A Bit of Awesome: Hank Green as a Youtube Intellectual

Author’s note: There will be many Youtube videos embedded in this post, feel free to watch or disregard them. (But really, you should watch at least one.)

With current technology, every person on the planet and their mother can use platforms for their thoughts and opinions to be seen by the world. Youtube, in particular, allows people to give and view commentary and analysis on things ranging from current events to classic literature. In this way, some Youtubers--people who upload to the platform--have become voices the masses flock around for advice, laughs, tutorials and even information. Some of these Youtubers--video game players, pranksters, chefs, lifestyle coaches--may not meet the traditional idea of a public intellectual, but the argument can be made for a special few.

Hank Green is one of those few, with an incredible list of accomplishments as a vlogger, musician, and entrepreneur. Green in this sense seems to be an internet public intellectual who engages today’s high schoolers and college students.

But before Youtube, Green had a strong background in sciences, having completed a Bachelor’s of Science in biochemistry from Eckerd College and a Master’s of Science in environmental studies from the University of Montana, according to his LinkedIn page. In 2007, the year following Green’s graduation from the University of Montana, he launched a web series called “Brotherhood 2.0” with his brother John. The purpose of the channel was to forgo “textual” conversation such as text messages and email to communicate solely through web videos uploaded publicly to Youtube every weekday for a year. After the project was over, the brothers decided to continue vlogging on the channel and its name was changed to “Vlogbrothers.”

Within the decade since the brothers first posted to Youtube, just to name a few specific accomplishments, they have produced many educational Youtube channels, created a web video conference, founded a charity, created a company, created a union for internet creators and even interview President Obama on behalf of their audience. Green, it should be noted, was the mind behind many of the projects created by the Vlogbrothers, especially Vidcon and the Internet Creator’s Guild and is considered an influential educator by Business Insider.

Yet, Green’s accomplishments would not have been possible without the positive reception of his audience (often termed “nerdfighters,” people who “fight for nerds and are made of awesome.”) toward his content on the Vlogbrothers channel. It’s particularly important to note that many of Green’s videos on this channel are entertainment-based and are simply updates on his life. He has, for instance, videos of himself singing songs about Harry Potter, translating popular dance songs and testing Reddit life hacks. And yet, having this type of content on the Vlogbrothers channel doesn’t undermine Green’s ethos as an intellectual, it seems to actually strengthen it among his audiences.

In a blog post entitled “The Supposed Decline of the Public Intellectual,” USC Lecturer Stephen Mack noted that some public intellectuals believe that the majority of people don’t “respect, follow--or even hear--what the best and the brightest of our society is telling them.” In that regard, Green’s seemingly “fun” content chips at potential barriers between him and his viewers, which might exist between a public intellectual and an everyday person. Green, despite having an advanced degree, doesn’t always speak as if his voice belongs in a library catacomb discussing the sciences and arts. As an example, here’s a quote from the aforementioned popular dance translation video:

Good morning John, last week the consensus to my question about why we like to dance to song we don’t understand the words to was that we can hear the passion in the words, but then we can project our individual circumstances onto their blank canvas, which I thought was really quite nice and makes sense. But then I got obsessed with the words actually meant, so I recruited some translators through Twitter not to translate word-for-word, but to translate the meaning and then I crammed that meaning, or attempted to, into like a cover of the song in English but with the original meaning. So yeah I’m probably about to ruin these songs for you by eliminating your ability to project your subconscious onto the nonsense of their words, I don’t care though...deal.

Even though Green tells his audience to “deal” as their dance songs are supposedly ruined, Green recognizes something many people can connect with, that something being songs every person has danced to at one time or another without actually knowing the lyrics. He also indulges the curiosity of his audience through lyrics that are entertaining and also informative of the cultures where they came from.

This relatability opens his audience’s reception to his more informative and thoughtful content, many of which reads very much like opinion articles, such as in his video, “You Will Be Forgotten...And That’s OK.” In this particular video, Green took note of a Tumblr post in which a user expressed fear over living an ordinary, average life and not accomplishing anything noteworthy. Green, noting how the post’s virality stuck with him, offered a different mindset:

Here’s the thing about success. If you’re smart enough and you’re dedicated enough and lucky enough and sacrifice enough, you too will get to find out that none of it exists...You get successes, but you don’t get success….Instead of thinking about what you will and won’t accomplish in your life, think about the problems that you have helped solve and you will help solve and the things you’re gonna help make and that you’ve already helped make.

Green went on to argue that focusing on “making things” is what actually matters, even if they go without recognition. With this “maker” mindset, Green’s commentary on mainstream views of success allows audiences to rethink values, and rightly so. Social media often fosters a sense of competition with peers to gather achievements like one would gather vegetables from a garden, and it doesn’t help when viral content showcases the work of young geniuses who figured out how to clean up trash in the ocean. Yet, there is still a joy to be found in making time to thank a colleague for an act of kindness, making cookies every year for the office summer picnic, even in making a blog to foster conversation about the current political landscape. Making things for others, big or small, is not nothing; it means something to those who benefit from what was made. Not everyone can achieve immortal glory (like that of, say, Beyonce), but it is possible for everyone to be remembered by the number of lives they have touched. Having that kind of life, as Green said, is meaningful.

Beyond his commentary on human nature, Green’s commentary and criticism in regards to current events also make him stand out as a public intellectual. In referencing Jean Bethke Elshtain’s view that the public intellectual’s function is criticism, Mack adds that “If intellectuals are in a better position to perform that function it’s not because they are uniquely blessed with wisdom...It is only because learning the processes of criticism and practicing them with some regularity are requisites for intellectual employment.”

Many of Green’s videos provide a straightforward explanation of what is going on in the world, seen through his videos on net neutrality and North Korea. Green, however, also has videos in which a current event is used to foster commentary on a larger issue, such as in “Muslims Aren’t Dangerous.”

In the video, Green uses Ahmed Mohamed’s arrest as a segway to talk about American perception of Muslims, and how fears about terrorism colors people’s views. Green drives home his point that most Americans don’t know a lot about Muslims with the following example:

What percentage of Muslims would you say live in the Middle East? Eighty percent? Eighty-five percent? That’s what I would’ve said before starting to research this video. How about 20%? Sixty percent of Muslims live in Asia. The single country with the largest Muslim population? Indonesia. If we are ignorant of such a basic fact, how could we consider ourselves qualified to make sweeping generalizations about a broad and diverse group of people?

Although the incident happened a year ago, Islamophobia and misconceptions about Islam and Muslims are still prevalent in the United States. In light of the San Bernardino shootings, the Orlando shootings and many terror incidents that occurred worldwide since then, Green’s commentary is more relevant today than ever.

Presidential candidate Donald Trump, for instance, is one of the most visible people who perpetuate Islamophobia, notably suggesting this summer that a Gold Star mother was prevented from speaking at the DNC because her faith wouldn’t let her. Green’s viewpoints in this sense ring true. While media is duty-bound to report on terror attacks and Islamophobic comments for the sake of informing the public, the initial fear from these reports are fed by commentators, talk show hosts and statements of public figures who perpetuate that fear. Because fear is a strong emotion, many Americans end up putting Muslims, as Green put it, “in a tiny little box.” And just like Japanese Americans suffered during WWII because of fear, history might repeat if Americans don’t learn to overcome their fears and biases to truly learn about Muslims.

Youtube might be a great platform to find a funny cat video or hairstyle ideas, but it is also important as a place to foster conversation, “to keep the pot boiling,” as Mack put it. While not every person on a soapbox can be considered a public intellectual, Hank Green with all of his work is one, especially through his videos that seek to comment or critically view aspects of current events. Unlike some public intellectuals that seem to be viewed at a higher level simply because of their intelligence and status as intellectuals, Green gives a vibe of relatability and geuineness that allows younger generations to connect with him...and to become people who don’t forget to be awesome.