Making your Nothings into Somethings
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- Опубліковано 2 сер 2024
- I hope some of this makes some kind of sense. I think the intentionality that John was discussing last video is wonderful, but I just don't know how possible it is for me. I just don't like making decisions!! I'm a habit guy, I have put the seat down after peeing every time since my mom bugged me about it when I was 13. I turn on my turn signal in the parking garage when there's only one direction to turn. I don't trust my conscious mind...so when I can use it, I feel like the best thing to use it for is to establish good habits, because if it's a choice, I'll find a reason to do nothing.
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“John.....you’re welcome, ya dork.”
Ahh, the sibling relationship at work.
I loved that line. Affectionate silliness. :D
Slightly disappointed that he didn't also add the sign for "Passive Somethings" as he signed off. As a wholesome reminder to set up Passive Somethings, of course.
IKR how lovely:')
oh, brothers...
Like, what, is it Esther Day? Slow down with the loving speech Hank
The worst feeling ever is losing a passive something. Like, oh no, I used to read every day by default and now i DONT and now i have to get that BACK?! how did that happen. I like this framework a lot Hank
Absolutely! When my depression gets really bad, I can lose all of my passive somethings - it’s very frustrating!
@@sourgreendolly7685 Same. And when you get out of the really bad depression, the more productive part of you is like, "Oh, you just have to put a book by your bed and put your phone charger in the living room!" But your depressed brain, while it is a certain kind of lazy and stupid, isn't _that_ kind of lazy or stupid, so when it hits you again, tricks like that don't work.
This is so accurate. I've been feeling this a lot lately
Hmmm... this is making me think that maybe I've had depression for a long time. I started an SNRI for ADHD (sometimes used as antidepressants but usually not) and I find it a lot easier to do things that were a lot more active before. Or maybe this is a symptom of both depression and ADHD, who knows
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"Long story short I have a cold" Welcome to fatherhood, Hank
I love these old school Vlogbrothers conversations. Days like today remind me just how appreciative I am of this awesome community.
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When are new videos coming? :D
Nice Climbers hopefully soon! I just wrapped up an intense internship in Atlanta but I filmed a cool video. I’ve got a couple ideas of stuff to film on my trip to DC this week. Noah just started a job in Seattle so he’s been slammed too. We should have a few videos out very soon though, so stay tuned!!
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Hank giving us the double finger is the most scandalous thing on this channel.
So where would you rate the giraffe sex on list of scandalous things?
@@michaeldove6603 See this is exactly where my mind went.
Humpy Hank ... he he.
Giving his audience the double finger is the most scandalous thing Hank has ever done in his life, full stop.
Go back to the early days, watch Brotherhood 2.0: January 23rd and watch to the end. It's what I think of every. time. now.
“You’re welcome, ya dork” is Hank speak for “I love you too, John”
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Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's keep the language in check here -- it's not Esther Day, after all!
I remember 15 years ago when video games and tv shows were my passive nothings, but somehow now both of those things feel extremely active in comparison to the true passive nothings of the internet.
Why on earth do I watch videos of people or automated voices reading top subreddit posts? It's neither useful nor particularly enjoyable but I can't stop myself
Oh that stuff is getting way too addictive for me!
Definitely passive something! Just press play and enjoy!
YES. THIS. Especially about the video games.
Oh no me too, before that it was Tik Tok compilations and before that dash cams.
Who remembers the line in "Back to the Future, part 2" where old Marty McFly comes home to see McFly Jr. watching the multichannel TV and says, "Watchin' a little TV for a change?" As if TV was a better alternative than whatever waste of time was popular in the future. At the time, I thought it was ridiculous that TV could be any less of a passive time sink than whatever could be invented to replace it. Then the internet came along...
I get a similar (but opposite) feeling when I read in an old novel where the parents treat kids who like to read books for entertainment as idle dreamers.
I’ve never related to a UA-cam comment more in my life.
I love both you dorks. Thanks, as ever.
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2:22 thanks for a new phone background 😁
"bc if it's a choice, I'll find reason to do nothing"
gee, thanks Hank. i stopped breathing when i read this bc this is what plagues me and you put it into words
Talks about boxes for like 3 minutes
“Anyway that’s not the point!”
The story of my life
I'm still getting my head around 3:20 "What I need most days is to have my non-choice be not nothing".
Same. I think it's having a routine/system in place that moves us rather than us having to move ourselves. So when we could be bored and going with the flow, some system makes it interesting for us. When we don't choose, boredom doesn't result.
And thus, from hence forth, a habit shall be defined as an inactive something.
Yeah, habits are definitely the number one way I set up passive somethings. Learn to make new habits, and lots of things become easier.
@@RainaRamsay So true. Habits are the brain's way to conserve energy. The popular book "The Power of Habit" is all about how to build these habits so active something can become passive something, 'cause like Hank said, making active choices all the time is exhausting.
"You're welcome, you dork" is like, 85 percent of a sibling relationship XD
"you're welcome, ya dork." i love how much love there is in this short sentence
I think my favorite vlogbrothers videos are when the Greens are having an online conversation
i agree
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This was the absolute most perfect, most Hank response to a very excellent, very John video. Love it.
What you describe as "passive somethings" sounds like habits, which you develop the same way as any other habit: having it start as an active something. I recommend checking out The Unbearable Automaticity of Being (Bargh, 1999) for some more insight on this topic.
Reframing passive somethings as habits makes them a lot easier to conceptualize, thanks!
I like how their last name is Bargh. Sounds like the sound you'd make in response to such unbearableness.
Yes! Exactly what I was trying to say, but failing due to my own tiny (Southern hemisphere) chickens.
@@osheridan Took me a minute to realize you were referring to your period. lol
yes! exactly what I was thinking. all the passive somethings must have been an active something once - until they turned into a habit.
John is right: There's always a decision involved, even if the decision has been made years ago. And you're also actively deciding to keep the habit alive every time you do it, even though that's a decision that takes much less energy.
You analyzing John’s video actually helped me understand his point a lot better and I like the way you broke it down. Also, this was just generally a great video!! The mention of tiny chickens IMMEDIATELY threw me back to old school vlogbrothers.
I'm glad Hank was a little confused when he was making this video, because after Hank and John's videos this week I feel like I need to take a nap.
Watching Bobby improves your quality of life.
So passive something.
Then obsessively watching all of his videos, giving him a plug and suggesting everyone else does the same is an active something.
One that reduces world suck at the same time.
These two videos right here. These are why I subbed so long ago, why I'm still here as grateful as ever to have found this wonderful place.
I mentioned the term nerdfighter to someone at work a couple days ago, and she was intrigued just by the name. I've decided these are the two videos I will send her as an intro.
Thank you both, ya lovely dorks. ❤️❤️
"So my brain has tiny chickens in it": The Hank Green Story
Thanks for the video Hank
I really like these more laid back videos, feels like old vlogbrothers!
I really like the idea of passive somethings. I tend think of it like John and it’s honestly exhausting so I’m going to try to set up more passive somethings.
There is also a huge role to be mentioned with decision fatigue. I would love to hear your opinion on it
Getting middle schoolers to understand the difference between a passive something and a passive nothing is the great struggle of my life. Spoiler alert: Fortnight is a passive nothing.
I think it could help to emphasize a little with them and explain that passive nothings are okay, but in the long run can be negative if you overindulge. Also worth pointing out some people have made Fortnite into a verrrry profitable passive nothing. It's probably more like an active something for some of those streamers now.
Like everything it depends. If it's done only with friends, then it's passive relationship building, if it's done all the time as the baseline nothing, then it's nothing
@@trombonegamer14 for sure, but the way that 12 year olds engage in videogames is rarely productive. Also, youtube culture has given quite a few of my students the mindset that they can make one 10 minute video a week and become millionaires. It's hard to teach kids whose only ambition is to get rich by doing one small thing. It's also hard to get students to engage in the world when they are only concerned with becoming rich famous in their own right. My job as an educator is to get kids to think beyond themselves.
@@trombonegamer14 but for the record, I do empathize with my students. I have a UA-cam channel too (Life Together Apart) . And I teach at an innovative PBL school that allows students to be the creators of their own driving questions. I just think their questions need to center on more than individual wealth and video games.
It's not necessarily passive. People can get really excited to play fortnite when they get home, elect to do it, and have a better time doing it than if they were just browsing Facebook.
It's definitely a nothing. But it may be an active nothing.
"Figuring this out through the haze of a rhinovirus" AKA the titles of all my essays once flu season hits 🤙
Hank Green I love you.
This is one of my favorite vlogbrothers videos now. I can't place why, but I think it's because it reminds me of older videos and it feels warm and cozy
I dont think my heart has been as full recently as it was when Hank said "-ya dork, ill see you on Tuesday"
This was the best thing I think I've seen in a while and I needed that. Thank you for doing what you do and sharing your odd medicated induced brotherly love. The world needs more of that.
Lockpicking Lawyer is great!
Every time I watch a vlogbrothers video I remember how thoughtful conversation is possible on UA-cam
Hank I love and appreciate both you and your brother I hope you guys keep making videos because your contributions to this network are what give me hope in the world honestly
I like the videos that respond to each other like a conversation
Oddly I used to think I was the only one watching the lockpicking lawyer, even though he has like hundreds of thousands of subscribers.
Glad to know you're as dork as I am
This has been an such an incredibly enjoyable video... I just don't have the words to truly express how well it has been received.
Thank you (both) very much.
I am enjoying this discussion around "passive v active" and "something v nothing" because it can be a good way to describe everything you're doing and maybe a good start to see how you could change some things if you want more passive or active something's.
These two videos might have been the two most important life videos I've watched this year. I've been told about the importance of routines to get something done, but somehow this phrased it in a way that made my brain finally go "Oh! Okay. Yes. Let's try that."
This definitely makes sense, in a kind of mindblowy, potentially life changing, maybe creating more passive somethings in my life will be a good antidote for apathy/depression sort of way.
This video format is my favorite. It's so great. It feels like an actual legit conversation between the brothers, only it's scripted so they're both saying exactly what they mean to say, to the full extent of their intelligence. Or at least that's what it would be if Hank didn't have tiny chickens.
this makes sense? I have been searching for an explanation/definition for these states of being and woah you just summed it up, active and passive somethings and nothings! I love it!
I look forward to these videos every week!
I love you guys so much ❤ your videos always make my day
Habits: The Tool of the Pragmatic. Choices: The Tool of the Idealistic. I don't think either is wrong, you just use the tool that suits you.
these videos are coming out at a time in my life where i really need to think about doing somethings so thank y'all so much
I feel like this video just gave me a huge insight into something. When I'm deep in my depression, there is no such thing as a Passive Something. Every Something is active, because that is just how much effort and energy everything takes. But now, when I'm doing pretty okay, I can set up Passive Somethings for myself, as well as do Active Somethings, because not every Something requires such immense effort. Interesting. Thanks for your video! (I haven't watched John's yet)
Hank, thanks for the cool screen grab! Now I can have you flip off anyone I’m upset with!
Yes, this exactly!! For me, setting up “passive somethings” is what got me out of a bit of a depressive spiral in undergrad. I didn’t have the energy or motivation to make an active choice to take my drop in dance classes, but registering for weekly classes meant I didn’t need motivation since I was required to go. Those classes made such a difference in my mental health.
This is something that I've been grappling super hard with lately, THANK YOU Hank, for putting it into words. I just came from a job in which I had almost zero spare time, and the spare time I had was filled completely because I was house manager of my coworkers, all of whom I lived with (field biologist, long story). Now I've started a new job in which I work 9-5 M-F, and go home to my first-ever solo apartment. I have so much... time, now. And I kind of hate it. I've gone from spending every waking moment doing active somethings (because it was expected) that I've forgotten HOW to do passive somethings... and as a result I've filled every morning and evening with "passive nothings". Like watching youtube for eternity. And scrolling through my newsfeed. Huh. What a big thought. Thanks, ya dork.
The double middle finger at 2:22 from Hank is all I need at the moment :D
Thanks both of you for doing this ACTIVE SOMETHING with us for the last 12 years, couldn't ask for more.
I loved the comparison of poetry to a puzzle box but with WORDS. So great ^^
I love this concept and I love the way you've put it. I totally agree that the best thing we can do is set up more passive somethings in our lives.
I really like both of these videos. I think they both have great thought provoking ideas to explore. I think they both have ideas that could help my life. I also think they show insight into how you both think, and even deeper than that I think it’s interesting to see the difference between John’s more OCD brain vs Hanks normal(? can we call Hank normal?) brain. I think I need to watch both these videos a few more times. But I really appreciate the intentional and unintentional insight these videos are bringing me. You both do amazing work and I personally appreciate it all so much. Thank you.
THANK YOU. Oh man, the belly laughs from this one. You two are just the best. FWIW, this 12th year has been the best (from a viewer's perspective). Side note: My wife is probably closer to being John and I'm definitely Hank and I'm just happy that you guys are enunciating the words that are in my head but won't come out at the right times.
I call passive somethings "intelligent defaults", influenced by my background in software development. Both software and people work better when their pre-set defaults are intelligent.
This is a perfect way to show the difference between an anxious brain and a nuero-typical brain! I have anxiety and part of that is actively considering everything! Like choosing which of the nearly identical bowls I should use for my cereal. My day continues like this until my brain is so tired from making decisions they all become passive nothings. I don’t know how to passive something. I wish I did, it would make my work life so much easier!
I hope another Nerdfighter out there gets what I’m saying.
This is just another episode of Dear Hank and John 🤣 I love it!
Fumbling around with a half-formed idea and figuring it out as you say it out loud is classic DH&J material
This is one of your best video in a long time. You both are talking about the same subject and it is real neat.
God, I love these lines of thought, from both you and John. You're absolutely brilliant and I would love to be in a room with y'all, to have that sparking feedback loop of intellectual ramblings. Your videos are soothing to me, making me realize that I'm not the only one who thinks like I do, that other people, like y'all, do to. It's comforting. Thank you
Honestly this is really good framework for me to describe how the worst part of my depression worked!! When I'm in my most depressive states, there are no passive somethings anymore. For most people as far as I can tell, throwing away a wrapper or putting a dish in the dishwasher when you're done with it is a passive something. Getting up to go use the bathroom is a passive something. When I'm really depressed, all of those things are active somethings and as you expressed, it's really exhausting to do a lot of active somethings in a day. So people wonder why there's trash all around my room or how I get a pile of cups on my desk, it's because it's all active somethings right now, and I have the energy for like two active somethings in a day when I'm that depressed.
You all never fail to brighten my day ❤
Wow... umm... guys... was that...
What did I just watch? That was cool... but confusing, were you arguing? It felt like you were arguing. It was cool.
YOU BROKE THE FORMULA!!! Now my brain itches.
“Does that make sense?
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I hope so”
Basically my whole life
This was an interesting video. It's one of the Vlogbrothers reacting to another one and it was about something I've been thinking about. Passive and action decisions with the limited amount of energy that we have. Thanks for the video
Yes, this is exactly it. I do a lot to set up passive somethings in my life. I have a friend I meet to walk with every Saturday. My daughter and I talk on the phone every Tuesday and Thursday morning when that class lets out for her and she has a long walk back. I run first thing in the morning on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. These routines initially require something, but then they become passive somethings. You don't choose what to do in those moments, and yet, you're doing something important. I've played around with "I'll run three mornings a week and do yoga two mornings a week, but I'll let the weather or mood decide." It doesn't work for me. It's work to choose, even from two options. Sure, you don't want every single thing in life to be these routines. Novelty is also important, but setting up some to make sure you do some of those core, important things is key.
Its always thought provoking to hear John thoughts / Hank thoughts on a single subject. I think much like John on this subject and found John's video a helpful reminder to live life according to my values. But! Thinking that way has also caused me to be very judgmental toward people who don't seem to think the same way. Hank, hearing you explain your experience, that alternate view makes a lot of sense to me for the first time in my life. I'll try to be less judgmental toward others for not being "intentional" with every single bit of their time and energy... and maybe I can even stop judging myself for the times when I'm not able to.
I’d be interested to hear you or John talk about decision fatigue!
I've been trying to figure out how to explain this exact concept to others [also to myself, but that's besides the point!] for ages. I got close with HowToADHD's "Important:Immediate" matrix, but I really love the way you put it & how it more captures how our free time is spent. And I especially appreciate your acknowledgement of decision fatigue... Living intentionally is the ideal, but it is nevertheless exhausting.
Reminded me of the important urgent matrix! Yes, it is exhausting.
I love this take. I love beautiful stories that John puts together, and I love rethinking them with Hank. The whole picture is clearer now, despite Hank’s worries about the chickens clogging the braintubes.
I completely agree about 'setting up passive somethings'. I've heard it called paving, where we set ourselves up for future good decisions.
I'm reading Gretchen Rubin's Better than Before and she talks about this very thing in the first chapter discussing/defining habits. What great timing!
It's always cool to see a channel I follow reference another channel I follow. Both are awesome!
Oh man sometimes I love Hank's take on something way more than John's…and also this format is great - more of this!
The psychological approach known as ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy) has a bunch of good stuff to say about these types of situations, especially when they bleed into anxiety and negative, self-defeating thoughts. One practitioner, Russ Harris, has a heap of good videos on similar themes. Also, his 10 steps for any dilemma is freely available.
Omg i recently started "clean my room tuesdays" because I have a really hard semester at school and my life is a mess and I needed to schedule something that was easy but would still put my life together and had to happen and its really turned my mental state around with it and hearing you talk about call your mom tuesday !! woah !!
This is a very interesting discussion. Seems like the people who are successful in content making on different internet platforms are the ones who manged to create passive somethings that come natural to them.
I really loved this video because after John's most of my thoughts were "But I hate making decisions!! And I'm bad at it! I get very anxious and freeze up!" I'm grateful for the framing of active/passive nothings/somethings, because (like Hank) it means I can use my (limited) decision making resources for the things that matter. I think just being conscious of the type of action being taken will in itself help me to steer away from negatives and towards positives. Also, from now on every time I realise I'm doing a passive something I will picture Hank doing the double finger and I'll be happy.
Recent vlogbrothers videos have been so fantastic. I love the sibling talk "you're welcome, ya dork" and Hank's general increased goofiness...maybe both of them being fathers has united them in a totally new way.
You guys are talking about something that has actually been on my mind a lot lately.
This is a great format for showcasing the two opinions/ schools of thought re: somethings and nothings here. I really liked it.
Also, lol double fingers
Hank sounds like Heidegger in this video with his “thingy things” and “passive somethings”. I just finished an 8 page essay on Heidegger and his view of poetry 🤧
I've been doing a lot of passive nothing lately and oh boy it doesn't feel good. This is a nice tap on the back to remind me to do more active things. Hopefully that will make me feels better too. Thanks Hank.
Enjoyed the video. Your "passive somethings" reminds me of a great book I read recently, "Atomic Habits" it's all about setting up your life so you don't need to use that limited brainpower to make good choices over and over again. Definitely worth a read or listen.
This active/passive and something/nothing idea...makes so much sense!! Never thought of it that way but it is SO TRUE...lots to ponder on this now...
I also watch a lot of LockPickingLawyer videos and I don’t know why and I can’t stop
Reminds me of people who've said that the best way to structure a gov't or a society or an economy is to make the "right choice" (or the default position) easy and profitable, rather than difficult and costly, as the right choices too often seem.
When rulers benefit from making their people wealthy and free, when people are rewarded for planning for their financial future, when societies get rich and are happy protecting the environment instead of merely being nagged and penalized for not doing so.
We should all look for ways to make the passive, even leisurely, choices do the most good.
Gotta say, I think calling it a passive something is exactly what I needed to hear. I've tried to explain these sort of passive somethings as routines. That is, once I establish a routine of doing this something (which is initlaly an active something), if I insist on that routine for long enough, that something seems to become a passive something, which I totally agree feels like a lot less work than an active something. I think the key is to make it a small enough something that it can easily become passive. Like doing yoga for 30 minutes a day, or drinking a mug of tea with every meal, or just reaching out to a friend once a month. Once I made it routine or schedule recurring events in my calendar, it became a passive something and honestly, I'm so much better for it. I hope this makes sense, and I hope it helps others get more passive somethings in their lives.
So you're why lock-picking lawyer started showing up in my recommended feed!
Putting your obscene gestures aside, I find, for me personally, the best way to increase the odds of me doing passive somethings is to make them part of my normal routine. They start as active somethings, but, over time, they become passive somethings. I've done this for daily workouts, piano practice and weekend writing to name a few examples. Once they become part of my routine I find myself doing them practically without thinking about it. They're just what I do each day. That's not to say I'm perfect and never miss a something for the day, but that just makes me put more effort in the next day. I found this is also a good way for me to naturally reach goals, without actually setting out to specifically do them, that I'd never reach if I just said, "I'm going to learn to play the piano by the end of the year!" or something like that.
obsessed with this brotherhood still even after this long
What a great way to start the day with a little bit of Hank and John 😄❤👓
*It is a good insight to note that not all default states are created equal. Hence the concept of a good habit or a consciously-chosen routine. And even if clocking in at the same boring job every day isn't going to get you where you want in life, there are still far worse ruts to be stuck in.*
I really REALLY needed this today. I have a day off, all alone and I sit here and think: “I can feel the seconds I’ll never get back tuck away.” I need a passive something.
This reminds me of the series of octothorpe videos on Vlogbrothers years ago where you explained that the people who created the # really just left it there as a space holder for someone else to use in the future -- a passive something, maybe. And John responded that Hank has a special gift for creating spaces (or projects) that others can use and expand upon in the future. I think about this alternate meaning for # and the concept of leaving space for others all the time.
Swell video reference! I remember that one.
Okay, I’ve had tiny chickens in my head from Tuesday, but they’re slowly moving out now - but that idea of passive somethings, creating good habits really clicked right now. I’m struggling with passive nothings, especially as exams and deadlines are very-very close now. I’ll have to watch this week’s videos again when there are no tiny chickens and my essay for Monday is done. Thanks Greens!
I imagine it like this. Whenever you have a choice of something's to do, a little menu pops up and the cursor starts on one of the options. That's what you default to. Passive decision making is buttonmashing through that menu without reading the options. Active decision making is actually reading all(or at least some of) the options and picking the best one.
This!! This is how I keep things going. I do a lot of sport, and people ask me how i motivate myself to do it all. The answer is that i don't - to me, the sport is what i call a 'non-negotiable' and in my mind this switches it from 'should i do the thing?' to 'how am i going to get this thing done?'. If every time I needed to exercise I had to decide to do it, I would be exhausted by choosing every time. Instead, I have to do it, and so my energy goes towards making sure I fit it in. I almost never skip a session
Filmmaker here, I appreciate your L and J cuts smoothing your jump cuts. Much love.