Problem Solving and The Point

Originally Posted 10/3/24

image of a snow capped mountain and on the way up to the top there are the following words going up the slope. Starting from the bottom and going to the top - Hungry, determined, the point of life is to get up there. At the peak we see 'I did it', and then at the other side of the peak, going slightly down the mountain, we see 'What exactly is the point'.

I watched Hank Green's video "What I Learned from the Weirdest Day of My Life" and I want to talk about it.

What's the Video About?

For anyone who doesn't want to watch the video, I'll sum it up the best way I can. This video is a response to John Green's video "On Fame and Chappell Roan". In John's video he talks about his rise to stardom, and how for the longest time he felt like the point to life was just getting to the top of this mountain - to become famous, and wealthy, and everything else that comes with fame. But then, once he got to the top of his fame, he had a thought of "what exactly was the point"? He didn't find what he was chasing this entire time to be as fulfilling as he thought it was going to be. And he recongizes in the video this is an extremely privileged problem to have.

In Hank's video, he uses the same sort of analogy John does talking about mountains, but has a different perspective. He says while John might be the type of person to reach the top of a mountain and go "What was the point of all of that?", Hank views each summit as almost a false summit - he's achieved one thing, now on to the next thing to achieve. And these achievements aren't some grand thing always - he talks about how at one point him and his wife moved apartments because the new one had a washing machine. Owning a washing machine was not a "dream" of his, but it solved a problem - he wouldn't have to go to the laundromat anymore. And so Hank says:

But of course we need things to push us forward, so if it isn't dreams... what is it? What is success, if not accomplishing your dreams?
I think I have an answer to this question. I think that life is filled with a string of summits. And they are simply solutions to problems. Solving problems for myself, and solving problems for other people. And in that situation, there is always an answer to what is the point? The point is that I don't have to go to the laundromat anymore.

Towards the end of the video, Hank talks about concerns over social media and its impact on the world. He says he worries that the work he does on the internet may solve problems for some people, but create more for others. He worries that "brain jacking algorithms" working with talented humans to keep your attention span constantly might actually be a problem. He then talks about a book he's putting out he feels might be a way to help people do something other than scroll Tik Tok or other social media.

My Thoughts

So I wanted to start by saying I really resonate with Hanks quote about problem solving. I've often felt my life has been a lot of problem solving. Sure I've had long term goals - I'd like to be married one day, own a home, have kids maybe. But everything else has felt sort of just... problem solving. In order to live, I need money. To get money I need a job. In order to get a job, I need a degree. Guesss I'm heading to college. The first subject area I went to school with didn't work out? Okay, time to switch into a different program. Now I've graduated and the job I have doesn't pay enough. Whelp, guess time to get more jobs. I don't like working multiple jobs. Okay, time to switch into a better career field. Okay, now I'm here but in order to progress I need more training. Whelp, time to get some certifications I guess.

I've had a hard time ever really viewing anything that would seem like a big accomplishment as that important to me. I don't get some big feeling of accomplishment from almost anything I think would societally be considered as a big accomplishment. To me they're a means to an end. I didn't feel overjoyed when I received a college degree - just a sense of "Great, this is behind me, now I can move onto the things I really want to tackle". It was just something to check off, so I could start working on things I actually cared about.

I've learned over time one thing I really enjoy is solving problems for me or my friends. It makes me feel phenomenal when either I can come up with a solution to some minor annoyance to someone, or one of my friends comes to me for help over something. Just the other day I went to my girlfriends job because she needed help with the technical side of setting up a powerpoint, and it made me feel great! I love being able to help the people I care about, and feel useful. Even one day when I do reach my "dream" of having a house and family, I'm sure my driving force behind "what's the point" will be continuing to help my friends and family.

Cohost

Didn't think we'd get through an article without talking about Cohost now did you?

With the last few points Hank made, about social media and how the algorithms designed to keep your attention for as long as possible is probably a bad thing for humans, is what reminded me of Cohost. Cohost only had feeds sorted chronologically rather than via an algorithm. Cohost wanted you to be on Cohost because you wanted to be on Cohost, not because you felt like you couldn't leave. And this was really nice. It made a lot of people think about how the internet used to be, when most sites were structured like this, rather than with algorithms. Especially since with algorithms, often the easiest way to get you to stay on the site is showing you things that'll make you angry.

With Cohost shutting down, a lot of people suddenly found themseleves uncertain of what to do. They liked the people they met on Cohost, and liked the sort of vibe of Cohost, but there was nowhere left on the internet that really filled the same niche. So what did people do?
They problem solved.
So many people during the last month of posting on Cohost set out to make places online they actually wanted to be. A ton of people got into making websites and RSS feeds, but others got to work on bigger projects. Here are some I know about, in no particular order:

  • The Website League - A group of different federated instances (similar to Mastodon) but with guiding principles similar to Cohost. No numbers. Also trying to keep the different communities small enough to manage for people. They already have some instances up.
  • Eggbug Message Board - A group of people trying to put together a sort of forum type website for people from Cohost
  • Eggbug Memorial Rotator - A group of people trying to start a rotator for people leaving Cohohst. Each issue would be a different topic, with people writing in their thoughts/ responses to it.
  • Cohost Highway - A sort of database/ collection of websites from people who were on Cohost.

And that's not including the ton of people creating Cohost themed webrings I saw being posted about on the site before it went read only. As sad as Cohost shutting down is, it's been amazing seeing how many people became motivated to try and make places on the web that they'd like to be in. Solve the problem themselves of having nowhere to go. My RSS Feed reader has never been so full!

Wrap Up

It's sort of hard for me to find a way to neatly tie this one up with a bow. I'm just really sort of excited with seeing how many people are starting to get more into blogging, or hosting their own websites, or trying to make the internet a better place. And the even crazier part to me is this is such a small subsection of the internet. I don't think a majority of people know about Cohost, or what's going on. But... it gives me hope.