John Green's Blog, page 51
July 1, 2011
Humping the Town
The Fault in our Stars: http://dft.ba/-tfios
In which Hank congratulates John and then...yeah, wow.
You can read the Wall Street Journal article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001...
But only if you follow that by reading John's excellent analysis of it here: http://fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com...
And what can I say about all that humping. I guess...well, it was really scary. Scary enough that I kinda had to shut my brain off. There were a couple of shots that I couldn't use because they were way too similar to actual sex-having. But for the most part, it went really well.
Thanks to Luke for the music (http://www.youtube.com/lukeconard) and Geoff for helping me out so that Katherine didn't have to do this... (http://www.youtube.com/zutown)
And, yes, at the end, that's just some random dude who was watching us screaming "Kiss the fish!!"
Also, I saw two nerdfighters while walking around. Always nice to see people IRL!
I kinda want to intellectualize the whole experience...it would be fairly easy to do, but I'd rather eat lunch...I am very hungry. I'm looking forward to the tumblr gifs.
June 29, 2011
THE FAULT IN OUR STARS
Preorder The Fault in Our Stars: http://dft.ba/tfios
In which John does his happy dance because his new book, The Fault in Our Stars, is #1 on Amazon and Barnes and Noble's bestseller lists thanks to the indefatigable awesome of nerdfighteria. To thank you, I'll be signing every copy of the first printing of TFiOS. Also, I give you some homework in re. The Great Gatsby.
The Sharpie Color Poll in Your Pants: http://yourpants.org/showthread.php?9...
And here is a thread for discussing The Great Gatsby: http://yourpants.org/showthread.php?9...
And here are many more awesome TFiOS covers: http://thefaultinourstarscovers.tumbl...
My tumblr: http://fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com
Hank's tumblr: http://edwardspoonhands.tumblr.com
June 28, 2011
Finally, a TITLE!!!!
PREORDER The Fault in Our Stars: http://t.co/LrOuLcz
In which John discusses the title of his new book (and other things from his new book) and also a bit about The Great Gatsby.
June 27, 2011
My Scary Ball of Anxious Anxiety
In which Hank talks about his anxiety surrounding:
1. Ellen Hardcastle, his new Album
2. Officiating a Wedding
3. VidCon: http://vidcon2011.com
4. Making a Video for NASA
5. Play a Show with Harry and the Potters! In Missoula! Click Below
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid...
Also, that powerful people are often psychopaths, which you can read about here: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/9...
Generally people make the case that psychopaths rise high in business because they are smooth, ruthless and deceitful. And that's probably true, but here I am making a rather shoddy case that they are also helped out by the fact that they are not so afraid of letting down their friends, family, co-workers and others, which means that they are willing to take insane risks and take on immense responsibilities.
June 24, 2011
On Religion (Redux)
In which John finished up what turned out to be Religion Theme Week here in nerdfighteria by discussing the complexity of religious identity and why we must reconcile ourselves to living in a world riddled with ambiguity. (In short, to revisit the theme of Vlogbrothers 2011: The truth resists simplicity.)
Let's continue the conversation in your pants: http://www.yourpants.org
Thanks to nerdfighter and youtuber beastasaurusrexxx for the video of us dancing!
My tumblr: http://fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com
Hank's tumblr: http://edwardspoonhands.tumblr.com
June 22, 2011
Do You Believe in God?
In which Hank discusses that all too common question and why he doesn't like it and so rarely answers it.
What does the answer tell you? Really? Is it like a blind man asking my skin color? Is it someone trying to legitimize their own beliefs? Is it built into our genes?
Don't get me wrong, we're built to categorize. Being truly exceptional pattern recognizers is one of the reasons why we are the dominant species on the planet. We seek patterns my nature, but it's something that we should work against. When we are going out of our way to pull data points so that we can more easily shove people into little boxes, that's even worse than your normal sort of prejudice.
Frankly, upon meeting someone, I'd rather not know their politics, their religion, their upbringing.
We build our vision of other people from scratch, and when we pull these flawed first impressions from pattern bias, prejudice, and in-group / out-group bias, we do ourselves and those people significant disservice.
June 20, 2011
On Religion
In which John talks about religion and nihilism. Let's continue this conversation in your pants: http://www.yourpants.org
June 17, 2011
Top 7 Tips for Dads
Scan Photos and Convert VHS Tapes
http://dft.ba/-scandigital
You can get 10% off with the code "vlogbrothers"
Shows in Missoula:
June 23rd with the Whomping Willows
http://thewhompingwillows.com/?page_i...
June 28th with Harry and the Potters
http://harryandthepotters.com/
Sharpening Razor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjSkgz...
June 15, 2011
Question Tuesday! (…on Wednesday)
The new book in the Nerdfighter Blurbing Book Club: http://t.co/ngutpzh
In which John discusses books, inspiration, reading, Europe, the Let It Snow movie deal, and being ridden by celebrity chef Paula Deen.
Pizza John shirts: http://www.dftba.com/pizza
My tumblr: http://www.fishingboatproceeds.tumblr...
Hank's tumblr: http://www.edwardspoonhands.tumblr.com
June 13, 2011
Google Is Alive!
In which Hank attempts to define what life is, argues that Google is in fact alive (albeit poorly) and then proves that individual lives have no (or extremely little) value for their own sake...with mouthwash.
To be clear:
1. I am not arguing that Google should be treated like a sentient life form. If Google is alive, it's alive the same way a virus is. The fact that it's alive does not change its ethical status. It is very interesting though.
2. While I don't value the individual lives of the bacteria in my mouth, I value "life" tremendously and believe that one bacteria in a world otherwise devoid of life would be the most precious thing on that world. But seeing as how there are trillions of bacteria within four feet of me right now, I'm not particularly concerned with their welfare. So "life" is not a good qualification for "value."
3. I have done some further research and it appears that the Mrs. Gren thing is not so much criteria for life (though they are often referenced as criteria for life) it's more like "properties" of life...as we know it. I'm less interested in describing life than I am in determining what makes one thing alive and another thing not alive. Describing what we've got is easy, deciding the status of something that may (or may soon) exist is an entirely different matter.
4. I'm very interested in people's thoughts about about the "want" theory, though, obviously, this is a loose definition of "want." Does a plant really "want" to turn toward the sun...no. What I'm saying is more "reacts to it's surroundings in order to fulfill its needs." But "Life Wants" just sounds so much better. The question of whether Google (or fire, for that matter) is reacting to its needs in order to fulfill its needs is an interesting one, but I don't really think that computer programs "want." They don't have needs, they have instructions....but how different is that from the instructions that bacteria have from their genes?
Finally, Google does satisfy Schrodinger's criteria of increasing order using available energy. I think Schrodinger's criteria is, in fact, better than mine since you can't argue that fire meets it (as fire increases entropy) and it makes me feel as if Google is, in fact, alive.
However, using this criteria, one could also argue that an automated factor that turns plastic into toys is also alive, as it would be using energy to decrease entropy. If it is truly autonomous though, that almost seems as alive as a virus to me.
