Why Are Challenge Videos a Thing?

From cinnamon to Tide pods, “challenge videos” are dangerous. So why do people do them?
Hosted by: Hank Green
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Sources:
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[@TigerHawk709]

As a Patreon supporter, I would like to request - Nay! - Urge - Nay! - DEMAND that there be a special "SciShow Hank" episode where he explains the whole "bomb making in the backyard" phase. Because, you can't just say you had that phase and not have a story to it

[@kassiep]

As a fellow patron supporter, I agree!

[@bupsupreme271]

Hank, why would you build a bomb in the backyard? Everybody knows you do it in the garage!

[@thomas.02]

The Survivalist backyard for “the good old days”, garage for successful startups

[@Master_Therion]

I think Hank just inadvertently started the "Let's build a bomb in our backyard with our friend Drew challenge." I know I'm going to try it!

[@Master_Therion]

Oh, but you need a friend named Drew. I don't think there are many people named Drew to draw from.

[@Babarudra]

Did it... 30-some years ago, but I didn't have a friend named Drew. Does that count?

[@hannayoung9657]

I blew up a potato, with help of a friends father....

[@jasoncola6071]

Do u hav Reddit?

[@shabott45]

Master Therion Soooo...... this can't be in any way related to early indoctrination of homosexuality to these children how exactly????

[@NewMessage]

"An unfortunate combination of social media, and developing brains." That describes the last 10 or so years entirely.

[@demonflowerchild]

New Message my god you are everywhere!

[@jackielinde7568]

Wait?!?! Hank built a bomb? Why are we just learning about this? We need to know more, for, you know... SCIENCE!

[@Skyroar-fu9kg]

I agree. We must know... FOR SCIENCE!

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

Jack Linde we mut know what the psi the bomb makes when your like a feet away

[@loerya99]

The bomb comments are in poor taste today when the Austin community is grieving after three bomb attacks. Normally I love these videos, but I am sad at the light hearted references to making bombs.

[@FenrirAldebrand]

loerya99 But not everybody knows about that. KZbin and SciShow are NOT just limited to the US - I live in Canada and have heard nothing about this. You can't blame people for being ignorant of something if they truly didn't know.

[@jackielinde7568]

+PaganArwen and Loerya99 I didn't hear about the bombing until Loerya99 mentioned it, and I live in the US. Then again, I posted my comment before it started flooding the news feeds that I wasn't watching, because, you know, I was watching Hank hint at doing something risky.

[@pdreding]

I jumped off a cliff once. It was ten feet over grass and I already knew how to execute a proper breakfall, but still …

[@NMonterosso]

I'm sorry but when I was a teen I never thought "hey you know what would be fun? Eating some laundry soap."

[@jackielinde7568]

I was too busy trying to avoid getting stuffed in a locker, learning the proper 22.5 inch glide step, and rolling those sweet, sweet 20's. Although, there may have been some TeePee involved in my youth... ;)

[@indefiniteartblock434]

My parents made me scrub my mouth with soap for bad behavior/using bad words, weird to see kids actually wanting to eat soap this time.

[@mimsydreams]

We didn't have tide pods when I was a kid. Mostly used soap powder. And, yes, did taste it once. Lucky a few granules of soap will not kill you as it's not highly concentrated like a laundry pod and doesn't contain a plastic wrapper. Also pretty sure I tasted a soap bar before. Again, something you can lick and not die from. We also didn't have social media to make sharing these stupid things get likes, comments, adns subs. You just did something stupid and pretended it never happened.

[@gloriatravis5788]

"Rub your skin off with an eraser..." Took me right back to sixth grade! Loonnng before social media!

[@Decora_Shadowolf]

My brain must be broken then. I dont do risks...never have...

[@frenzysporetv3431]

Veronica Macumber It could be more mature though.

[@Decora_Shadowolf]

FrenzySpore TV Can something be more, than others of its equal if it never experiences things that they do though?

[@frenzysporetv3431]

Veronica Macumber Depends on he geneticts in his case.

[@MusiCaninesTheMusicalDogs]

A mix of social media and developing brains!? I'm surprised there are any brains behind these challenges! 😲

[@rachelelizabeth6017]

My neighbor did the cinnamon challenge.....She started throwing up blood and had to be rushed to the hospital....I’m not kidding...

[@Pheonix19581]

Nice

[@gephc4]

Did she post the video?

[@celinak5062]

wisegirl_ 1227 bloody hell Did she have to stay at the hospital and isn't it expensive

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

wisegirl_ 1227 bloody hell

[@RialuCaos]

I did the cinnamon challenge and nothing happened, well besides gaining a new dislike for cinnamon.

[@thething3372]

People: please don't treat teenagers like kids People: teenager brain is too undeveloped to fully reason, they might eat laundry pods for fame and coolness

[@antomy5900]

Lesson not clear: accidently build a bomb in the backyard

[@BTheBlindRef]

Every time someone says that 16 year olds should be able to vote, I recall the lessons in this video and I say "probably not..."

[@edgbarra]

Hank, your charisma makes this show not just insightful but also delightful. Thanks to you and the whole team :)

[@aliceignis]

Just imagine how awesome it would be if good and productive things were considered "cool" and "attention worthy". Instead of stupid risky challenges there would be e.g. the "working in a voluntary capacity - challenge" or the "collecting tresh from a forest - challenge"...

[@Gayfrogscollective]

People find ways to bring more natural selection back into play during a period in which our species is largely past it, at least as it applies to other animals.

[@seatbelttruck]

I made very few risky stupid decisions. Score one for anxiety disorders!

[@angelikaskoroszyn8495]

be responsible young adult challenge - the most terryfying one

[@felixc543]

I'm 23 and for my entire life I've struggled more with being able to take any kind of risk (to a damaging degree) I'm getting slightly better at it now, but especially as a teenager I was completely unwilling to take even small risks, I wish I was more impulsive though obviously not to that degree

[@tuubas2]

The way you jsut said, wwwwhhhhhhhyyyy. Cracked me up :')

[@lizkasper]

Is that a tuatara on your lapel, Hank?! Love it!

[@cheaterman49]

« If you're watching, hey Drew! That was fun! ... No, it's bad! » LOL Hank :-D

[@vampyresmiles713]

The study that was tracking the maturation of the frontal lobe actually ended without finding any stopping of development at 25, but they didn’t have resources to continue following the participants. So we don’t actually know when or even IF the frontal lobe stops "maturing", only that if it does, it stops well AFTER 25.

[@xWood4000]

Nice, I'm doing a project on this in school so thank you for giving me usable sources.

[@partacanna]

I thought he would talk about challenges like 'Boyfriend does my makeup' challenge.

[@poorplayer9249]

How to do a cover of 'peer pressure' without ever mentioning peer pressure. Nice, SciShow!

[@sajidaassaf174]

I've been asking for a Hank episode for ages, I'm so happy rn

[@InnocentDoodles]

That tiny "Whyyy...?" At 0:35 kills me

[@theseigemeister]

Super interesting video. Thank you!

[@shirleyfan5232]

haha I like how Hank always moves his hands so much LOL

[@hotdrippyglass]

There were goldfish swallowing and phone booth stuffing back in the fifties. Humans is some strange creatures.

[@notkimpine]

thank you hank green for reminding daily videos.

[@myrmesuwu607]

I'm a teenager and I don't take stupid risk like other stupid ones

[@AJ213Probably]

Myrmes 142 *claps*

[@myrmesuwu607]

AJ213 cough

[@bongle3726]

God you’re so smart

[@indefiniteartblock434]

Trends come and go, you won't miss anything worthwhile by following those kinds of people.

[@myrmesuwu607]

Athen H ok but what if I don't?

[@cpypcy]

I did a hotcoil challenge! I also saved my dinner, but I should've known better to hold frying pan properly.

[@idkwefr1751]

So what you're saying is... build a bomb?

[@danielshade710]

the battery acid eating challenge stole my innocence

[@alertsquirrel]

My buddy and I took milk jugs and filed them full of aerosols - we tried many - and lit them. Once lit you would quickly yet gingerly place the jug on the ground horizontally, then you would stomp on it and watch the 10-20 foot flame shoot out!

[@raraavis7782]

When I‘m out of cacao, I sometimes make hot milk with about a teaspoon of cinnamon. Granted, part of it just stays in the bottom of the mug...but still.. is that bad for me? I never noticed any symptoms of sensitivity.

[@callies8907]

Cinnamon isn't bad for you, and the risk faced by the cinnamon challenge (in which you eat a whole teaspoon (tablespoon?) of cinnamon *in one swallow*) has more to do with inadvertently inhaling the powder into your lungs and trachea, which is definitely not good for those sensitive mucous membranes. Since its a powder, it doesn't really swallow well and ends up coating the inside of your mouth and drying it out, which causes a lot of coughing and gagging that make accidental inhalation more likely.

[@raspberrytaegi]

HELL YES BEEN WAITIN FOR THIS

[@indefiniteartblock434]

Unfortunately, grown adults do these challenges too. What I've concluded on is that these people lack judgement and self-restrain. Even as a kid, I wouldn't follow things that I knew were way past my limits, especially if the aim was to get attention or try whatever's hip at the moment. It's mindless and not worth following.

[@TheGuruNetOn]

"Good Decisions come from Experience. And Experience comes from Bad Decisions." + Survival of the Luckiest (Duh-rwin's Law Of Natural Deletion ie "Look Ma, No Hands") + Reliance on First Hand Experience rather than Second Hand Experience + Wanting to Test one's as yet unknown Limits (curiosity, discovery and no history to compare with, lack of knowledge of consequences, not thinking things through) + Wanting to Impress People (teen problems) + Undeveloped Sense of Self (Peer Pressure) + Forbidden Apple Syndrome (thrill of doing taboo or dangerous stuff) + Lack of BS filters (looking out for cognitive biases, gotchas, traps and pitfalls)

[@beeman1741]

Thanks for making this video hank it is amazing please carry on

[@slagondrayer447]

Grant Thompson, he's talking to you.

[@morganboeding8650]

I know you don't generally take suggestions from KZbin comments, but I think an episode on why we dream/why we have nightmares would be cool. I'd like to know what the scientific community has found so far on this subject

[@susanwilliams2392]

Young Hank was still really smart... He built the bomb in someone ELSE'S back garden.

[@xsilly9503]

Two Hank videos in one day?! I'm gonna lose it if he does all 4 in one day

[@0mn1vore]

"I used to ride broncos, 'til my brains grew in." Not sure who I'm quoting. Anyway, it's much truer than I ever could have imagined.

[@realdka13]

I want to challenge teens to the graduate high school challenge. Then the graduate college challenge. I won't be impressed until I see those done

[@mr.boomguy]

I'm weak. I can't (or will) do challanges. I don't mind food challanges. But I'm quick to give up after the first burgers or fries.

[@magister343]

I am pretty sure I never went through an impulsive phase. I always had more of a problem overthinking and wonder why I should bother doing anything at all.

[@mrdonetx]

Dumb stuff we did when I was young might have been less public, but I'm pretty sure the only ones eating Tide powder out of the box were toddlers. Our dumb stuff might have been risky but not flat out dumb. We could actually read warning labels and the words "serious injury or death" meant just that.

[@Mattteus]

I did the cinnamon challenge successfully but that makes sense since I consume more cinnamon in a day than most people do in a year

[@OofieDooples]

Hank wears that shirt a lot. I want it. It's beautiful.

[@MatthewStinar]

I got in trouble as a teen for using the internet to research how to manufacture explosives.

[@Valdagast]

My dad nearly shot down a military plane with a home-made rocket when he was in his late teens.

[@honestlyaram9211]

Yea... My friends friend drank a bottle of hot sauce and died...

[@TegukiSix]

How do you remove skin with an eraser? I use my arm to clean my erasers all the time and it's never hurt.

[@deeb3272]

Social media wont go away but teenagers who do those challenges do.

[@stax6092]

I remember the Milk challenge, it was like the first thing.

[@liamisafireplace]

What about the goldfish eating one? That one happened before social media

[@vladimirpereira2009]

Thirst for fame combined with immaturity plus the pressures of social media forces the young people to do moronic things

[@MjikThize]

This is why Mark Twain suggested sealing teens in a barrel.

[@jackielinde7568]

Yeah, but to do that, you'd have to waste a perfectly good barrel.

[@MjikThize]

Jack Linde plastic barrels are pretty cheap. And they are reusable, just hose it out, a little soap and it's ready for the next one.

[@udtheaesir]

One word that can save the researchers all the trouble: Darwinism.

[@RSyaytoast]

Hank is Da Bomb

[@lazyperfectionist1]

Let's just bear in mind that scene from _A Christmas Story,_ when one young lad is being... shall we say... _cajoled_ by several pears into touching his tongue to a pole, and when he's hesitant, one of them says, condescendingly, "That's 'cause you know it'll _stick!"_ I did not have this reaction at the time, (because I was young and stupid), but _now,_ my reaction is, "Well... yeah. 🤷 This is a cold, winter's day. That pole is _freezing._ This is not a risk. If he touches the tip of his tongue to it, the tip of his tongue _will_ freeze to it. Is there a reason you want his tongue stuck to the freezing pole? Do you have something against his tongue?"

[@kailakruger7685]

lazyperfectionist1 I dont think his peers liked him and he was trying to get him to like him

[@simonapa2814]

I still think the ice bucket challenge was stupid. Lots of the people who did it didn't know it was meant to raise awareness and/or money for ALS. It was just gratuitous suffering. Edit: grammar

[@AlexMHardy98]

Wait! Wait! Wait! I wanna hear about the time Hank made a bomb.

[@flashcre8or]

Would love to see a video on implicit bias from you guys!

[@atalantab8764]

This episode was a... bomb... yeaaaaaaah

[@PSIponies]

In 7th grade the kid across the street from me burnt a whole through his garage door with a can of starter fluid and a lighter lol

[@DesertHomesteader]

My dad is an actual nuclear physicist (retired) but that didn't stop him from getting into rock fights as a kid. My uncle is an actual rocket scientist (retired) but that didn't stop him from creating his own rocket fuel as a kid and nearly burning down his parent's garage. Kids are dumb, even if they will someday be smart.

[@expedited_healer9441]

I remember in middle school the eraser thing was super popular. I tried it once to see what the big deal was since I didn't get what they were doing. Dumbest idea ever. Still don't get the appeal to this day.

[@BThings]

Social Media...why?

[@xaviervillarreal5391]

1:30 D E M O N I T I Z E D

[@pramodgoyal743]

Guess this doesn't apply to us science enthusiasts.

[@escapedcryptid8017]

Best video EVER

[@DMDazz91]

I wonder if I'll ever find out where he got that shirt - can anyone help?

[@-ruubi-7270]

I did the saltine challenge a bit ago because I was being dumb. (Eat 4 saltines in a minute, it sounds easy but is really difficult. Also, you can't drink water with the saltines. Edit: That was wrong. I think it's more saltines.) I never thought of doing another challenge 😅🤣

[@xdd1765]

#HankExposed

[@LePedant]

OMG yay!!! I was watching past Scishows, clicked on this one, pleasantly surprised to find out it was just released.

[@abuggs7370]

That makes me curious about introverted teens,must their brains differentiate a lot in this case

[@LeNoir679]

Hank

[@SlyPearTree]

I'm going to make an app to help peoples find a nearby Drew so they can participate in the make a bomb in Drew's backyard challenge.

[@gideonjones5712]

Because the internet has nothing better to do with its time.

[@deanslegos1990]

Extended adolescence

[@sam_i_am1143]

Let's start the watch sci-show challange

[@daniellbondad6670]

A few teenagers are too sensitive to consequences so they don't get anywhere near these. And Hank built a bomb as a teenager?!

[@siriustheislandprotector9720]

Now I don’t care about homework, these are too good!

[@honestlyaram9211]

I mean I'm 18, and I don't think that I'd ever even consider eating A tide pod. Then again I'm taking a break from homework by watching a Scishow video. If I read something and it says DO NOT INGEST then I won't ingest it.... It is interesting however to think that others my age would ingest it for a video though. In fact it's kind of unsettling to think about.

[@bigDdavy]

when i was a year ago i was 12 and i made a bomb with firecrackers and a water bottle i was up all night taking fire works apart for its gun powder i had fun when i finished and all it rely was is just some bottle rockets but give me the time and stuff i can make a termite bomb but i like being in one peace and not have the bomb squad on me and being arrested so i wont.

[@techieplanet772]

I am 19 I like adventure

[@How_To_Drive_a_TARDIS]

This is not that common watch Game Theory

[@honestlyaram9211]

Level headed adults make bomb's in their backyard with drew

[@Sup3rstiti0n]

We duct taped my older sister into a large (clean, at least) trash bin and promptly sent her and the bin careening down the hill into the woods/brush in my backyard. That was in '07-'08ish? I think? I was like 12 or 13, my sister 15. If social media hadn't been in its figurative infancy (dat MySpace tho), it probably would have ended up on KZbin because children are stupid. We later began shopping cart jousting at Walmart.

[@AntonConstanti]

This video made me feel horrible.

[@JamesSmith-rb5lv]

Why? Because it is good CLEAN fun!

[@mountedczarina9205]

Nice blazer,

[@p-mtc3900]

That jacket does not go with that shirt.

[@AliceAndZoeAreTwins]

I just want to hear about how Hank made a bomb