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The People I Hate Most in the World

2024-05-31 · letter vlog · Hank · 4:51 · watch on YouTube

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

Hank contrasts the bonkers good Crash Course has done with the more compelling pull of hating powerful people online, which he admits he does though it does no good, and pitches the 2024 Crash Course coins that keep Crash Course free by having those who can pay, pay.

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 keep thanking Crash Course; the good it has done and the people behind it

  • ★★ Watching a John Oliver clip on YouTube about dark sides of some homeschooling, Hank found a comment saying Crash Course had really helped someone homeschooled in a particular situation. — 00:00:00 · YouTube, Crash Course
  • ★★ Hank says nice comments about Crash Course keep popping up: search Twitter for Crash Course and AP and you can scroll forever. — 00:00:00 · Crash Course, Twitter
  • ★★ People come up to Hank in public to tell him he helped them pass a class, an AP exam, nursing school or A-levels. — 00:00:29
  • ★★ Hank is a little sad that most people responsible for Crash Course (writers, artists, editors, experts, fundraisers, producers) hear this less than he does, since their faces aren't on it. — 00:00:29 · Crash Course
  • ★★★ Hank says the good Crash Course has done in the world is bonkers and the work, thought and care put into it are off the charts. — 00:00:29 · Crash Course

00:00:58 — Why the title: hating people on the internet is more compelling, rewarded and useless than doing good

  • ★★★ Explaining the title, Hank says being amazed that a few people made something internationally impactful for teachers and students is somehow much less compelling than hating people on the internet. — 00:00:58 · Crash Course
  • ★★★ Hank admits he has this problem too: there is a certain kind of powerful person on the internet he cannot stand, and he spends a not insignificant amount of time disliking them. — 00:01:27
  • ★★ Hank finds it weird: he doesn't enjoy disliking them and it shouldn't take time, yet he will listen to a two-hour podcast on reasons to dislike someone he already dislikes. (playful) — 00:01:27
  • ★★★ Hank says that, as far as he can tell, disliking them does no good, while he has many opportunities right in front of him for actually doing good. — 00:01:56
  • ★★★ Hank says a tweet or video tearing down people he dislikes would win many likes, views and shares, candy for a candy brain, plus clout in his in-group, and would feel really good. — 00:01:56 · Twitter, attention economy
  • ★★★ Hank says he does not think anyone would ever tell him a mean tweet helped them through a tough time, nor that a nurse during his cancer treatment would say a brutal takedown video of his helped them through nursing school. — 00:02:26 · cancer
  • ★★★ Hank is pretty sure there is zero chance that being mad on the internet could be better for the world than spending time helping Crash Course exist. — 00:02:26 · Crash Course

00:02:55 — The 2024 Crash Course coins, five cents per learner, why Crash Course stays free, Patreon and the secret patron coin

  • ★★ Hank says he must work internally to understand why he gets so wrapped up in disliking specific people, but regardless wants to keep focusing on things that matter more, almost everything else he does. — 00:02:55
  • ★★★ Hank invites viewers who think Crash Course's work by dozens of people is worth more than YouTube ads deliver, and who can help, to buy one of three coins. — 00:02:55 · Crash Course, YouTube, Crash Course coin
  • ★★★ Hank says Crash Course spends around five cents for every learner it reaches, which is the currency of the coins. — 00:03:24 · Crash Course, Crash Course coin
  • ★★ Hank lists the coins, expensive by design: a copper 2,000-learner coin for $100, a bimetallic 10,000-learner coin for $500, and a $1,000 laser-anodized titanium coin reaching 20,000 learners. — 00:03:24 · Crash Course coin
  • ★★★ Hank thinks Crash Course could charge much more than five cents per person but doesn't want to, and that it could never have succeeded had it charged in the first place. — 00:03:53 · Crash Course
  • ★★★ To people asking why Crash Course does not start charging now that the brand is built, Hank says they want it free for everyone forever, which works only if people who can pay, pay so those who cannot do not have to. — 00:03:53 · Crash Course
  • ★★ Hank points viewers who want to give a different amount to the Crash Course Patreon linked in the description. — 00:04:22 · Crash Course
  • ★★ Hank says there is also a secret patron coin, available only to people reaching their three-year anniversary as Crash Course patrons. — 00:04:22 · Crash Course coin, Crash Course
  • ★★ Hank is proud of the Crash Course team's work over the years, proud to have been part of it, and proud to support them, including by getting his own coin. — 00:04:22 · Crash Course, Crash Course coin

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Threads in this video

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Mentioned

Central: Crash Course · Crash Course coin · moral outrage

Also: Advanced Placement exams · attention economy · cancer · homeschooling · John Oliver · Patreon · Twitter · YouTube

Also centred on moral outrage: Addicted to Outrage · Feeling Thankful in Portland · Crime and Outrage · Ending the Age of Outrage (at least in ourselves, if not in the world) · I Keep Thinking About Taylor Swift · I'm Scared of 2024...So Here's 3 Optimistic Thoughts

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