Kenyon College: John Green - Thoughts on How To Make Things and Why

[@HaploidCell]

How does some 40-something father of two American guy write and hold a speech that is so very, and possibly pivotaly, relevant to my here-and-now situation, thousands of miles away? It baffles me, it intrigues me, and all of a sudden my own, personal darkness isn't as personal and as dark as it was before. Thank you John Green. From the bottom of my deep, dark heart.

[@beancanconspiracy]

*whispers* Pssstt... John Green is only 36.

[@HaploidCell]

beancanconspiracy Darnit! The man has enough wisdom and sparkly goodness in his left pinky-toe to be 112. Yes. Yes, that's definitely what threw mew off. Sorry, JG. You look like 35, or some other, complement-ive sounding age :D

[@alexcrouse]

He realized what you all one day will learn: Growing up is optional.

[@Kawaiiization]

HaploidCell Psst, Read Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl.

[@_juicebandit]

I love the entire segment preceding this quote, but one of my favorite portions of that segment is: "Maybe it's true: maybe the universe doesn't give a shit about you. But through empathy, we can care about each other, and we are also of the universe."

[@_juicebandit]

24:40

[@bjornterlegard]

I paused to video to ponder that exact same phrase. What a great notion :)

[@MynameisThirteen]

Everytime John does a speech in front of a considerable amount of people, I feel a little proud. We all know that it is not his favorite thing to do, but he does it anyway and is awesome at it

[@StephenDeagle]

John really is a consummate storyteller. Really, it's almost aggravating how intuitively he hooks his audiences, draws them in, and just relentlessly indulges our appetite for more. One day, he will have the luckiest grand-kids in the damn world. Can you imagine having this guy to tell you what the past was like?

[@emhk1923]

do I love john green enough to listen to this for an hour after an anxiety filled day? yes. the answer is yes.

[@mgmchenry]

Hey, 2014. I hope you won more battles with anxiety than you lost over the last 8 harsh years. John speaks directly to all my anxieties about the world and about myself. Somehow he always makes me feel better without pretending everything is ok. I genuinely love this man and his brother, and the community they inspire. I hope John still makes your anxious days better days.

[@Annaconda1984]

deeply moved, I was planning on watching it for 10 mins and going to bed but I've been grabbed by and it just wouldn't let me go until the end. What a fantastic speech (John Green's speeches don't feel like speeches, they feel more like a friend talking to you)...

[@stanley9868]

Totally. He's such a great public speaker it's like he's not in public.

[@TomElliottJackson]

The story about his college days should have spawned a book called "Looking for Amanda"...

[@shainajoseph5040]

Or he should have called it "My friend was looking for Amanda"

[@lizkasper]

Oh, John. I just don't think I could love you any more than I do.

[@SacredGlimmers]

I really love your youtube moniker. :)

[@lizkasper]

Thanks! It comes from something John said once. :-)

[@chloeepinay15]

I love the way how John Green delivers a speech, is the EXACT way (pace, tone, VOICE) I read TFIOS

[@TheVistastube]

I believe that you may have watched quite a few vlogbrothers videos and his inflection and tone could have gotten stuck into your head. One of the reasons why John greens books feel so personal is because it is personal, partially because of his empathy but mainly because we have connected with him through his vlogs, videos and projects.

[@futurehistory2110]

This is one of the most mind-opening John green videos I've ever seen, if not the most. Fascinating.

[@randomaccessreverie]

I absolutely love John Green, I have always admired his writing and his sense of humor. What I love about John Green is that he is so genuine and relatable. His speech is engaging and personal. It really hits home and accurately depicts your early 20s experience.

[@mayangel993]

Seriously did he reach inside my brain and recite my thoughts in a well-ordered and eloquent fashion? I think I might be falling in love with John Green...

[@ToriKo_]

I love your comment

[@planetaryg0]

literally, i appreciate people like him so much because i have so many thoughts but i'm so bad at communication and i have trouble with expressing them, and i feel pent up in my own head. talented artists express them so eloquently while also showing me new ideas and perspectives. i love it, it makes me feel less alone

[@chrismarklowitz1001]

This man is amazing. His emotional intelligence and intelligent quotients are off the charts as seen by his ability to allow others to feel comftrable and respect them as well as his ability to understand and answer and grasp these ideas so clearly. I think that he has a strong motivation as well. Somewhere it comes from. Where I do not know.

[@harshitadas1435]

I need a transcript of this script, it's filled with so many gems. John is an incredible writer

[@austinboba]

hey harshita! all the way to the right of the like and dislike button (if you're on computer) are three dots and if you click it you can open up a transcript. I think it's auto generated so there may be a mistranslation or two but it seems pretty accurate :)

[@skylar9699]

This man has the most inspirational, thought-provoking, truthful words I've ever heard - both in his books and his speeches. We NEED more people like him in the world, becoming leaders, movers, and makers. I aspire to be even a fraction of what he is and what he does. DFTBA!

[@sophieyaffa4035]

"but for the sake of clarity we'll just call him Holden" fave omg only half an hour in but this speech is by far my favourite thing of the day!

[@libertynerd2562]

I'm not a person who is profane by nature, but this speech was so powerful that I don't care when John drops curse words. I love that.

[@HaploidCell]

I read up on that Einstein-failing-math thing. His first college had a compulsory math test, which he "failed", and years and years later some reporter? autobiographer? or some such found that test and marveled at the inneptitude of the genius. You know? Like pulling him down in math somehow raised the scales of his genius in the realm of physics or something. One problem, though. The entrance test was for a college in Switzerland. It was therefore in French. Einstein did not speak French. He passed the test, but the grade was terrible, of course. The fact that he understood so much about math that he could solve problems put to him in a different language with a passing grade should give you some idea of the true genius of the man.

[@janetmasleid4603]

+HaploidCell ''Like pulling him down in math somehow raised the scales of his genius....'' Did you just write that? wow..

[@Paulinemoke]

Well it's also because Switzerland's grades go the other way round than the German system --> 4 is (almost) a fail in German, while it is an A in Switzerland.

[@mariaszymkowska1037]

This is what I listen to when I experience an early mid-life crisis.... Your words make me happy....sooooooo happy!!!!!!!

[@susanjimenez5500]

There's never a time that I listen to these guys where I disagree or think they are wrong or callous or anything less than insightful, intelligent, and kind. These are the people who should be famous. 😊

[@benjaminpark8176]

John Green will always be the author that made the most impression on me, so much so that I have decided to start a PhD exploring the many subtleties of his fiction and how he creates unforgettable fictional landscapes

[@nastber]

Uhhh wow! How's it going?

[@katierunde9385]

I can not tell you the number of encouragements you have provided me John Green - particularly in recent times when I have had to go way down deep into the darkness of myself, and of others.

[@francescaellis1616]

An example of what John was talking about in minute 51 is Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. It tells the story of the short yet significant life of a young girl living in Japan during the droping of the atomic bomb at the end of WWII. Sadako may only have lived to 12(9 years after the bomb was dropped she was diagnosed with leukemia, radiation sickness from the atom bomb, and she died a year later on October 25, 1955), yet her life made a big impact on the Japanese celebration of Peace Day Now she is honored, along with all the children who died from leukemia, in Hiroshima's Peace Park. I definitely recomend this to all readers who injoy an intense and moving book.

[@ChocolatesAfterDark]

I think I've seen this 5 times, and I'm just not getting tired of it all

[@LMFAO5001]

You know john is a nice guy cause when asked "where did you get your idea" he replied thats a great question

[@ikka]

52:00 Where he recommends other authors (Planning to read all of them so making a timestamp)

[@julioparpacen834]

John Green is one of my favorite podcasters/authors... and my connection to this video is that I grew up in Mount Vernon Ohio and my great escape was riding my bike up the trail on the river to Gambier and walking that amazing campus and feeling like I was in a university town in England...

[@Jazmincm90]

the green brothers helped me so much with perspective and life!! im forever grateful to them, amazing AMAZING human beings. they helped me to think, to learn again things i never understood really, big concepts, big subjects. I love all their crash courses!!!

[@andrewviolette4835]

Writing, not as distraction or diversion but as a way to help people find meaning. Amazing. Even more amazing that he's dedicated his life to this mission, from PforA to Crash Course.

[@SpielplatzATTAK]

'the benefit of resentment for me was that it was fuel; it burnt dirty, but it did burn.'

[@savannahfreemantle6958]

Its good to finally hear someone talking about how I actually experience things. Why doesn't everyone do this?

[@justinstark5732]

If everyone did than people like John Green wouln't be so sucessful

[@free_siobhan]

god when the kid asks about crash course and the whole audience fawns and john just goes straight into answering the question is really great. imagine being that kid and being taken immediately seriously by john green!!!

[@pretzelsandgasjets]

I know you're not trying to prove you're a genius, but I honestly spent every moment of that being like "why is john so goddamn smart." Great speech, natural and raw and thought-provoking as always!

[@mlh195]

Yes I have watched the whole video, and I loved every minute of it.

[@yaelmorin9017]

i come back here every so often, in the depths of career anxiety, to be reminded that i don't have to go to law school

[@kateconiglio3637]

I had to pee for 90% of this. I held it because JOHN GREEN SPEAKS THE TRUTH :)

[@Forceprincess]

Silly! Videos pause! :)

[@rehan8480]

Same

[@jeremy-m6b-m8n]

Shauna Mother of Penguins She was there... smh

[@sccrespoc]

Gosh John. You're, hands down, the best essay writer I know. Forget TED talks.

[@robertofontiglia4148]

In which John answers the question, "How did you find your way into a teenage girl?"

[@JakeWolven]

good question good question

[@x0cx102]

???? Lol what am I reading this right? I’ve listened to this speech a few times but don’t get it

[@JakeWolven]

you've watched it a few times but didn't hear when this was said?

[@x0cx102]

@@JakeWolven i can’t tell if this is about the fault in our stars or him joking that he wrote in college to get people to hook up with him. Or something else. Oh, is this a question asked by the audience? I thought op meant something in his speech. I didn’t watch the questions afterward

[@x0cx102]

35:05 ahh found it. Guess I should have stayed for the questions

[@adammacaluso3262]

Happy Birthday Sir, despite the circumstances. Next Book

[@landon8952]

YES

[@Jonquil_Studios]

He actually uses this anecdote in his book 'An Abundance of Katherines.'

[@landon8952]

Oh. That is the one book of his I haven't read yet

[@Thegreatestmagicfish]

That speech was...I mean, I thought it was really good, but I did not realize how much I had engaged in it until I saw, after watching, that it had been over an hour. Time flies when you're watching John Green talk.

[@racoon2623]

8 years ago he put something to words that i’ve been wrestling with for most of my adolescence

[@jacejunk]

The "Happy Birthday, Sir!" interpretation sounds like an H of G (hermeneutics of generosity) mentioned in a video of John's I saw today.

[@Stoverjennifer08]

Oh wow wasn't expecting to cry today but here we are

[@AcornRiot]

John Green we need a vlogbrothers video like an old school truth or fail of johns personal stories

[@papoba2]

I was there for that speech, it was fantastic Im a huge fan, I really enjoyed seeing the parallel between this speech and the insight I derived from this and the speech given by David Foster wallice in the same spot, and also my name is also John!

[@azurevalleys]

It’s 12:40 in the middle of the night yet here I am.

[@mariaszymkowska1037]

Thank you Sir John Green.

[@lilyhasaface2070]

Maybe if John Green had made this speech sooner Dan Howell/Danisnotonfire would have learnt that you do not have to go to law school!

[@taylurrsings]

I listen to this every day

[@SolaceEasy]

"Solid B+" can make a difference in the world.

[@raddsnyder198]

"How did you find your way into a teenage girl?"

[@yessopie]

"You really nailed Hazel."

[@ryandaw55]

So much of this draws on the great David Foster Wallace Kenyon speech. Watch it!

[@sarahaudrey1609]

John would make a good doctor who

[@mihirbalvally7277]

I think you mean the doctor

[@paulquinn7282]

I wish I'd been there when you were there! Props to Bob Cantwell and Karen Edwards for instilling my lifelong love of the old English poet, Phil Church and Myrddin Jones (Exeter) the English Novel, and Fred Turner Shakespeare, the poet of entropy (Boltzmann's true predecessor). However should have paid more attention to my father and not have neglected my sciences.

[@Briwar3313]

"Intro to Creative Writing" Yes.

[@emilyallison3672]

no my thing is is that like i cannot imagine being there like i would have so many questions just overflowing

[@ProjektKlover]

John is my Idol.

[@zacharywhitney6957]

John Green is my city

[@Vidrohi_2]

Did anyone else see the subtle twitch of his lips at [4:07] .. that was the twitch of a feeling, kind of that overwhelming feeling you sometimes have when you think of a time in your life when you were incredibly sad and you kind of choke up ... that was that twitch.

[@lhpkazuha]

3:48 I’m 4 years out of college and I can confirm that John is a prophet 😂

[@PsoPstrong]

*LMFAO!!!* I am crying with laughter at that first audience question. Oh my Lord!!!

[@kit888]

Sounds like the Crash Course guy. Wait a minute...

[@rileytaylor3833]

and 5 years later he quits Twitter (and makes sure everyone knows) and is very happy about it

[@theyare_alyx]

this is fantastic! Thank you John!! :D

[@songofruth]

I'll have to rewatch this a few times. It might not be yours originally (is it?) but I like the "mash-up culture" phrase. So many differences (and sameness) seem to come down to culture - the micro-culture of an individual or family of origin or the larger cultures of ethnic groups or regional groups.

[@valentinavee]

This is my religion.

[@lyncb5230]

Same.

[@sophieschofield9364]

This is why he is my favourite person in the world

[@DavidBiddle]

Meaninglessness is okay. Really. Seeing it is the first step to understanding it's actually all about creating your own meaning.

[@shalvigarimanegi]

Microphone guy has a Great voice!

[@raindropscallme]

is there a transcript or the whole speech posted/saved on some site...?i would love to have it. if anyone has some useful info , feel free to let me know , i d appreciate it! :) thanks

[@furetosan]

AMANDA, have you not watched this video yet? Show yourself!

[@MattPalka]

Worth one hour of your time.

[@eliedgecomb4903]

I just love you, man.

[@ProgShell]

John's collar gap is killing me.

[@BillyxRansom]

from 35:15 to about 35:40, he had A TWENTY-FIVE SECOND WINDOW TO SAY "CONTEXT IS EVERYTHING" AND HE DIDN'T

[@dexterkairaiuak2955]

27:45 When you enter a new existence that is foreign to you, Pandora, Middle Earth, Alaska(The one you don't have to find, it's friggen ginormis) Rome, Kenya, A forest, a home, a new face(Okay Alaska this time), Accept the existence and chew on it. Through the chewing you will then decide for yourself what paradigm will and will not be imposed. Danger! Will Robinson!

[@Arachne-qw1vr]

Covering his John with a green fleece 😂

[@DennerBob]

"Once the book has come out it belongs to you." Things we all wish J.K. Rowling would learn.

[@Beccalotte1021]

The difference between an INFP and an INFJ all right there.

[@IMR95]

I don't understand.

[@pranamd1]

Also George Lucas.

[@emmywillow6599]

Beccalotte1021 as an infp, I am very confused

[@martinhoangnguyen1691]

I dont care what you say John Green. Your legacy will totally survive human extinction.

[@conflux2300]

John is my spirit animal.

[@christopherhetter8106]

+Control Alt I say that to everyone who asks me who I want to be when I go threw college. I simply reply, a writer, john green is my spirit animal.

[@hayk3000]

42:25 I see that kid knows Adam Egret

[@jazminblanco8521]

He Is my god thos man is a genius in my eyes at least

[@entertainmentinfo7144]

Anybody watch it 2022

[@T0NI_]

I had this on my 2nd monitor but I looked over during an audience question and WOW that is a lot of women

[@abhishekpaswan9652]

Impressive.

[@saikasam]

Was this not a commencement address ? If not what was this speech for?

[@maxelizabeth7330]

Sai Priyatham Kasam This wasn't a commencement address, I believe it was just a normal speech.

[@martinajazmincisterna1407]

What did he mean by "you don't have to go to law school"?

[@margaritak6900]

I'm pretty sure he's talking about not giving in to the need of extending your college years as an escape from the "real world"

[@ritashukla5269]

Bookmark 9:00

[@tshavyt]

Here hee. John said shit (giggles quietly)

[@ScottKorin]

"How did you find your way into a teenage girl?" John immediately starts playing with his wedding ring...

[@Mateja93]

Love this ❤️

[@moongirl26]

Gah, TFIOS Spoilers.. I haven't gotten TFIOS yet... and GDit.

[@EuropeanQoheleth]

44:02 The Mongols!

[@evepolvay401]

25:44

[@pamelagonzalezmuniz2470]

which one's the cancer book he talks about?

[@kristenpitts6507]

Fault in Our Stars

[@hohurnham7583]

8 years late to this, but he mentioned tfios a lot so I'm assuming that is not the one you were asking about. He referenced "Love Story" by Erich Segal, the book with the quote "love is never having to say sorry". Hope the eight years have been good to you, and to the other person who replied if they also got this notification. Have a good one :)

[@hopewiIIrise]

So much DFW in this.

[@Novjuly]

DFW?

[@hffysnff]

david foster wallace

[@Novjuly]

Ahh, thanks :)

[@Novjuly]

All I could think was Dallas/Fort Worth

[@AbsoluteNerdfighter]

Professor Rogan is my GRANDPA!

[@SK28th]

That’s so cool

[@AbsoluteNerdfighter]

I was 13 when I wrote this (hence the all caps and the deep embarrassment I feel reading this back). Now I’m 21 and a Junior at Kenyon

[@SK28th]

@@AbsoluteNerdfighter aww! That’s cute. Congratulations on getting into Kenyon. I hope you get to be as awesome a person as John Green, under your college’s and Grandfather’s tutelage :)

[@ThatGuyWithHippyHair]

Sea sponges are the other exception.

[@jadasmiles]

is this talk directed to English majors?

[@TheAdamDundas]

Ai Mei M I do not think it is a speech directed to English majors. It is a speech that attempts to answer the question of why we make art. The art that John Green knows how to make and knows how to make well is that of stories. I can, however, see how that codes as and English major speech. If he had filtered the speech through any other art form it would not be as true. You only know your own experiences.

[@kevinsavo718]

I miss the cocky spunky goofy john! I like the new earnest John too, but yeah.