I feel like that line -- "If there aren't a lot of stories about that thing, it becomes really hard to want it" -- perfectly verbalizes why you and John have appealed to me and so many others as role models over the years. We look up to you because it makes us *want* to be more empathetic and to imagine others complexly. It's not that we wouldn't otherwise, but being a part of this community, being surrounded by other Nerdfighters who value the same thing makes us *want* to want to be a certain kind of person. Thank you
This verbalized a habit I've had that's led me to a ton of new hobbies and interests. When I want to want to learn or do something I go on a hunt for all the content related to that which interests me, and it motivates me to get started - OR vice versa, where I somehow fall down a rabbit hole of hyperfocusing on that topic until I think "hey, i want to know how to do that." It's an interesting idea that I could apply this to other things... could I consume more content that values kindness, friendship, reflection, mindfulness, etc until i start thinking along those lines too...? probably. Brb need to experiment
Want to value your time? Andrew Kirby. Want to value kindness and understanding? Special Books by Special Kids. Want to value wisdom and philosophy? PhilosophyTube, Pursuit of Wonder, Exurb1a. Want to value learning? Scishow, Veritasium, Crashcourse, Khan Academy, Tom Scot, Kurzgesagt. Want to value humor? Ryan George, Gus Johnson, Ian Kun, Filthy Frank, Sora the Troll.
And this is why it's such a good thing that of today there are so many great educational channels on TH-cam, for the world will always be in dire need of young folk wishing to become scientists. Kudos to Hank in this regard, as well as to so many others.
@Manek Iridius the comment was literally an observation, of course what kind of content we interact with/consume helps shape our views on things. unnecessary reply
I often find it useful to separate "wanting", "liking", and "endorsing", (for "feel a pull towards", "enjoy at the time", and "think is a good thing") I want to drink coke, and I like it, but I don't endorse it. I clearly want to scroll social media, but I don't really like it or endorse it. I often don't want to socialise, but almost always like it, and I endorse it. etc. Talking about everything as 'want' gets confusing
If you ever say to yourself, "I don't want anything. Nothing seems fun or appealing", take that as a sign you might want to talk to a professional about possible depression.
Whoa, I'm comparing what you are saying about this sign of depression to what Hank said. My initial thought is like, does this mean that you have to want things in order not to be depressed? (I was shocked because I thought you were talking about materialism alone) But I get what you are saying, apathy and seeing general pointlessness is a sign someone is deadening themselves.
I'd wait until it's a fairly persistent state. More than a couple of weeks of saying it every day to yourself, and absent any possible major stressors or grief. I know, most folks are convinced it can be hurt to get help, but there are more and more lately who wonder if we aren't corporately experiencing something like secondary depression. In any case, you raise a really, really good point. Not wanting anything is definitely part of depression. If we keep at not wanting, or not letting ourselves want what we want (or what we want to want), we could very well get stuck in that non-wanting space.
@@FroehligGirlzI know from experience that it’s better to reach out ASAP. Head them off at the start because the longer you wait the harder it is to get out of it. Address it while it’s lapping at your ankles not your neck.
@@BlackMasterRoshi As it turns out, the project to decrease infant and maternal mortality in Sierra Leone *does* include a birth control/family planning option! Part of the Maternal Center of Excellence that Partners in Health and Nerdfighteria are collaborating on is going to include contraception. Allowing the women of Sierra Leone to make the right choices for them and their families is part of decreasing the number of moms and babies who die, as is health screening, monitoring for pregnancy related health complications, a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and things like education and community outreach. If you'd like an introduction to the scope of the project, you can watch John's video here: th-cam.com/video/BXBFJ5JsWXM/w-d-xo.html
In response to insight number 2, I just worked with my therapist to provide a justification for things that I *should do* so I can actually have a purpose to do said thing other than some nebulous obligation. Rather than waking up and thinking “I have to get out of bed to work out today because I really should” I frame it as “I want to work out because I always feel better afterwards and it makes me stronger so I can lift things without feeling like I have the upper body strength of a pea.” This justification provides more motivation than simply feeling like I *should* do something.
AND... I get distracted by the thought-image of a Pea actively bodybuilding... in the hilarity, I'm too breathless from laughter to manage to lift a damn thing... and now everybody's staring... and someone's probably going to get help. ;o)
This is very helpful IMO. I struggle with self-discipline and will commonly play video games instead of working on schoolwork. The constant beration of "I should be doing my paper right now..." really wore me down. One of my friends told me to say, " I want to do my paper now because ____." It has helped a little, but video games are really addicting.
@@kolt9051 These insights are great, and I'm stoked to give them a try! I feel you on the video game issue so much. I've gotten much better with it over the past couple years, through developing an interest in rock climbing. Never did feel motivated going through school when the only justification for doing anything was, "You've just got to.", so now that I'm a bit older and have some perspective on life, I'm sure I can actually put together some personally meaningful justifications for getting schoolwork out of the way :) RE: gaming, I'd recommend you check out a channel on here called HealthyGamer.GG -- harvard-trained psychologist talks about video game addiction and how to tackle life challenges and such.
@@kolt9051 I feel you on the gaming thing! 🤗 Video games are full of something I think about these days as "brain ping." They're not a bad hobby! It just can be particularly hard to stop sometimes when you want to. This kinda unfairly paints a shame target on them -- "look at this useless thing you keep wasting time on!! WOW you suck!!!" -- when tbh, usually you really _do_ need the ping on some level. Games are just the familiar, safe place you know you can reliably get it. For me, I've found it helpful to diversify where I'm getting my "ping" from. Other activities like idk, listening to music or drawing or running or whatever. If I don't rely solely on gaming (or any other single thing tbh), that negative association of it with being "unproductive" lessens. That then helps me to remember that that bad feeling because I "wasted time" is what's really wasting my time. 🧡
@@kolt9051 I’m glad It has helped you somewhat! It hasn’t magically transformed my work ethic either but it’s good to keep in mind. I wish you the best with school!
The flip side to this in terms of "consuming content increases wanting" is that "consuming content increases wanting and decreases doing". For instance, the more I look at knitting patterns, knitting influencers, knitting instagrams, the more I want to knit, but the less knitting I actually do. Same can be said for things like making art. This has more to do with the modern experience of content at our fingertips than it does with the desire to change what you want, but it's still a hole I find myself in all the time.
👆🏼 Oh Yeah!!! I want to do art and cooking and sewing and making jewellery and I now know so much more about them but do so much less because I don't want to miss the latest info/inspiration and that leaves me no time to actually *do*
Yep, that's me today with my language studying. Watching lots of videos about how to learn language, doing very little to study that language in particular.
It would be interesting to introduce him to Buddhism, but I fear doing so might interrupt their remarkable productivity which, on the whole, I would say is a benefit to humanity. Perhaps he is finding dharma through hyperactivity?
I had an experience with the barrier of want recently. I've been working as a hospital nurse for two years and have been encouraged by other nurses and administrators to apply for positions as charge nurse and eventually administration, and I used to have genuine panic attacks about the fact that just thinking about working those jobs made me feel such immense stress, but that I should want them because the encouragement was flattering and that was the path of successful, competent nurses and I wanted to be a successful, competent nurse. It took remembering that I hadn't even wanted to be a hospital nurse in the first place to lead me to deciding that I didn't have to want things that weren't going to make me happy, which was a hugely liberating feeling.
I have a completely different career but I have the same experience! I am a designer and the marketing manager I work under has quit twice now and they have offered the job to me twice. Everyone tells me to take the job because "technically" it's a step up. But the job is completely different and I don't want to manage people, I want to create things. I don't have to want to climb this "ladder" if the next rung up doesn't make me happy.
Serious question even though I know your comment was joking. Does Buddhism say not to want, or just to be happy with what you have? Because those are two very different things even though they may seem the same at first. I don't think Buddhism tells you not to want anything at all ever, because as Hank points out, you don't want to stop wanting to live and spend time with your family and such.
superbubbleaquapower. It says not to want. Advanced practitioners seeking Nirvana within this life take vows of poverty and celibacy. It’s worth noting that the Buddha himself abandoned his family in order to find enlightenment. Most of what goes by the name of ‘Buddhism’ in the west is really just cultural appropriation by people who want a religion, but think Christianity/Islam is icky, so they just sprinkle Buddhist imagery into some some kind of secular humanism for flavor. Real buddhists believe in reincarnation, bodhisattvas, the literal reality of a perfected human state called Nirvana, etc. the Dali Lama is an example of this. And to be honest my original comment wasn’t really a joke. The entire thrust of this video is in direct contradiction with the teachings of the Buddha. This is true for virtually all Western ideology.
Ar-.. Are you guys... Aware of my life situations..? Because this applies to me in this moment in my life so much. And I needed to hear a human I trust tell me this. Thank you.
A big part of the reason I loved being homeschooled. The diversity of interests and wants was very natural for me and other homeschooler I know because there was no real sense of "normal" wants.
I mean you're still getting fed social norms through media, but that is admittedly less direct them some bully making fun of you for something you're into.
We need to find a way to translate this into public schools. Child directed education is so much more successful than teacher/administrator/policy driven education.
This was an especially good one. You packed a lot of philosophy into instantly-digestible terms, which is much harder than it might sound. I really admire the both of you.
@@salma-amlas Depends on what exactly you're wanting to look into, but personally I might recommend looking up the Thomistic Institute's TH-cam videos on the philosophy of habits. Their videos are pretty easily accessible and might get you started on whatever it is you want to study more :) th-cam.com/video/Evisxy9Lrp8/w-d-xo.html
This is actually the reason I uninstalled TikTok today. I found I was wanting more and more TikTok (and yours are quite interesting Hank) and that it was getting in the way of wanting other things that I wanted to want more. It became a distraction more than a benefit and so I am forcing myself to move away from it in the hopes that I get to want what I want more often.
ME TOO. I also found that the content I engaged in was usually negative, like I’d get stuck reading the comments on a controversial post and it would be a cycle of constantly being upset. I’m trying to spend less time on social media
This channel is consistently so good at making me realize the significance of things I haven't stopped to think about. Thank you for the continuous thoughtful content.
I feel like I'm going to have to break out some math notation to get my head around it. What you want to want is the first derivative of want, what you want to want to want is the second derivative, maybe you could optimize your wants with some calculus... I really appreciate this, it's a great way of thinking and you put it so well.
You seem like a nice kind person. Who values working in a prosocial environment. You might be overthinking it. Have you thought of writing things down? I do definitely agree with having an awareness of what you want/do not want. Asking yourself questions as to how come you want that? Or get in contact with someone who has the skills you are aspiring to. Embrace uncertainty. Writing can slow the brain down, not a health professional or psychologist, it seems to have done the trick. Accept yourself true statements, rather than putting yourself down which are false statements.
I've been thinking about this a lot recently, especially in tandem with Locard's Principle: "When two objects touch, they each transfer a little bit to each other." (Otherwise known as the fundamental principle behind modern forensic science.) So when you start participating in a new community, that community rubs off on you, so your desires change a little bit to reflect that community. But if you put feelers into the community, then it can change as well to act a little more like you.
Maybe learning about sleep and its benefits for your health, creativity, social skills etc would help? I read the book "Why We Sleep" by Dr. Matthew Walker over the summer and it definitely made me want to adopt healthier sleep habits when I was done with it (although maybe I need to read it again....)
honestly the tactic hank employs in this video actual did help shift my feelings toward sleep. i wanna say i listened to an episode of "the drive with peter attia" where he interviews a sleep researcher from berkeley. then i started reading related research. it wasnt exactly helpful being a sleep deprived grad student and hearing how much sleep destroys my brain...but i was able to shift the desire to sleep onto my desire to perform well in the gym, and change what i actually wanted to do at 9pm every night to getting ready for bed
I've been thinking about this a lot lately. There's a lot of things I want in life, but they often get swallowed up by more immediate wants like taking a nap or something.
Also just the fact of wanting is amazing. For so many years I was in such a bad place I didn’t want anything. Nothing was enjoyable so there was nothing to wish for. Now there are so many things I want and every time I get closer to one of those things I am so happy. I love wanting.
"Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change." Looking more actively at the problems of staying the same and the benefits of changing will pain you more. Bada bing bada boom
Been thinking a lot about why the content I’ve been consuming has made me feel worse about myself even though I enjoy the content?? And this was actually super eye opening?? So thanks Hank
Wow. I think this is something I inherently knew...but would never have communicated it in this way. What a great reminder to be aware of what I'm putting in my brain.Thanks, Hank.
This sounds a lot like what they were talking about on SciShow Tangents about how the more you observe something the better you are at recognizing patterns and details within that thing. This whole concept seems so simple and obvious, but it blew my mind to hear it actually said out loud. Maybe I'll actually be able to stick to a New Years resolution or two next year.
"The most successful people in our society are kind of the least interesting. They're just really good at going after the default things society is telling them to want." I feel so validated. Thank you, Hank, for putting something I've been thinking about for a while into words.
@@ShirinRose Don't worry. You'll awake the next morning to find that nothing's really changed. It'll still feel kinda strange to refer to yourself as an 'adult'.
The internet has definitely helped me with this. As I grew up I realised that I didn't want most of the default things I've been told everyone in my society wants. And so I started looking for people who lived alternative lives. And as I started down that path it opened me to so many experiences and helped me shape my wants into things that felt more true to myself. Also on a simpler note? If I want to want to clean my apartment for example, I'll watch a video of someone cleaning and gain motivation from that, and it's usually enough to get me started. The content I consume affects me in both the short and long term.
"By spending time doing it, I'm teaching myself a story about the value of those things." Wow, that made visualizing my priorities a lot easier. I need to reconsider how I'm spending my time. Thank you.
One of the more valuable lessons I had growing up in church was that what you pay attention to forms you. It's something that I learned young, but still need reminding of.
The ad that ran immediately after this video finished started with the line "want to learn new skills?" and I have never been asked such a loaded question
"By spending time doing [something, it teaches you] a story about the value of those things.' That was a profound hidden gem I wanted to point out. This is amazing. I feel like this just changed my life. I literally took notes lol
i was finally able to stop wanting to be a perfect student and start this year’s mental breakdown of reinvention when i watched Hank’s “Rough Advice for the Real World” this video was part of the catalyst that changed my life, my brain, and the shedding of many mental health problems that were really just coping mechanisms. content is everything.
I literally just wrote a scholarship essay on how Crash Course allowed me to explore my interests and find out what I really want to do in life... Thank you so much. Hank, John, and the whole crash course team, you’ve truly changed my life
this channel is a perfect example of what you’re talking about for me. when i watch a ton of your videos here, or on crash course and others, it makes me in the long run value thinking critically. when i watch, let’s say, a bunch of youtuber drama channels,it makes me value knowing what’s going on in that sphere a lot more
I have a theory that falls in a similar vein, cleaning your bedroom can have dramatic effects on the rest of your life. Consider that if your room is a mess and the first decision of the day, whether conscious or not, is to look at the mess and decide to ignore it or push it off to later. Setting precedent for the rest of the day to continue to ignore or push off things that need attention.
@@dogshiin if only it were so easy, my life slowly falls into disarray and I lose motivation to do most of anything if my room is left a mess for to long.
I saw this clearly when I started watching weight loss videos on TH-cam. My path to finding them was: cooking videos>>healthy cooking>weight loss. Purely algorithmic. I'd never thought about weight much before, and suddenly I was brought into this world where wanting to weigh less was presented as objectively desirable. For like 5 months I really, really cared about weight loss. And then I stopped watching those videos, and I didn't care at all anymore, and it was very odd to so clearly see my values snap back into their default position like that.
This is what I found with New Year's resolutions. I can't wait for a day to start doing something I want. Instead if I identify that I want to do something that's going to be beneficial I need to just start doing it. Otherwise you keep making excuses for putting it off.
This is one of those Hank videos where if you tune out for a millionth of a millisecond you lose track of what he's talking about completely and have to skip back
There's way better cola out there than coca cola. I don't know if they sell Red Bull Cola around where you live, but if you get the chance try it. It's the best cola I had so far (and I had a lot of them). And no, it's not Red Bull and cola. It's simply cola made by Red Bull.
i started making my own juices from diffrent fruits during lockdown. now suddenly I feel less pleasure from carbonated sodas than from fresh and sweet fruit water, it is so much more refreshing...
I feel like you've unlocked a forbidden piece of knowledge that I've always experienced but didn't know how to explain. This is awesome, I love a good thought-provoking video
Definitely agree with the causal chain of change what you do -> want more of that thing, but also think there are intrinsic things that cause us to want particular things.
Subconsciously we know this is how we operate. Most people focus on wanting something boring in their life to achieve their goals at some time. But most people conveniently choose to forget how they go there once they get there. Because life happens and you don't want to keep going on a lonely road anymore. Thank you Hank for this video. You and John keep reminding everyone that there is always more to achieve in the future. and it is worth achieving not only for your sake but for all the people.
I love this. I've found myself becoming interested in things because I consume a lot of content related to them (like reptiles), and I've also intentionally tried to recreate that phenomenon by consuming a lot of content related to things I want to become more invested in (like economics). This has led me to realize that there is a big deficit of high quality economics education, both on TH-cam and in general. That, mixed with my interest in science communication from nerdfighteria, has led me to work on making econ education more engaging and available! I hope to be able to create something that helps people, and honestly, this a goal I really want to want.
Oh so timely! I once spent all my time watching educational content. I wanted to engage with that type of communication more than anything. So started an educational channel. I loved it! I wanted to make things! But being an educational content creator consumed ALL my time. I couldn’t watch the content that made me want to make videos in the first place. Recently, I’ve been wanting to want to make videos again. I’m still creating, but that deep, intense WANT to make the thing I love just isn’t there. I want it back. The other day, I happened to watch a video by one of the creators who’s inspired me the most. Hours later, I realised I had this little spark in the darkness: a spark of wanting to make videos again. I didn’t know how to fan it into a flame. I wanted to know how to, but didn’t have the tools. Of course I need to dedicate time to consuming the content that makes me want to make content! I’ve complicated this for myself as much as humanly possible, but the solution is so simple. Thank you for sharing your insight. I want to go watch some videos now. :)
I've actually really grown my interest in art by following more artists on social media and TH-cam. They keep reminding me to make more time to draw. It's a really nice feedback cycle when you use it with purpose!
@@Kobolds_in_a_trenchcoat It's not stated what you should drink. So it doesn't have to be shots; could be cola instead. But if I reconsider, this would probably kill you as well.
I am just finishing up a Coursera class and this is a major goal of the class. It’s called The Science of Well-Being, but its basically a class on how to live a happier life. Super useful and doable tips on how to change your wants. Highly recommend it!
Figuring out my wants has been quite challenging this year. However, I have found that through the community of Nerdfighteria I have been able to fulfill my wants. For example, I wanted to be in a D&D group and because of this community I now have something to look forward to every week. Thank you John and Hank for reminding me that I want to make a positive difference in the world and for giving me a community I can be part of. Also thank you for producing content that has inspired me to change my perspective and learn more about the world. Best wishes and DFTBA!
I feel like that line -- "If there aren't a lot of stories about that thing, it becomes really hard to want it" -- perfectly verbalizes why you and John have appealed to me and so many others as role models over the years. We look up to you because it makes us *want* to be more empathetic and to imagine others complexly. It's not that we wouldn't otherwise, but being a part of this community, being surrounded by other Nerdfighters who value the same thing makes us *want* to want to be a certain kind of person.
Thank you
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This is a really good explanation of how Vlogbrothers impacts its viewers... Or at least how it's impacted me 👉👈
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That verbalized my thoughts almost exactly. +
Hit the nail on the head there, to use an old English idiom. Hank and John are thoroughly decent chaps.
This verbalized a habit I've had that's led me to a ton of new hobbies and interests. When I want to want to learn or do something I go on a hunt for all the content related to that which interests me, and it motivates me to get started - OR vice versa, where I somehow fall down a rabbit hole of hyperfocusing on that topic until I think "hey, i want to know how to do that." It's an interesting idea that I could apply this to other things... could I consume more content that values kindness, friendship, reflection, mindfulness, etc until i start thinking along those lines too...? probably. Brb need to experiment
dude, I just watched your most recent video, then I came here and now i see this comment. hmmmm coincidental connections. ya make great videos!
@@puppypuppy14 hey thanks!! :)
+++ this is exactly how i am you out it into words so beautifully
Want to value your time? Andrew Kirby.
Want to value kindness and understanding? Special Books by Special Kids.
Want to value wisdom and philosophy? PhilosophyTube, Pursuit of Wonder, Exurb1a.
Want to value learning? Scishow, Veritasium, Crashcourse, Khan Academy, Tom Scot, Kurzgesagt.
Want to value humor? Ryan George, Gus Johnson, Ian Kun, Filthy Frank, Sora the Troll.
...Ris I like your videos :)
Oh look it's famous Tiktok star Hank Green
TikTok’s dad has graced TH-cam with his presence
*tiktok’s 40 year old gay aunt
So this is why my perspective on knowledge and learning has changed after joining Nerdfighteria
And this is why it's such a good thing that of today there are so many great educational channels on TH-cam, for the world will always be in dire need of young folk wishing to become scientists. Kudos to Hank in this regard, as well as to so many others.
@Manek Iridius there’s no need to be like that
@Manek Iridius alright nietzsche 😂
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@Manek Iridius the comment was literally an observation, of course what kind of content we interact with/consume helps shape our views on things. unnecessary reply
I often find it useful to separate "wanting", "liking", and "endorsing", (for "feel a pull towards", "enjoy at the time", and "think is a good thing")
I want to drink coke, and I like it, but I don't endorse it.
I clearly want to scroll social media, but I don't really like it or endorse it.
I often don't want to socialise, but almost always like it, and I endorse it.
etc.
Talking about everything as 'want' gets confusing
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If you ever say to yourself, "I don't want anything. Nothing seems fun or appealing", take that as a sign you might want to talk to a professional about possible depression.
Yes this. It can also be a trauma/PTSD symptom
Whoa, I'm comparing what you are saying about this sign of depression to what Hank said. My initial thought is like, does this mean that you have to want things in order not to be depressed? (I was shocked because I thought you were talking about materialism alone) But I get what you are saying, apathy and seeing general pointlessness is a sign someone is deadening themselves.
I'd wait until it's a fairly persistent state. More than a couple of weeks of saying it every day to yourself, and absent any possible major stressors or grief. I know, most folks are convinced it can be hurt to get help, but there are more and more lately who wonder if we aren't corporately experiencing something like secondary depression. In any case, you raise a really, really good point. Not wanting anything is definitely part of depression. If we keep at not wanting, or not letting ourselves want what we want (or what we want to want), we could very well get stuck in that non-wanting space.
@@FroehligGirlzI know from experience that it’s better to reach out ASAP. Head them off at the start because the longer you wait the harder it is to get out of it.
Address it while it’s lapping at your ankles not your neck.
Oh
There's only one like button, so this one's getting a comment too
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Watching vlogbrothers make me want to decrease maternal mortality in Sierra Leone by buying socks so I guess that's a good thing?
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wouldn't it be better in the long term to promote contraception in sierra leone?
@@BlackMasterRoshi As it turns out, the project to decrease infant and maternal mortality in Sierra Leone *does* include a birth control/family planning option! Part of the Maternal Center of Excellence that Partners in Health and Nerdfighteria are collaborating on is going to include contraception. Allowing the women of Sierra Leone to make the right choices for them and their families is part of decreasing the number of moms and babies who die, as is health screening, monitoring for pregnancy related health complications, a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and things like education and community outreach. If you'd like an introduction to the scope of the project, you can watch John's video here: th-cam.com/video/BXBFJ5JsWXM/w-d-xo.html
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"By spending time doing it, I"m teaching myself a story about the value of those things!" Just WOW!
In response to insight number 2, I just worked with my therapist to provide a justification for things that I *should do* so I can actually have a purpose to do said thing other than some nebulous obligation. Rather than waking up and thinking “I have to get out of bed to work out today because I really should” I frame it as “I want to work out because I always feel better afterwards and it makes me stronger so I can lift things without feeling like I have the upper body strength of a pea.” This justification provides more motivation than simply feeling like I *should* do something.
AND... I get distracted by the thought-image of a Pea actively bodybuilding... in the hilarity, I'm too breathless from laughter to manage to lift a damn thing... and now everybody's staring... and someone's probably going to get help. ;o)
This is very helpful IMO. I struggle with self-discipline and will commonly play video games instead of working on schoolwork. The constant beration of "I should be doing my paper right now..." really wore me down. One of my friends told me to say, " I want to do my paper now because ____." It has helped a little, but video games are really addicting.
@@kolt9051 These insights are great, and I'm stoked to give them a try! I feel you on the video game issue so much. I've gotten much better with it over the past couple years, through developing an interest in rock climbing. Never did feel motivated going through school when the only justification for doing anything was, "You've just got to.", so now that I'm a bit older and have some perspective on life, I'm sure I can actually put together some personally meaningful justifications for getting schoolwork out of the way :) RE: gaming, I'd recommend you check out a channel on here called HealthyGamer.GG -- harvard-trained psychologist talks about video game addiction and how to tackle life challenges and such.
@@kolt9051 I feel you on the gaming thing! 🤗 Video games are full of something I think about these days as "brain ping." They're not a bad hobby! It just can be particularly hard to stop sometimes when you want to. This kinda unfairly paints a shame target on them -- "look at this useless thing you keep wasting time on!! WOW you suck!!!" -- when tbh, usually you really _do_ need the ping on some level. Games are just the familiar, safe place you know you can reliably get it.
For me, I've found it helpful to diversify where I'm getting my "ping" from. Other activities like idk, listening to music or drawing or running or whatever. If I don't rely solely on gaming (or any other single thing tbh), that negative association of it with being "unproductive" lessens. That then helps me to remember that that bad feeling because I "wasted time" is what's really wasting my time. 🧡
@@kolt9051 I’m glad It has helped you somewhat! It hasn’t magically transformed my work ethic either but it’s good to keep in mind. I wish you the best with school!
The flip side to this in terms of "consuming content increases wanting" is that "consuming content increases wanting and decreases doing". For instance, the more I look at knitting patterns, knitting influencers, knitting instagrams, the more I want to knit, but the less knitting I actually do. Same can be said for things like making art. This has more to do with the modern experience of content at our fingertips than it does with the desire to change what you want, but it's still a hole I find myself in all the time.
!!!!!! yes !!!!!!! this ! also me yes !!
👆🏼 Oh Yeah!!! I want to do art and cooking and sewing and making jewellery and I now know so much more about them but do so much less because I don't want to miss the latest info/inspiration and that leaves me no time to actually *do*
Yep, that's me today with my language studying. Watching lots of videos about how to learn language, doing very little to study that language in particular.
Ooooh didn't think about this, true!
Very true. I consumed a lot of videos about Mixed-Media and Art Journaling before I ever actually did much with it.
Barrier to want is a really interesting lens to understand how the cultural zeitgeist steers our interest
Zeitgeist, what a good word
this comment seems incredibly insightful but im not sure I understand it 😂👋
Do native english speakers really use the word "zeitgeist"?
Do native english speakers really use the word "zeitgeist"?
@@_the_ we do! Although to be fair, it's rarely used by people who aren't in honors English/higher ed settings
"you can't stop wanting and I'm not sure that I want to" - Hank Green
Almost sounds like it could be the next Hank Green song lyric! :D
It would be interesting to introduce him to Buddhism, but I fear doing so might interrupt their remarkable productivity which, on the whole, I would say is a benefit to humanity. Perhaps he is finding dharma through hyperactivity?
"passion is the result of action, not the cause of it" - which I guess also applies to the action of choosing where to use our attention
ooooooooooh that’s that’s that’s a good quote
just looked it up and WOAH that’s a mark Manson quote that makes sense
We don't have full control of that wandering eye though do we? Your attention is given over to what we worship
I had an experience with the barrier of want recently. I've been working as a hospital nurse for two years and have been encouraged by other nurses and administrators to apply for positions as charge nurse and eventually administration, and I used to have genuine panic attacks about the fact that just thinking about working those jobs made me feel such immense stress, but that I should want them because the encouragement was flattering and that was the path of successful, competent nurses and I wanted to be a successful, competent nurse. It took remembering that I hadn't even wanted to be a hospital nurse in the first place to lead me to deciding that I didn't have to want things that weren't going to make me happy, which was a hugely liberating feeling.
I have a completely different career but I have the same experience! I am a designer and the marketing manager I work under has quit twice now and they have offered the job to me twice. Everyone tells me to take the job because "technically" it's a step up. But the job is completely different and I don't want to manage people, I want to create things. I don't have to want to climb this "ladder" if the next rung up doesn't make me happy.
@@_SMAAAASH_ I do already know this. For the future, it's a good idea not to tell people about their own careers. It's patronizing.
“You can’t stop wanting”
-Hank Green, denier of Buddhism
Classic really
Serious question even though I know your comment was joking. Does Buddhism say not to want, or just to be happy with what you have? Because those are two very different things even though they may seem the same at first. I don't think Buddhism tells you not to want anything at all ever, because as Hank points out, you don't want to stop wanting to live and spend time with your family and such.
superbubbleaquapower. It says not to want. Advanced practitioners seeking Nirvana within this life take vows of poverty and celibacy. It’s worth noting that the Buddha himself abandoned his family in order to find enlightenment.
Most of what goes by the name of ‘Buddhism’ in the west is really just cultural appropriation by people who want a religion, but think Christianity/Islam is icky, so they just sprinkle Buddhist imagery into some some kind of secular humanism for flavor. Real buddhists believe in reincarnation, bodhisattvas, the literal reality of a perfected human state called Nirvana, etc. the Dali Lama is an example of this.
And to be honest my original comment wasn’t really a joke. The entire thrust of this video is in direct contradiction with the teachings of the Buddha. This is true for virtually all Western ideology.
@@mitchellmcgill138 That... is not what I thought it was. Thank you for explaining.
I was thinking the same thing lol. I’m glad someone else said it
Once I realized that the bean furby is in the background it was the only thing I could pay attention
It’s like right in the center of the screen too...
Dammit... XD
...what have you done
o no
I had this exact realization and came down to the comments section to leave this very comment. Unsettling furby is unsettling
This one is pretty thought provoking, I gotta rethink some sh*t.
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Damn I agree
+ me too dude
Ar-.. Are you guys... Aware of my life situations..?
Because this applies to me in this moment in my life so much. And I needed to hear a human I trust tell me this.
Thank you.
You're excellent talk Hank, reminded me of this " It is easy to confuse what is important with what is easy to measure".
Truth v fact
A big part of the reason I loved being homeschooled. The diversity of interests and wants was very natural for me and other homeschooler I know because there was no real sense of "normal" wants.
I mean you're still getting fed social norms through media, but that is admittedly less direct them some bully making fun of you for something you're into.
We need to find a way to translate this into public schools. Child directed education is so much more successful than teacher/administrator/policy driven education.
This was an especially good one. You packed a lot of philosophy into instantly-digestible terms, which is much harder than it might sound.
I really admire the both of you.
Hi, can you tell me where to read more about this? Like what philosophical terms I could look up?
Could you give examples of want you mean
@@salma-amlas Depends on what exactly you're wanting to look into, but personally I might recommend looking up the Thomistic Institute's TH-cam videos on the philosophy of habits. Their videos are pretty easily accessible and might get you started on whatever it is you want to study more :) th-cam.com/video/Evisxy9Lrp8/w-d-xo.html
This is actually the reason I uninstalled TikTok today. I found I was wanting more and more TikTok (and yours are quite interesting Hank) and that it was getting in the way of wanting other things that I wanted to want more. It became a distraction more than a benefit and so I am forcing myself to move away from it in the hopes that I get to want what I want more often.
ME TOO. I also found that the content I engaged in was usually negative, like I’d get stuck reading the comments on a controversial post and it would be a cycle of constantly being upset. I’m trying to spend less time on social media
hank describes in 3.5 minutes how i accidentally got into kpop
Same hahahaha
I've always told myself that I'll only be content in life when the list of things I want and the list of things I want to want are the same list
this is a great goal! I'll use it myself from now on :)
This reminds me of a quote from a web comic. "The key to happiness isn't getting what you want, but it's wanting the right things."
me thinking "oh, 3:36 won't derail me from my current work task" and here I am, 3:36 later, having an existential reawakening
For somebody who hates the letter “w” so much you sure used it a lot in vid
This channel is consistently so good at making me realize the significance of things I haven't stopped to think about. Thank you for the continuous thoughtful content.
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"Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants." - Epictetus
... I got an ad after the video that said “is this the kind of ad that makes you want a Reece’s? Yes it is.”
so this is why Nerdfighteria made me into a good person you taught me to want good things to want helping people and want other people's happiness
Something my therapist told me today: "don't wait for motivation, just do it. You might find that the motivation will come once you start"
No traction without action
This is gonna be one of those videos I come back to again at various points
I feel like I'm going to have to break out some math notation to get my head around it. What you want to want is the first derivative of want, what you want to want to want is the second derivative, maybe you could optimize your wants with some calculus...
I really appreciate this, it's a great way of thinking and you put it so well.
You seem like a nice kind person. Who values working in a prosocial environment. You might be overthinking it. Have you thought of writing things down? I do definitely agree with having an awareness of what you want/do not want. Asking yourself questions as to how come you want that? Or get in contact with someone who has the skills you are aspiring to. Embrace uncertainty. Writing can slow the brain down, not a health professional or psychologist, it seems to have done the trick. Accept yourself true statements, rather than putting yourself down which are false statements.
Being kind to yourself will help.
I've been thinking about this a lot recently, especially in tandem with Locard's Principle: "When two objects touch, they each transfer a little bit to each other." (Otherwise known as the fundamental principle behind modern forensic science.)
So when you start participating in a new community, that community rubs off on you, so your desires change a little bit to reflect that community. But if you put feelers into the community, then it can change as well to act a little more like you.
Hard for me to steer myself away from the want of just noodling on a guitar until 3am every night instead of... you know... sleeping.
THAT’S A WHOLE MOOD
Maybe learning about sleep and its benefits for your health, creativity, social skills etc would help? I read the book "Why We Sleep" by Dr. Matthew Walker over the summer and it definitely made me want to adopt healthier sleep habits when I was done with it (although maybe I need to read it again....)
honestly the tactic hank employs in this video actual did help shift my feelings toward sleep. i wanna say i listened to an episode of "the drive with peter attia" where he interviews a sleep researcher from berkeley. then i started reading related research. it wasnt exactly helpful being a sleep deprived grad student and hearing how much sleep destroys my brain...but i was able to shift the desire to sleep onto my desire to perform well in the gym, and change what i actually wanted to do at 9pm every night to getting ready for bed
@@sarahdangelo3168 +1 to Matt Walker's 'Why We Sleep'!
The more fashion history and costube videos I watch, the more I want an 1860s evening gown
I sewed myself a corset this summer for a similar reason, as my like 5th clothing sewing project ever
Ooh that's awesome, I'd love to make myself a corset. How'd it turn out?
Same
The same thing, but with old-timey hats.
@@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 It's a shame that nice hats went out of fashion.
"but I'm going to keep trying because I feel like I'm getting better at it and I fell like the results are positive" this is exactly the energy I need
I've been thinking about this a lot lately. There's a lot of things I want in life, but they often get swallowed up by more immediate wants like taking a nap or something.
Urgent trumps important. And life is full of urgent naps.
This is SUCH an important vlogbrothers video
I really want to hear John's half on this
Also just the fact of wanting is amazing. For so many years I was in such a bad place I didn’t want anything. Nothing was enjoyable so there was nothing to wish for. Now there are so many things I want and every time I get closer to one of those things I am so happy. I love wanting.
How did you learn to want?
"Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change."
Looking more actively at the problems of staying the same and the benefits of changing will pain you more. Bada bing bada boom
I will show this to every student I have until I retire.
Been thinking a lot about why the content I’ve been consuming has made me feel worse about myself even though I enjoy the content?? And this was actually super eye opening?? So thanks Hank
Wow. I think this is something I inherently knew...but would never have communicated it in this way. What a great reminder to be aware of what I'm putting in my brain.Thanks, Hank.
Me too! I think sometimes hearing our own experiences reflected back to us in words from someone else makes them more apparent and feel more real
This sounds a lot like what they were talking about on SciShow Tangents about how the more you observe something the better you are at recognizing patterns and details within that thing. This whole concept seems so simple and obvious, but it blew my mind to hear it actually said out loud. Maybe I'll actually be able to stick to a New Years resolution or two next year.
Once again Hank video tells me exactly what I need to know, not necessarily what I want to know ;)
In the wise words of Qui Gon Jin: "Your focus determines your reality"
"The most successful people in our society are kind of the least interesting. They're just really good at going after the default things society is telling them to want."
I feel so validated. Thank you, Hank, for putting something I've been thinking about for a while into words.
I want to want to accept the fact that It's almost March again, and yet I don't think I will
ahhh same its crazy
I turn 30 in March 😨
@@ShirinRose happy almost birthday!
@@ShirinRose Don't worry. You'll awake the next morning to find that nothing's really changed. It'll still feel kinda strange to refer to yourself as an 'adult'.
The internet has definitely helped me with this. As I grew up I realised that I didn't want most of the default things I've been told everyone in my society wants. And so I started looking for people who lived alternative lives. And as I started down that path it opened me to so many experiences and helped me shape my wants into things that felt more true to myself.
Also on a simpler note? If I want to want to clean my apartment for example, I'll watch a video of someone cleaning and gain motivation from that, and it's usually enough to get me started. The content I consume affects me in both the short and long term.
Where is John today? I need to hear his insightful wisdom today
Well, it is the holidays, forgive me.
Thank you for this! It's a good reminder for me to return to poetry
When you let the TH-cam ads play through because, well, it’s Vlogbrothers, and the ad revenue actually does good things.
"By spending time doing it, I'm teaching myself a story about the value of those things."
Wow, that made visualizing my priorities a lot easier. I need to reconsider how I'm spending my time. Thank you.
So in order for me to want something, there has to be more of it in the world. Might be an inspiration for me to create.
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One of the more valuable lessons I had growing up in church was that what you pay attention to forms you. It's something that I learned young, but still need reminding of.
Perennial wisdom. In Buddhism this is one of the "three jewels", the Sangha. Thanks for amplifying.
The ad that ran immediately after this video finished started with the line "want to learn new skills?" and I have never been asked such a loaded question
Important video, raising awareness about the effect media (including and especially TH-cam, Reddit, Instagram...) has on us.
"By spending time doing [something, it teaches you] a story about the value of those things.'
That was a profound hidden gem I wanted to point out.
This is amazing. I feel like this just changed my life. I literally took notes lol
i just want videos from vlogbrothers every week till the end of my life and nothing will change that
This may be my favorite video of 2020, I can never put into words the way Hank can.
"You can't stop wanting".
The Buddha: Hold my beer.
i was finally able to stop wanting to be a perfect student and start this year’s mental breakdown of reinvention when i watched Hank’s “Rough Advice for the Real World”
this video was part of the catalyst that changed my life, my brain, and the shedding of many mental health problems that were really just coping mechanisms.
content is everything.
ITS LIKE WHAT HE SAID ON THE PODCAST ABOUT NOT BUYING A FRIDGE THAT DISPENSES ICE!!!111!!1!
I literally just wrote a scholarship essay on how Crash Course allowed me to explore my interests and find out what I really want to do in life... Thank you so much. Hank, John, and the whole crash course team, you’ve truly changed my life
If there was any doubt that Hank is an ENFP...
this channel is a perfect example of what you’re talking about for me. when i watch a ton of your videos here, or on crash course and others, it makes me in the long run value thinking critically. when i watch, let’s say, a bunch of youtuber drama channels,it makes me value knowing what’s going on in that sphere a lot more
I have a theory that falls in a similar vein, cleaning your bedroom can have dramatic effects on the rest of your life. Consider that if your room is a mess and the first decision of the day, whether conscious or not, is to look at the mess and decide to ignore it or push it off to later. Setting precedent for the rest of the day to continue to ignore or push off things that need attention.
@@dogshiin if only it were so easy, my life slowly falls into disarray and I lose motivation to do most of anything if my room is left a mess for to long.
I saw this clearly when I started watching weight loss videos on TH-cam. My path to finding them was: cooking videos>>healthy cooking>weight loss. Purely algorithmic. I'd never thought about weight much before, and suddenly I was brought into this world where wanting to weigh less was presented as objectively desirable. For like 5 months I really, really cared about weight loss. And then I stopped watching those videos, and I didn't care at all anymore, and it was very odd to so clearly see my values snap back into their default position like that.
Like everytime I binge GBBO and then I start trying to bake everything from scratch
This is what I found with New Year's resolutions. I can't wait for a day to start doing something I want. Instead if I identify that I want to do something that's going to be beneficial I need to just start doing it. Otherwise you keep making excuses for putting it off.
If the entire world celebrated Pizzamas, it would be a much better place
This is one of those Hank videos where if you tune out for a millionth of a millisecond you lose track of what he's talking about completely and have to skip back
"I want to drink coca cola and watch tik toks" hahahaha, me every single day
There's way better cola out there than coca cola. I don't know if they sell Red Bull Cola around where you live, but if you get the chance try it. It's the best cola I had so far (and I had a lot of them).
And no, it's not Red Bull and cola. It's simply cola made by Red Bull.
i started making my own juices from diffrent fruits during lockdown. now suddenly I feel less pleasure from carbonated sodas than from fresh and sweet fruit water, it is so much more refreshing...
“barrier to wanting things” is such a interesting way to look at this ! i will be thinking about that one for a while
'That's what I want to want but not what I want" I'm a little lost but fair enough
I feel like you've unlocked a forbidden piece of knowledge that I've always experienced but didn't know how to explain. This is awesome, I love a good thought-provoking video
Watching this I couldn't help from hearing those wise words from the Spice Girls : "tell me what I want, what I really really want" :D
Definitely agree with the causal chain of change what you do -> want more of that thing, but also think there are intrinsic things that cause us to want particular things.
Non-native English speakers: good luck.
Subconsciously we know this is how we operate. Most people focus on wanting something boring in their life to achieve their goals at some time. But most people conveniently choose to forget how they go there once they get there. Because life happens and you don't want to keep going on a lonely road anymore.
Thank you Hank for this video. You and John keep reminding everyone that there is always more to achieve in the future. and it is worth achieving not only for your sake but for all the people.
I want to want to change my wants to be better, but I also just want to sit and watch youtube...
Thank you. I'm going to want to want good now, and try to find more content that incentivizes what I want to want.
So Hank, do you want to become more pelican like by now? Or do you still want to want to be more pelican like?
I love this. I've found myself becoming interested in things because I consume a lot of content related to them (like reptiles), and I've also intentionally tried to recreate that phenomenon by consuming a lot of content related to things I want to become more invested in (like economics). This has led me to realize that there is a big deficit of high quality economics education, both on TH-cam and in general. That, mixed with my interest in science communication from nerdfighteria, has led me to work on making econ education more engaging and available! I hope to be able to create something that helps people, and honestly, this a goal I really want to want.
“i wanna want to live” impressive
Yeah, please tell me how that works. Maybe he should choose a more relatable example next time.xd
Oh so timely! I once spent all my time watching educational content. I wanted to engage with that type of communication more than anything. So started an educational channel. I loved it! I wanted to make things! But being an educational content creator consumed ALL my time. I couldn’t watch the content that made me want to make videos in the first place.
Recently, I’ve been wanting to want to make videos again. I’m still creating, but that deep, intense WANT to make the thing I love just isn’t there. I want it back.
The other day, I happened to watch a video by one of the creators who’s inspired me the most. Hours later, I realised I had this little spark in the darkness: a spark of wanting to make videos again. I didn’t know how to fan it into a flame. I wanted to know how to, but didn’t have the tools.
Of course I need to dedicate time to consuming the content that makes me want to make content! I’ve complicated this for myself as much as humanly possible, but the solution is so simple.
Thank you for sharing your insight. I want to go watch some videos now. :)
The only reason I know its a Friday is because you posted this
I've actually really grown my interest in art by following more artists on social media and TH-cam. They keep reminding me to make more time to draw. It's a really nice feedback cycle when you use it with purpose!
Hank one week: a serious video
Also Hank a week before: "Y, which could have been Yee"
Never change ❤️
Ha, I noticed that right away too! I was like, okay change of pace, but still sooo entertaining and inspiring! :)
I want to want to be more engaged with online communities that I admire, so I'm gonna watch and then comment on this video.
Drink every time Hank says want, wants, society or engage
I was looking for this comment! 😂brilliant!
Stop trying to murder people!
@@Kobolds_in_a_trenchcoat It's not stated what you should drink. So it doesn't have to be shots; could be cola instead.
But if I reconsider, this would probably kill you as well.
@@lonestarr1490 it could be diet dr. pepper.... hope you understand that reference :)
I am just finishing up a Coursera class and this is a major goal of the class. It’s called The Science of Well-Being, but its basically a class on how to live a happier life. Super useful and doable tips on how to change your wants. Highly recommend it!
Okay so its because of tiktok that im queer and gender-questioning
no, but tiktok probably helped you realise that you don't have to want/try to be cishet ;)
China really are geniuses
Figuring out my wants has been quite challenging this year. However, I have found that through the community of Nerdfighteria I have been able to fulfill my wants.
For example, I wanted to be in a D&D group and because of this community I now have something to look forward to every week.
Thank you John and Hank for reminding me that I want to make a positive difference in the world and for giving me a community I can be part of. Also thank you for producing content that has inspired me to change my perspective and learn more about the world.
Best wishes and DFTBA!