This Wikipedia Article Hides a Sorrowful Secret

[@lily_lxndr]

Get a discount on Curiosity Stream + Nebula by signing up here: curiositystream.com/lilyalexandre (And seriously, watch that Maurice Sendak documentary. It's GREAT.)

[@secondjulia]

I don't want this to sound sarcastic, but I can't seem to figure out how to do that, so just please accept my actual sincere thanks for being the Millionth KZbinr With A Curiosity Stream + Nebula Code and the ONLY one to get me to actually use it. I really want to see the Maurice Sendak documentary :) Also, I think I was in the exactly right point of the abyss to fully appreciate a Wikipedia poem about existential contemplation of disconnection and alonness in the universe.

[@therecognitionscene3771]

@@secondjulia what did you think of it? I saw it a while back and i recall it being strange and enchanting

[@secondjulia]

@@therecognitionscene3771 _Strange_ and _enchanging_ are the right words. My first thoughts were that it was very unstructured; there was very little information or input from the filmmakers. But there was a very real quality to just letting him talk - he seemed simultaneously like any old man, like just somebody's grandpa, but also this haunting, keen soul. It was heartbreaking to hear him talk about how many more things he wanted to do and how everything will be forgotten in the end.

[@covenawhite4855]

Have you tried pressing the History Button on the Wikipedia Article. History section shows all changed to the Article by Date of Year, Month, and Day. So, if you scroll down to the 2016s date you will hopefully find the original article. 👍😁😀

[@isiahfriedlander5559]

My God, you have such an incredible abstraction, in another life I would totally call you for a coffee and chat for hours

[@morbidkoala8678]

This reminds of some poems my friend "wrote". They grabbed a bunch of Discord messages from each person in our group chat and assembled them in poems for each person. Mine was about loneliness and desire and it genuinely hit me. Sort of a combination between this unintentional poem and a fridge magnet poem.

[@someone-iv2nt]

wow... I wish more people would pay such attention to other's emotions and thoughts

[@amb600cd0]

DADA IS DEAD LONG LIVE DADA TF HE WGOLE WORÑD IS L I'M CE WHOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I LOVE EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Rekeronse2543]

@@amb600cd0 CumRat727 gets it !

[@sillygoose420]

you inspired me to do this in my group chat thank you

[@tumsantacid1315]

this comment inspired me and i've been making these all night

[@LimeyLassen]

Saying a table of contents can be a poem is like saying a coffee maker can be a sculpture. Which is to say, yes, obviously.

[@natwilson9338]

re: art is framing- for a while i had a piece of art that was a sketch of pipes that were going to be installed in a 7-11 i was working at. i don't know why, but the composition and utility of it were so captivating to me. one construction worker had just thrown it together to explain it to someone, but to me it was art

[@lily_lxndr]

That sounds sick!

[@noobpro9759]

thats awesome man.

[@Speederzzz]

If it gives people some comfort, there is a good chance the poem still exists in the 'history' tab of the wikipedia page. It's most likely not fully lost, just hidden. Perhaps, like intelligent life in the universe.

[@antisphinx]

I actually suspected that this was about the Fermi paradox the moment I saw the title. It did rounds on tumblr for a few years and still pops up every now and then. We aren't alone, because we have each other. People have more in common than they don't, even when alienation makes that hard to remember

[@linseyspolidoro5122]

My father in law passed away last summer, about two months before me and my husband’s wedding. There were so many flowers, condolence bouquets, it was overwhelming to my mother in law. I dry my own plants so she asked me if I wanted to take any of them. I spent the better part of two days trimming stems and leaves, tying twine and hanging them up to dry. I can’t explain why either, but it was extremely cathartic. I was also able to use some of them for centerpieces at our wedding which felt appropriate.

[@lily_lxndr]

That's really lovely. I'm sorry about your father-in-law

[@johannakistenbrugge9306]

the fermi paradox poem reminds me a lot of the Beaufort Scale, a scale to measure the strength of wind, the discription of the land conditions on each number on the scale make an accidental poem too. I first encountered it on tumblr with slightly differnet wording than the current wikipedia article, but the current discription still makes for a great poem. I think these kinds of poems might be my favorite ones.

[@lily_lxndr]

That sounds lovely, I'll have to check it out

[@michael_gibbs]

I looked it up and for the sake of documenting it in case it changes, it goes as follows: Smoke rises vertically. Direction shown by smoke drift but not by wind vanes. Wind felt on face; leaves rustle; wind vane moved by wind. Leaves and small twigs in constant motion; light flags extended. Raises dust and loose paper; small branches moved Small trees in leaf begin to sway; crested wavelets form on inland waters. Large branches in motion; whistling heard in telegraph wires; umbrellas used with difficulty. Whole trees in motion; inconvenience felt when walking against the wind. Twigs break off trees; generally impedes progress. Slight structural damage (chimney pots and slates removed). Seldom experienced inland; trees uprooted; considerable structural damage. Very rarely experienced; accompanied by widespread damage. Devastation.

[@lily_lxndr]

@@michael_gibbs This is INCREDIBLE! Thanks!

[@michael_gibbs]

​@@lily_lxndr You're welcome. I love how simply it ends. Since we're talking about poetry in unexpected places, I saw a road sign once that said 'Changed Priorities Ahead' and while I don't know what it means in terms of the Highway Code, it's stuck with me since then as a beautifully short summation of life and all - how we never know what's around the corner and how our priorities change to fit - and all in three words.

[@Xanthe_Cat]

@@michael_gibbs The Beaufort scale has been set to music as a composition for choir, I imagine you won’t be surprised to learn.

[@nickschmucker8836]

I have spent probably too long reading through the edit history of the Fermi Paradox Wikipedia page. In my searching I haven't found the exact poem as you read it. As best I can tell, a version very close to what you read with only two differences existed almost continuously from 20:50 on the 9th of February 2016 to 14:50 on the 14th of October 2016. The only differences are that the phrase "planetarium hypothesis" comes after "Earth is purposefully isolated" in parentheses and where you read "They tend to alienate themselves" it says "They tend to isolate themselves" followed by "They are too alien". While there were changes within that time, they all got reverted and it overall remained constant. The version you read might be in there, but I haven't found it.

[@lily_lxndr]

Oh man, you're right! The poem has been in my head for nearly 6 years at this point, and I guess it warped a little with time. My version actually does read "they tend to isolate themselves/they are too alien". Thanks for catching this!

[@willbird3493]

“Extraterrestrials deliberately do not contact us: I am afraid it’s my fault” had me in tears, good video!

[@jessaminemanchester]

I'm currently taking a "literature performance" class at university and we currently have an assignment to pair a poem from our textbook with any other outside poem that resonates with us and perform it for the class next Thursday. For my outside poem I chose the Fermi Paradox Wikipedia table of contents because this video really resonated with me and I personally connect more with this accidental poem than any other poetry I've come across. I explained the context of the "poem" in class yesterday after making the selection and everyone seemed fascinated by it so I'm very excited to perform it myself

[@augustinjanuary]

Fermi Paradox "5 Hypothetical Explanations for the paradox: 5.1 Extraterrestrial life is rare or non-existent 5.2 No other intelligent species have arisen 5.3 Intelligent alien species lack advanced technology 5.4 It is in the nature of intelligent life to destroy itself 5.5 It is in the nature of intelligent life to destroy others 5.6 Periodic extinction by natural events 5.7 Inflation hypothesis and the youngness argument 5.8 Intelligent civilizations are too far apart in space or time 5.9 It is too expensive to spread physically throughout the galaxy 5.10 Human beings have not existed long enough 5.11 Humans are not listening properly 5.12 Civilizations broadcast detectable radio signals only for a brief period of time 5.13 They tend to isolate themselves 5.14 They are too alien 5.15 Everyone is listening, no one is transmitting 5.16 Earth is deliberately not contacted 5.17 Earth is purposely isolated (planetarium hypothesis) 5.18 It is dangerous to communicate 5.19 They are undetected 5.20 They are here unacknowledged" - Wikipedia (circa. 2016)

[@sentientbean9853]

What's funny is that whenever humans think about life on other planets, they think about 'a life' that's similar to ours. They never think of something like insects or other non-human animals that could very well be living in peace on other planets, away from our sight. And we are here because we 'won the lottery', we are extremely rare indeed, but so is a pig, a cow, or a chicken, they ended up here by chance too (and what a miserable life they have). We're not that special, we're not exceptional, we're not more valuable than 'the other' (whomever it may be, another gender, another race, another species), and maybe when we recognize that, we can achieve liberation and peace for all. Anyways, great video!

[@kai_maceration]

Tho I was always a fan of star trek with it's almost exclusively humanoid aliens, I've often been more intrigued by the thought of non humanoid or arthropod-like aliens! Arthropods are very adaptable and successful organisms here, so to me at least it would make sense to find aliens that share more traits with them than us. Also I think more people should take a step back and try appreciating the life that's already on earth too, for example so many people viciously hate wasps because of their defensive sting, but if they took the time to observe them more closely they'd probably see how beautiful and intelligent they are! Sorry for the rant, can you tell I'm a weird bug nerd? lol..

[@lily_lxndr]

Weird bug nerd solidarity

[@sentientbean9853]

@@kai_maceration Oh, definitely! There are so many intelligent life forms on earth that we simply ignore. Cows, for example, create extremely strong bounds with their youngs, they mourn for weeks when they are separated. Pigs have the intelligence of a 3 year old human! A human-like mind forced to stay throughout its short life in extremely crowded spaces can do nothing but go insane, they eventually resort to cannibalism to cope with their frustrations. Chickens can form their own little societies, just like us! It's called pecking order and they can recognize up to 100 individuals of their own species. Imagine what happens when tens of thousands of them have to stay together in a tiny concrete box, while the maximum number of a harmonious society is 100. Whatever life there may be on other planets, I definitely hope it is not human-like. Like the beautiful wikipedia poem says, we tend to destroy others, and ourselves together with them.

[@AsplundhFamily]

@@sentientbean9853 loving the vegan energy in your comments

[@kiaraamarabelmar7403]

yea and also fungi

[@eggsontoast]

This video was a kind of catharsis for me, I found myself in mild tears by the end. I always enjoy your work, and the questions I ponder because of it

[@lily_lxndr]

thank you eggs :') (or should i call you toast?)

[@qupid1419]

I was expecting some like really sad fact about a historical period or something so this was a pleasant surprise! I definitely heard those unspoken implications with each line as well! "Everyone is listening but no one is transmitting" is so interesting. The mental image of like, governments across the galaxy with their gadgets just like, waiting for someone to break the silence is just so like, breakout rooms on zoom. The idea that awkward silence is a cross-cosmos phenomenon is tragic in such a peculiar, kind of precious way. I think its bc its one of the few reasons that doesn't imply either we are better than them or they are better than us. It doesn't even imply that contact isn't possible either, in fact it almost explicitly implies it is. Its the intersection of tragedy and hope. Its grief...and solace too.

[@gruslen]

I love how personal your videos are. I know it's difficult to reveal such ugly, raw feelings to others, but it makes me (and I'm sure others) feel so much less alone. I've struggled so much with my own unresolved feelings and felt so lonely in regards to them. Something about this video just made me feel a bit... lighter? It's beautiful. Thank you so much for the videos you make.

[@lily_lxndr]

Sincerely really nice to hear. Thank you :)

[@stushi]

This was beautiful. Two things: 1. The fermi poem you have could absolutely be displayed in a capital A capital G Art Gallery. Speaking as someone who has displayed in a gallery before. But that doesn't give it value, or make it art. It just makes it Art. And that doesn't mean it belongs in an Art Gallery. It belongs on your desktop. And it belongs to all of us, through this video. And it’s art because it's art. 2. Grief is so fucking weird. Your story with it was very relatable, while at the same time, not at all. Thank you for sharing ❤

[@transsexual_computer_faery]

well, part of art is the question, "what is art?".

[@lily_lxndr]

Thank you bud ❣️❣️

[@jackflukinger1493]

my grandpa was diagnosed with dementia a year or two ago and your story about your grandmother really touched me. he is alive, but i already feel grief. thank you, sincerely, for sharing this video with us. i’ve needed to really cry. i’m hoping to find my own version of picking thyme 💜

[@AW-xc1xc]

My grandmother also has dementia. She's so far gone that she can't speak or move on her own. It broke me to realise she didn't recognise me anymore. At least she recognises my mom, but I dread the day that ceases to happen. We have the right to feel grief even though they're not dead. It's scary and confusing and I realise that I need to have a good cry over it as well. May we all find our own kind of solace 🌱

[@distortedguitarist81]

"Remind yourself there are other sources of pain." I think about this often and sometimes wonder if it is the impetus for self-harm. I have recently found myself, in lieu of causing lasting physical harm, eating spicy foods for that pain/discomfort. The problem is my spice tolerance has improved in the process haha This is one of your best videos, right up there with girls own the void. Super proud to be a patron!

[@lily_lxndr]

I think I do the same thing! Happy to hear it resonated 💜

[@lily_lxndr]

As far as coping mechanisms go, it’s not too bad I don’t think.

[@distortedguitarist81]

@@lily_lxndr haha on the whole, no. But it is interesting to see how different people fulfill that impulse and the power of that impulse to begin with. It should seem paradoxical that when in pain sometimes our bodies seek more pain. I almost wonder if there is a primal confusion. I don't think mental health stress without threat of physical repercussions, from an evolution standpoint, was ever meant to be sustainable long-term. But that's all modern life in a privileged nation is for much of it's citizenry. Constant Mental stress without direct physical threat. So our bodies almost try to correct. I'm getting kooky now haha

[@danimolusco]

@@distortedguitarist81 Thats interesting, I do the same with spicy food, and doing exciting scary things helps a little too. I think you're on to something with the primal confusion thing.

[@dariabelichenko9692]

I do push-ups for this reason. Not exactly pain, but it works))

[@ihazotherchannel]

"fresh thyme goes with everything" is a brilliant line of writing

[@lykkel5387]

Damn i was just looking for something to watch while working out and now im crying on my yoga mat wishing i could write poetry half as impactful as a list of contents from a wikipedia article

[@foxgloved8922]

The poem reminds me of one I saw printed on the wall at a museum exhibit about space exploration. The first line said “They’re made out of meat.”

[@TylerJMacDonald]

Reminds me of that ben bailey bit lol

[@khunt5336]

"They're Made out of Meat," a short sci-fi story by Terry Bisson. It definitely has the same themes as this poem. I do love it

[@brendanparker3253]

Poetry is any combination of words that can make me cry

[@habb420]

I was only half listening to this video so the reveal that it was a table of contents hit me like a truck.

[@colleennewholy9026]

My own grandmother suddenly died. She didn't tell my mother (and me, the one person she bonded with in a healthy manner) that her cancer had come back. I was in the Middle of obtaining my GED (got Science & Language Arts done), when I got the phonecall from my mom. Since I was limited to taking the bus, it took me an hour and a half to get to our apartment at the time. She had fallen into a coma, and the family was coming together to prepare for the funeral Omaha (The Tribe, not the City that's named after them) funerals are large, and since she was a valued member of the Tribe. It was to be PERFECT I remember being in the waiting room. Absolutely numb. Because the last time I talked to my Grandma, she had made a plan to come down for Thanksgiving. I couldn't go into her room, and since there was that incident going on in France. I couldn't help but to be stupidly angry, that these youths decided to waste their lives. While my grandmother spent her whole existence trying to save the language of her people. Even now. I can remember every moment we spent together. Drinking tea, playing cards. Going thrift shopping, sewing, watching Westerns on TV. But most importantly. Going foraging for mushrooms, milkweed and other edible wild plants. Plants, that our people (I'm Lakota) collectively ate. Such as wild plums, and choke cherries. She had a big garden, and we'd plant corn and beans an squash the traditional way. She'd tell us stories, about her childhood. But never mentioned the abuse she'd undergone in boarding school and by her own father's hand. The soup she left to me. Is Milkweed Soup. Made from the plants, that farmers routinely cut down, spray and eradicate from their fields and ditches. But is a valued delicacy for both my Omaha and Lakota relatives. Every year, during the early summer. I try to make this soup, because that's what we would do. Throw jeans on, our boots and bug spray and head out. I never got to ask her, if she'd still love me. If she knew I was Bi, or that I wasn't like the way she'd thought I'd be I never got to ask her. If she had been happy, after everything she'd been through. If she was glad, that her family was thriving But every year. I go out, and I pick the milkweed. Because her own grandmother had taught her the very thing, and so on, and so on

[@thegreatdream8427]

I'm glad you wrote this. I don't know how to reply, but thank you for sharing this piece of your humanity, to strangers on a random youtube video's comment section.

[@merror-fx8cn]

That Little Blue Encyclopedia cover!!!! What a lovely Easter egg in a piece about a formal experiment (either in writing or reading)!

[@spicyspiess8474]

really truly just adored this video... i dunno what it was about the paper flowers and stars and your voice but it just like hit. i loved the format AND that incredibly smooth shift to the sponsor

[@lily_lxndr]

Thanks so much! That makes me feel better about putting it out there

[@gwarchive]

As a Wikipedian, I'm not mad at all! I'm just surprised that a little edit has had profound impact on someone's life. It's no doubt that the poem is better left away from Wikipedia, as you know, neutrality. But I like this video simply as a personal and meditative essay on life and being human. I read in a comment, it was made around 2016. Lemme tell you, it was a time when things really started to change. 2007 was a particularly chaotic year, and 2016 is a kind of healing process, and that included fixing the Fermi article. So yeah, the article's language doesn't reflect Fermi, as it's just trying to give further comprehension. But I assume you have understood it so I just want to say again, great video! I really love these type of content, and your delivery and editing and uniquely squared aspect ratio makes this entire video a treat. Love from Indonesia

[@chunkygumby443]

"We are either lonely in the universe or we are not, both are equally terrifying" -one of my favorite quotes about the fermi paradox. It perfectly encapsulates the feelings I have towards such a universal question, a paradox that makes so many scared, worried, and lonely. We ask for the answers but sometimes, what you want is not the answer but to wonder. It's such a universal yet personal feeling of feeling alone in such a vast universe but there's a sort of comfort knowing that so many people in our own history has felt the same exact way looking at the stars and asked "are we alone". The question itself pertains to the loneliness of our species but neglects the fact that we are not alone not as long as we have each other. Sorry for the ramble, videos like these always make me rambly.

[@kgarrison343]

Human - noun. - The nature of humanity is such that a human will attempt to add a poem to a neutral work of reference. The nature of humanity is such that a human cannot abide this act. The nature of humanity is such that a human will look at this interaction and feel at once sad and pleased that it is so.

[@domi8619]

I feel like this video could be someone's favorite poem

[@lily_lxndr]

That's so sweet! Thank you

[@edisoncummings2970]

What a beautiful reading. Interesting how personal worries of being alone are so parallel to our species’ curiosity on the same issue. Brilliant!

[@lily_lxndr]

Thank you so much!

[@CossackGene]

Honestly, I've never felt anxious about the presence or absence of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. It's a fun idea that we might meet aliens someday, but why would I feel alone without them when I've got a whole planet of other beings to be together with? At least that's how I feel about it.

[@MrPotatoemouse]

Thank goodness, this is honestly how I feel too. I do love Lily’s video and whole take on it though, beautiful and thought provoking.

[@voilet-the-non-violet-vulpix]

I tend to feel the same for the opposite reason. It’s so easy to feel lonely despite living on a planet full of people. Finding out that life exists on another planet too isn’t going to change that.

[@dekstarking]

Thyme heals all wounds ❤️

[@lily_lxndr]

It really does!

[@shimura7777]

I'm in love with the fact that this video is in 4:3 More people should do this, it looks really cool!

[@lily_lxndr]

Thank you! I love 4:3 for the cozy lo-fi vibe

[@histori6259]

Excellent video. You are by far my favorite video essayist on this platform.

[@lily_lxndr]

Aw man, that's so nice, thank you

[@deckie_]

6:49 yea but honestly... that means *you're* the artist. The poem is a ready-made and you're the one who brought it from item to art. So congrats: you made a ready-made poem, which I find impressive on its own, but you made a damn good one at that, a layered one, even

[@elizabethtetaz4851]

"stick your face in the dirt. get eaten alive. remind your body there are other sources of pain." thank you for this video lily, i return to it often.

[@Aqua2D]

12:43 "we can't run from the ugliness in the world but we can learn to find whimsy in it"

[@hexeddecimals]

This video reminded me a lot of what you'd find in The Anthropecene Reviewed. The sentiment thoughts branching from or leading to large rocks like the sciences or literature is very familiar. Thank you for this lovely video :)

[@Roxanneredpanda]

I genuinely started crying when you showed the tatoo. I miss my grandma too.

[@rayafoxr3]

I saw the Tumblr post with the screenshot of that article with a comment saying ‘a poem on loneliness’, which made me emotional, but I didn’t know it was like, a thing that people thought a lot about, until this video. I started crying right away seeing you start to read it, I wonder how long it would have taken me to cry if I hadn’t seen that post. I cry pretty easily, tbh. The quick mention of the AIDS candy art made me sad too

[@angellovecharm7759]

I'm crying. You read me a Wikipedia table of contents and I'm crying

[@ChrisLeeW00]

6:29 You say it’s not meant to be read this deeply, but how could anyone not feel so deeply about these statements? This is a valid reaction.

[@freerangerudy]

this video is awesome, it feels like a mini anthology if that makes sense? great stuff

[@lily_lxndr]

Funny story - this was originally gonna be 4 parts but I ran out of time LOL

[@RebekahSolWest]

@@lily_lxndr oh dang. I hope you get to tell the stories in those other two parts, at some point, here or elsewhere.

[@BritneyT.]

This touched me in a way many things have not. In an odd way, it felt like prayer. I've needed this.

[@ElenaMcMuffin]

this video was a gift to my recommendation page

[@lily_lxndr]

Thank you! Yeah they’re great

[@LiteWrites]

This video felt like a nice warm hug by the end, I feel all fuzzy now

[@lily_lxndr]

Omg so nice to hear 🥰

[@llvidal]

i love this aspect ratio. this video looks so pretty.

[@astralucy]

This was beautiful. I've been stuck in what feels to be a loop since right before the pandemic started due to my own grief and this felt like one of those rare sighs of relief I get from time to time. Thank you so much for sharing it, it means the world.

[@lily_lxndr]

I’m so glad to hear it. Thank you :)

[@lyadmilo]

My favourite not a poem poem is the long term nuclear storage warnings

[@lily_lxndr]

I absolutely adore that one

[@smoot5868]

the fermi paradox poem reminds me a lot of the wikipedia article for the timeline of the far future

[@lily_lxndr]

Loooove that article

[@jbdbibbaerman8071]

I have to admit I don't understand the way you're thinking or interpreting here, but it's quite interesting to ponder. These are ways I would have never thought

[@Sentientmatter8]

Lily, by the definition I learned in a university class on poetry, you are the author of this poem.

[@The_Jovian]

It's a bit on the nose but you might appreciate the song "Wild Mountain Thyme". I really love the version by the Longest Johns

[@nanardeurlambda]

this thing about poetry where you don't expect it reminds me of two things, each at diferent (opposing?) sides of the "low vs high culture" bell curve. on one end, I remembered that tumblr thread which listed an ever increasing list of quotes that sounded more dignified/wise/epic than their sources would lead you to expect. it's not quite the same, since those were usually from stories, but there is this marvelling at the beauty you didn't foresee. on the other end of the spectrum, I think of all these "cut-up" techniques used by authors (and artists) from the 20th century. taking a bit of text (or any other media really) and elevating its nature by changing its context. this is again diferent, since the attitude is not usually finding beauty but building meaning from the mundane. still, I like to believe that this is one of those lines connecting all the levels of intelectualisms despite the barriers we invents for them.

[@AGale-eg7kl]

I’m watching this sitting alone in my college dining hall. It’s packed right now. I’m coming up on the end of my second year and I don’t really have any friends. I’ve been trying to rationalize my loneliness this whole time. What is it about me and my circumstances that means I’m so alone and yet there are so many people who are so loved here? This doesn’t have answers but it does have a feeling of relief. Thank you.

[@e.trimble5142]

Something that I realized fairly recently is that so, SO many people, especially now, as all of human civilization attempts to recover from a technically-ongoing pandemic, feel alone. Loneliness is not only something that affects every person that you have met and know of, but is inherent to the human condition itself, as humans develop and become fully realized in their autonomy and personhood, and inevitably feel isolated in their experience. Thus, as trite as it may sound, in the universality of FEELING alone, no one truly ever IS alone. You'll find companionship somewhere, even if in the most unusual of circumstances ❤

[@coscorrodrift]

The algorithm is good today. This is my favorite genre of youtube videos, "made by people who were on tumblr". I wasn't on there, but I like to hear the stories from those times, and how they've persisted in people's minds until today. Love the comment section too, that's how you can tell when a video is really good, when it inspires others to share what they think, in beautiful ways.

[@jonathanmitchell8698]

"picking time has become my own private grief ritual"

[@WitchingHourYT]

Great video and I especially love the editing and footage choices you made in this one! The stop motion title cards and texts are very novel and a great way to break the video into segments. Looking forward to your next entry!

[@lily_lxndr]

Thank you!!

[@BrianSpurrier]

The change of framing from one human telling another “we’re alone” to that of an outside observer saying “they think they’re alone” It’s all because of Wikipedia’s weird grammar rules but it turns it into the premise of a horror story

[@thebusinessgoose]

I’ve never felt so seen by a video, especially one that randomly appeared in my youtube recommended. My nana died two and a half weeks ago, and I’ve been struggling to cope, just listening to Car Seat Headrest (and similarly embarrassing music) to avoid confronting the pain. In a weird way, it’s nice to hear someone else talking about the feelings that I’ve been running from. This video helps, I think.

[@lily_lxndr]

[@falpsdsqglthnsac]

it's actually still possible to view this poem on wikipedia, since it has a built-in history function. it's the "view history" button at the top next to "edit". i found a revision from april 30, 2016 that matches the screenshot shown here, but it's likely that the poem survived a few weeks or even months of revisions unchanged.

[@becca2525]

I didn't know what to expect going into this video, but I was not expecting something so beautiful and moving. Thank you x

[@sharpcheddar6453]

There are so many more things I’d like to say, but I’ll keep it to saying that this was very touching and came at a time when I needed it. Thank you.

[@lily_lxndr]

I'm glad to hear it, thank you :)

[@nostalgicinmybones]

stumbled on this video as a total fluke, and my relationship with grief is such i almost stopped watching after learning about the wikipedia poem out of worry it may negatively affect me. but the tone of your voice and the way you told the story about picking herbs in a field was so gentle and compelling, i made it through not untouched, but unscathed. thank you for approaching such upsetting ideas with such care 💜

[@Gameinger16]

Sometimes I look at the wikipedia articles for simple things just to see how the writers put it. Stuff like air, emotion, culture etc. Human is the one i always find myself returning to. For one, the English page just has a picture of two people from Thailand. And second, as said in this video, there's no mention anywhere that the only lifeforms that could really get to, read, and understand the article (as far as we know) would be humans. I keep expecting an ominous "You are human" to be somewhere, but there just isn't.

[@rowan404]

Honestly, I deliberately _don’t_ overread things like this. That’s what lead so many people to believe in a higher being, magic, spirits, etc. For example, someone overreading that “poem” and taking note of the 3rd-person referral to humans could conclude that an extraterrestrial being wrote it in an attempt to contact us and try to open our eyes to their existence.

[@brianarbenz7206]

The reading of the table of contents as poetry brings back a day from the Macintosh era when I was showing a list of fonts to someone and we both were struck with how reading the list resembled a spoken aloud poem of the kind delivered at coffeehouses. I jokingly suggested reciting the list with passion at open mic night. Thanks for bringing back a lighthearted moment, and for much more.

[@AsplundhFamily]

I'll be honest, I don't really get into most of Lily's videos. Not that they're bad in any way, the videos on this channel are clearly carefully thought out and well-executed, they just don't necessarily speak to me. However, every so often, Lily posts a video that just speaks to my soul and stays in my mind for weeks. This is definitely going to be one of those. I really love and respect the willingness to experiment with different styles of videos. Even if they're not *all* necessarily my cup of tea, when they *are* my cup of tea I want to inject the tea directly into my bloodstream.

[@vodostar9134]

Love your approach to the Fermi paradox. Very refreshing. And sorry about your grandmother. So different from my grief about the loss of my wife but so much the same. Still not ready to talk about that yet.

[@OccuredJakub12]

That's kinda the beauty and the horror of art. It can come up in even the places we try to make the most scientific. It's like a flood that no matter how well you isolate yourself from, will find the smallest crack and leak through. Humans are fundamentally artful creatures. Science is art, in a way, because it is also a method of thinking that helps us try to make sense of the world. This unintended art is always my favourite kind because it reveals things not just about the artist's own reality, but the shared reality we all live in. Why did this AI decide that out of millions of data points it chose this one in particular? Does it say something about the people making it? About the source it pulled from?

[@catoboros]

Lily, I only just noticed the tiny purple flowers in your glass pendant in part two! A lovely detail. ❤ I have watched part two many times over the last eight months, and your words always move me to tears. Thank you. 🥲

[@danieljewers-smith9356]

This is the most beautiful video on the entire Earth

[@lily_lxndr]

thank you bestie

[@danieljewers-smith9356]

@@lily_lxndr

[@camelcaseco]

this is an extremely good video, i think its my favorite for right now. id be curious when you found that screenshot, if you can find from the file info - looking through the revision history of this wikipedia article i wasnt able to find it, but certainly both the building blocks of what became this poem and its remains afterwards, which were both very interesting. here is a revision from february 1, 2007, which shares some structure with what was presented in this video: 4.1 They do not exist ... 4.1.1 ... and they never did 4.1.2 ... because an inhospitable universe destroys complex intelligent life 4.1.3 ... because it is the nature of intelligent life to destroy itself 4.1.4 ... because it is the nature of intelligent life to destroy others 4.1.5 ... because God created humans alone 4.2 They do exist ... 4.2.1 ... but communication is impossible due to problems of scale 4.2.2 ... but communication is impossible for technical reasons 4.2.3 ... and they choose not to communicate 4.2.4 ... and they are here unobserved

[@lily_lxndr]

WOW, that's a seriously good find. Wish I'd seen it sooner. The screenshot I took is dated to June 14th, 2016 :)

[@RebekahSolWest]

I had the same idea!

[@camelcaseco]

@@lily_lxndr oh, thats more recent then i would have expected! just now i looked at a revision from september 17, 2014, and surprisingly enough it had almost none of the components. scrolling down, though, it looks like actually the poem was mostly there, but the subheadings werent shown on the table of contents. but then on october 4, 2015, some guy just changed all of them and then the titles were almost identical to your screenshot. fun stuff

[@Backtotheshadowsagain]

I often worry not that the graves I dig for my grief will be too shallow, I worry they will be too deep.

[@kashphlinktu]

That was a really beautiful story about your grandmother. Mine is in the hospital right now and might not make it. I’m glad you can remember her that way.

[@BonJoviBeatlesLedZep]

Man this is utterly beautiful. I wish it had more views.

[@ace.of.space.]

what a visually and conceptually gorgeous video. thank you for these thoughts, and unrelatedly, i absolutely adore the swoop of your hair in part 2

[@lily_lxndr]

Thanks on both counts 😅

[@sleepyzeph]

Great video! One thing that has always stuck out to me regarding life on other planets is that there's so much life on OUR planet that we haven't figured out yet. Billionaires talking about how they want to find aliens, but showing no interest in mushrooms. Theres so much magic happening right under our noses, and we don't see it because we're busy looking at the sky. There's also a Ted Chiang short story about this, called The Great Silence. It's super short and super good. It's narrated by a parrot.

[@ickle4888]

Love that you shot this in 4:3! Looks amazing

[@lily_lxndr]

Thank you! :)

[@TheRacingWind]

ugh.. the thing about your grandmother. i'm so sorry and i can relate so much. my grandmother was sick for two years and i had the blessing of knowing and of being at her side when she passed, but it still is unspeakably painful. i haven't spoken about it to many people despite trying to be more transparent and vulnerable with my emotions now that i'm an adult. i feel like the words "my grandma died" aren't powerful enough to begin to describe what happened. like they do, of course, but it only scratches the surface of the experience of being her only grandchild, being her best friend, being with her for her illness and then for her death. maybe not what you were getting at, but i do feel like earth a bit with this. like maybe i'm not transmitting, maybe i'm not listening, or maybe i am just alone in this immense grief. but then again your video made me feel less alone, so thank you for that

[@CrestfallenLizard]

i had a somewhat similar experience just reading the article for "humans". i find it very charming in a whimsical way, as if every article on wikipedia was just written by a little robot that's merely observing us and learning about us, so it can report its findings back to its other robot pals flying throughout the universe. also, i find your interpretation of "humans are not listening properly" interesting, since i didn't even think of it in that way. my interpretation was much more literal, which i suppose is my own shortcoming. i was thinking it was referring to how we often struggle to uncenter ourselves from the conversation, like just waiting for our turn to speak rather than really trying to take in what the other person is saying. i think it stuck out to me like that because that's something i often personally struggle with. both being a better active listener to other people, and feeling kind of hurt and rejected when it seems like the other person/people in the conversation just want to hear themselves talk. anyway, i really enjoyed the video and will definitely be checking out more.

[@ValhallaToadplant]

I love this. Both parts were so sweet and even the talk about Maurice Sendak made me think of my own Grandmother. They were close friends and he used to send me postcards when I was little. 💕

[@lily_lxndr]

That’s so cool ❤️

[@sori6196]

This is giving me chills. I wonder if i would’ve had the same reaction if i saw this in text format somewhere, among other things, and no one had drawn my attention to it.

[@SamanthaIreneYTube]

You have such a way with conveying your life experiences and weaving storytelling so seamlessly with philosophy and video topics. I’m in awe of your ability to put into words things that I’ve felt but been at a loss for words for.

[@jjthepikazard212]

i feel like this is going to be a comfort video for me in a year

[@therecognitionscene3771]

Lily this was so nice!! I put off watching it for a while because I saw on Twitter how you’d put a lot of special effort and personality into this one and I wanted to watch it when I was in a place to like, fully engage with it. It was super meaningful. I loved the stop motion animation you did. I loved the poem you found and the way you read it. I loved and related to the way you talk about art being a frame for viewing things, and the ability to find art in unusual spaces. And I also really related to your story about finding a personal way to grieve that didn’t make logical sense but felt authentic and right. I too find solace in rituals in unusual moments. The only thing I don’t relate to is you calling Car Seat Headrest embarrassing!! When I first heard both Twin Fantasy albums back to back a couple years ago I think it changed something in me fundamentally. If that’s “cringe,” I don’t want to be “based.” :p

[@lily_lxndr]

Thank you thank you!! And for what it’s worth i love CSH/Twin Fantasy too LOL

[@charvari]

Hold on, this might be my favorite video of all time. Give me a few days to collect my thoughts. holy fuck

[@amby-mo3vk]

been having some bad days, thank you for allowing this strange comfort for me

[@christopherauretta3438]

Thank you for this very captivating two-part video essay. The irony is, the entire essay feels and "reads" as a poem: a poem which enhances and extends our apprenticeship to humanness, helps to transform sorrow or rage -- (at loss and/or insult) or, even, despair at humanity's slow advance toward substantive understanding -- into wisdom and, ultimately, opens our senses (such as the smell and taste of thyme) onto a new state of liberatory sentience. This is a beautiful work of art you have created which begins with a table of contents and ends with, well, everything. The whole video essay embodies, all at once, a kind of cosmic lyricism and existential heartbeat.

[@malcolmcooke7131]

This is really cool! I love how much you put into making this video it’s own work of art! There’s this weird feeling I get with some video essays where it just kind of feels like disposable commentary without much though put into its own form. This one left me feeling inspired and like I actually learned some things about myself. Wonderful job!

[@beansblue6946]

they are here undetected they are here unacknowledged they are here unaware

[@tuttt99]

I love listening to you. Your voice is very soothing.

[@eugeniacooper4968]

If fanfiction and creative writing assignments have taught me anything, it is that you can define what is and isn’t art for yourself and no one has to agree with you that it is art. But I agree, that was a beautiful poem.

[@liminalia1025]

Okay that Maurice Sendak tangent at 12:00 was the most effective plug I've seen in ages lol

[@lily_lxndr]

It's a REALLY good documentary

[@bigshagger1789]

not gonna lie, I almost cried watching this. Your poetic way is so good, thank you :)

[@JadenRaso]

This is such a beautiful video. I had it show up in my feed when it came out earlier this year and it has really stuck with me. The combination of sincerity and vulnerability with insightful and thoughtful commentary on art and existence is really powerful. And I'm also glad that this video introduced me to your channel which is full of equally great works. Thanks Lily for what you do!!

[@BenMclean007]

This has instantly become one of my favourite video essays. Excellent work :)

[@Graknorke]

I was very sceptical as to how a Wikipedia table of contents could be poetry but once you started reading it out it was really obvious where you were going to go with it. I wouldn't have thought much of it myself but with the priming yeah I get it.