Good morning John.

One of the weird things about being on TikTok is that because the group of people there is literally just different people, oftentimes younger people. There are sometimes conversations I see being had that I have had. Like pretty much everybody I know is done with that conversation, but they haven't had it yet so they're having to have it.

This happened recently when I saw a TikTok arguing whether to say JIF or GIF, and I'm at least 5 years into having heard everything you can say about that and having settled upon both are correct. Though I did actually get a little bit pissed off when I heard AGAIN the "well it's not Jiraffics Interchange Format, it's Graphics Interchange Format so it must be GIF" That's not how acronyms work! I don't care how you pronounce GIF, but I do care if your argument is garbage.

But this is not the point that I want to make. My point is that there are some things that definitely don't matter. We know they don't matter but they're jarring when we come across people doing them differently. Like when I see a screenshot of light mode Twitter. I'm like "What? What are you thinking?" Smiley faces without noses I don't like it. Other people don't like me doing smiley faces with noses.

Cowboy Bebop subtitled vs dubbed in English. Now look, I'm not saying there aren't legitimate reasons why these things are different. Like, the experience of subtitled Cowboy Bebop is different from the experience of English dub.

Gif makes sense because if you put a T on it it's gift. Jif makes sense that's what the developer of the format called it. Taking the toilet paper off the front makes it a little bit easier to take off. Having it on the back makes it so that your cat can't like do this and have it all come off. I'm not saying there aren't differences here, what I'm saying is that the way I do it is the way I think everybody should do it and I'm gonna come up with reasons why that's better.


People can argue all day about whether subtitled or dubbed Cowboy Bebop is better, but the one that they like is the one that they watched first. Light-mode Twitter looks normal if that's what you're used to using. Dark-mode looks normal if that's what you're used to using.

The thing that's bugging us is not all these rationalizations, it's just the fact that it's different. And I'm not saying that we're bad because we're irrational. I'm just saying that we're irrational. And the fact that things this simple that do not affect our lives at all can make our brains go "Oh no! Something is wrong! I don't like it!"

I think it shows how hard it is to do society. How are we as a species supposed to get anything done when things that don't even matter cause these little mini-protests in our brains?

I can't watch English-dubbed Cowboy Bebop, even though I know that it is very good and that many people make the case that it is objectively better than the original version. I can't do it! It's like fingernails on a chalkboard! It's like I know, I KNOW that, I'm being irrational, I don't want you to think that like this is me, being a hipster, no, I know that it's stupid. And I will never say (hard-g) GIF. I will never say (hard-g) GIF, I just won't.

When I think about it this way, it is absolutely amazing that we get anything done at all. Things that actually matter are so hard just on their own, but then you've got like also to include all the little irrational biases that we have and are going to have and can't get rid of.

We are really deeply controlled by wanting things to be the way that we expect them to be, whether that is like how the economy works or whether a smiley has a nose. But that stuff is never gonna be universal because the world is complicated and varied and weird. And it should be weird! I like it 'cause it's weird!

Here's a definitely true thing. No two people have ever agreed on everything. Ever! And yet, we have managed to get quite a lot done which gives me hope that in the future, despite all of this, we will continue to get stuff done.

John, I'll see you on Tuesday.

John, it's the next day and it's the first time in ages that I have ended a Vlogbrothers video and had time?! Like this is shocking! I don't know what to do!

I guess what I'll do is to remind everybody to go watch your video from last week which was really lovely and thoughtful and beautiful and I was very touched by it.

And I'm gonna thank everybody for joining the Awesome Socks Club. Look, if you're a current member, you get these cool froggy ones. But if you just joined, your first sock will come in January.