience their success simply, while they weigh it in complicated ways and diminish their own accomplishments. — 00:02:12

00:02:52 — Being an individual is hard; identity shared with family; humans as more than one person; sign-off

  • ★★★ Hank calls John's book unlike any other book, doing something extremely hard, and says John is really good at this. — 00:02:52 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (book)
  • ★ Hank says it would be awesome if someday people think he wrote the book and that John made science videos. (playful) — 00:02:52
  • ★★★ Being an individual is really hard and constant, so knowing that in some people's heads he isn't one is a bit of a relief. — 00:02:52
  • ★★★ Hank shares his identity with John, his parents, his wife and his son, and often imagines himself as more than one person, which he thinks reflects what humans really are. — 00:03:42 · Katherine Green, Orin Green

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says the more Hank's identity is tied to small groups he knows well, the happier he is; tying it to large groups like 'YouTubers', or only to himself, was bad. — video description

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: personal identity

Also: individualism · Katherine Green · Orin Green · The Anthropocene Reviewed (book) · Twitter

Only in the description or credits: Alexandre Daly

Also centred on personal identity: We're all Scared · The Space Time Continuum: Thoughts from Dublin · Becoming Someone Else · Who Am I?! - Some thoughts on Personal Identity · Can You Ever Really Change? · NOW I AM THE SCIENCE ONE…

Later videos replying to this one