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Expertise in the Age of YouTube

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Re: Expertise in the Age of YouTube

#21

Post by dec0dedab0de »

jnellis wrote: post #4

As a finish carpenter for a number of years and having to deal with fixing homeowners attempts at doing their own remodel efforts based on them watching youtube videos, I've come to general law regarding expertise or 'how to' videos. There's an inverse relationship between quality of video and accuracy of information (or maybe just usefulness of information.) The majority of good polished videos have the least accura…

That makes a lot of sense. I bet it holds true for most things. Though now I'm curious how well it holds up for video editing howto videos

Re: Expertise in the Age of YouTube

#22

Post by langitbiru »

glandium wrote: post #18
ravenstine wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that's true of most information. The higher the craftsmanship of the video, the worse the actual information being presented. Lectures, for instance, that are just a professor talking with his PowerPoint slides are almost always better than videos that put on a production with fancy graphics, jump cuts, and narration. Look at the news. The news with more spectacle tends to be of lower quality on average. Or an…

Counter example: 3Blue1Brown.

Yeah, I think there is a massive opportunity here. Combining marketing, design and depth knowledge into a learning experience.

Re: Expertise in the Age of YouTube

#23

Post by derestructured »

jnellis wrote: post #4

As a finish carpenter for a number of years and having to deal with fixing homeowners attempts at doing their own remodel efforts based on them watching youtube videos, I've come to general law regarding expertise or 'how to' videos. There's an inverse relationship between quality of video and accuracy of information (or maybe just usefulness of information.) The majority of good polished videos have the least accura…

I also think this is just how education works broadly.

Whatever information has been printed in ten million textbooks and distributed across ten thousand public schools by a legion of educators is at a stretch mostly accurate.

Our actual best understanding of the universe is whatever was just mumbled in a graduate seminar by a half-asleep emeritus faculty member who doesn’t really mind that nobody heard it, because they’re bright kids and one of them will work it out if they think about it.

Re: Expertise in the Age of YouTube

#24

Post by mongol »

nefitty wrote: post #6

I'm interested to know how other developers on HN prefer to learn. I really like just running into a problem and Googling my way to a solution. I read snippets of docs, blog articles, SO answers, etc. and then try to piece together an understanding. I have a hard time incorporating videos into my ad hoc learning. What is your preferred method of learning new tools, techniques, etc?

To me it depends what kind of learning I am after. Some subjects I want to learn more about for "entertainment & curiosity" reasons. This includes for example learning about historical events. This I prefer to do in a laid back fashion, I could read books of course but what I do instead is search for educational videos to find interesting lectures. I also search for podcast episodes on a topic.

But is it more for professional growth I want to learn, I want to be hands on ("forward leaning"). Typically, write a program or a tool using a programming language I want to learn more. This takes more effort, and gives better results too.

Re: Expertise in the Age of YouTube

#25

Post by jsmith99 »

jnellis wrote: post #4

As a finish carpenter for a number of years and having to deal with fixing homeowners attempts at doing their own remodel efforts based on them watching youtube videos, I've come to general law regarding expertise or 'how to' videos. There's an inverse relationship between quality of video and accuracy of information (or maybe just usefulness of information.) The majority of good polished videos have the least accura…

Of course, because if something that poorly produced is at the top of the recommendations people must have found it really good.

Re: Expertise in the Age of YouTube

#26

Post by michelpp »

weaksauce wrote: post #19
asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #3

I have been starting the process of learning hand woodworking by watching the likes of Paul Sellers. It is amazing how much knowledge there is available on YouTube about craftsmanship. Combining YouTube with niche web forums multiplies the learning power. I'm already able to dimension boards with nothing but a hand plane, a combination square, a depth gauge, and winding sticks. I'm just at the start of my journey but…

paul sellers is great! such a gem. check out wood work web, johnathan katz moses, pask makes, izzy swan and jackmanworks... as well as some of the older videos from William Ng. they are all quality!

Thanks for the pointers, I like Essential Craftsman too, a bit of philosophy with some great technique and history thrown in.

Re: Expertise in the Age of YouTube

#27

Post by nothrabannosir »

ravenstine wrote: post #10
jnellis wrote: post #4

As a finish carpenter for a number of years and having to deal with fixing homeowners attempts at doing their own remodel efforts based on them watching youtube videos, I've come to general law regarding expertise or 'how to' videos. There's an inverse relationship between quality of video and accuracy of information (or maybe just usefulness of information.) The majority of good polished videos have the least accura…

I find that's true of most information. The higher the craftsmanship of the video, the worse the actual information being presented. Lectures, for instance, that are just a professor talking with his PowerPoint slides are almost always better than videos that put on a production with fancy graphics, jump cuts, and narration. Look at the news. The news with more spectacle tends to be of lower quality on average. Or an…

I would like to respectfully disagree wrt Hollywood. I have watched my fair share of indy films and, oh boy, they’re no better or worse on average than big budget films are. And Hollywood can crank out some absolute top quality smash hits... when they feel like it.

Agreed on everything else :)

Re: Expertise in the Age of YouTube

#28

Post by ryandrake »

jnellis wrote: post #4

As a finish carpenter for a number of years and having to deal with fixing homeowners attempts at doing their own remodel efforts based on them watching youtube videos, I've come to general law regarding expertise or 'how to' videos. There's an inverse relationship between quality of video and accuracy of information (or maybe just usefulness of information.) The majority of good polished videos have the least accura…

As a die hard Jack Of All Trades handyman, I can't overstate how incredible a resource YouTube has been for me. You need to come at it with at least a small baseline of knowledge of what you're trying to attempt, good shop hygiene/safety habits, patience, a "measure twice, cut once" attitude, and so on. But once you get in the right mindset, there is just so much to learn there. I credit online resources for helping me to learn:

Basic carpentry. I've built several pieces of furniture around my home including a pretty nice poker table (so, upholstery too). I built a 12'x6' shed in my back yard on a foundation that's not going to sink or slide over. Drywall and ceiling repair. Re-did a bunch of baseboard trim and only me and someone who knows what they're doing can find the mistakes. I know my limit though. I'm probably not going to attempt kitchen cabinetry or replace my roof for example.

Basic plumbing. Gutted and replaced bathrooms and kitchens on multiple houses. Repaired a busted spa back to like new. Re-did sprinkler systems. Cautiously working my way up to gas lines--don't want to blow up my home.

Basic car maintenance and repair. Everything from oil changes, brake pads up to replacing intake/exhaust systems, replacing a power steering system, light bodywork.

Metal and fiberglass work. I'm building a single engine kit plane in my garage. Online resources have been vital, and there's no way I'd have gotten anywhere on this project without them.

You need to have a good filter. You're right that the highly polished "Brought To You By Tool Company!" productions with the generic 80s porn music soundtracks are pretty bad, and the "Hey Guys! Like And Subscribe" bros are always the worst. Find the videos without background music and with bad lighting and sound quality where the person is actually grunting and doing the work in real time along with you. They're usually the best.

Re: Expertise in the Age of YouTube

#29

Post by tsumnia »

nefitty wrote: post #6

I'm interested to know how other developers on HN prefer to learn. I really like just running into a problem and Googling my way to a solution. I read snippets of docs, blog articles, SO answers, etc. and then try to piece together an understanding. I have a hard time incorporating videos into my ad hoc learning. What is your preferred method of learning new tools, techniques, etc?

Check out some of my other comments and profile. I think one way to learn new talents are to enter into the domain fresh and behave like a beginner. With that in mind, a lot of beginner's work is about repetition, rather than constructive, which I believe is why it can be difficult to learn something new.

So, for example, learning a new programming language - I'd say commit to completing the same low level assignments that you needed to do for your first language. Hell, if you still have them, redo them in the new language. As you move up in your understanding, then start to see what you can build with it. Or even simply "try" to implement it in the new language.

Much of that first hurdle comes from devoting the same time amounts that you did in the past. It's easier to do at a younger age due to less responsibilities. As we get older, we still need to devote the same amount of time, but it's harder to do with competing activities vying for our attention. I've liked the term "attention economy" [1]; however, instead of advertising, I view a similar thing for education.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_economy

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