Related to MasterClass generally - New Yorker article on the company https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/10/25/can-masterclas...
Masterclass on mathematical thinking
61–70 of 137 posts
Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking
#62I just watched the first 8 out of 12 episodes and I was disappointed. There were certainly a couple good nuggets but I'm afraid that Masterclass puts too much emphasis on making things simple such that he spends most of the time talking about really simple ideas.
Is Masterclass any different from TED?
Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking
#63I just watched the first 8 out of 12 episodes and I was disappointed. There were certainly a couple good nuggets but I'm afraid that Masterclass puts too much emphasis on making things simple such that he spends most of the time talking about really simple ideas.
Have you seen the EdX course Effective Thinking Through Mathematics (free) [0]? I really enjoyed it and found the principles really do transfer beyond the domain of math, as the title suggests.
The production values are nowhere near what you get with Masterclass (thus, why it's free) but the content can't be beat.
[0]https://learning.edx.org/course/course-v1:UTAustinX+UT.9.10x...
Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
He was a demonstrating adult level math ability even at the age of 5. Also, he was genius level at other subjects too. How would it not be genetic. Think of how hard parents push their kids in today's super-competitive economy and high-stakes higher ed system, how many turn out even close to as talented as him?
So in other words, the answer to your parent's question is "No, you don't have any evidence." You are providing questions as a substitute for actual evidence. Your questions are worthy of being asked, but they are still questions. Basically a variant of "I cannot explain ... therefore it must be Y! How could it not be Y?" Just because people don't have adequate explanations for nurture doesn't make it an automatic "g…
Really? Do you have proof of this is result of extraordinary nurture. Because nurture would be far more easy to see/document and match against against other examples.
Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking
#65I've never seriously considered subscribing to Masterclass, but this has gotten the gears turning in my head a little. So I'm curious: does anyone here subscribe, and could you comment on whether or not you feel like it's worthwhile, given the available content?
I subscribe, but will probably be ending my sub at the end of this year.
It's a mixed bag, but more positive than the phrase implies. The great ones are great, even if they are just infotainment, but there are some deeper ones as well. At the very least it's a great way to sample different creative fields and find out more about them.
My two main observations are:
1. There's a reason most of them say "So-and-so teaching ". You're not going to learn scales from any musicians, how to make jokes from any comedians, or how to write good from any writers. The craft part is up to you; they'll teach concepts, ideas, abstractions, etc relevant to their field, and ways to apply that craft effectively.
2. They all have elements of "Strong educational content" (EDU) and "infotainment / autobiography / motivational speaking" (TAIN), but some of them swing much harder in one direction than the other.
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Here's some hand-wavy opinions of the ones I've watched. (Obviously the TAIN value will be higher if you're already interested in that person) -
- Aaron Sorkin teaches Screenwriting (Strong EDU and TAIN)
- Tom Morello teaches Electric Guitar (Strong EDU and TAIN)
- Tony Hawk teaches Skateboarding (Strong EDU and TAIN)
- Daniel Negreanu teaches Poker (Strong EDU and TAIN)
- Niki Nakayama teaches Modern Japanese Cooking (Strong EDU, Medium TAIN)
- Bob Iger teaches Business Strategy and Leadership (Read his book)
- Dan Brown teaches Writing Thrillers (Strong EDU, Medium TAIN)
- Hans Zimmer teaches Film Scoring (Medium EDU, Strong TAIN)
- Neil Gaiman teaches the Art of Storytelling (Medium EDU, Strong TAIN)
- St Vincent teaches Creativity (Medium EDU, Strong TAIN)
- Danny Elfman teaches Music for Film (Medium EDU and TAIN)
- Itzhak Perlman teaches Violin (Medium EDU and TAIN)
- Steve Martin teaches Comedy (Read his book)
- Billy Collins teaches Poetry (Medium EDU, Low TAIN)
- Herbie Hancock teaches Jazz (Low EDU, Medium TAIN)
- Yo-Yo Ma teaches Music and Connection (Low EDU, Medium TAIN)
Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think of it like "listen to an expert in X talk about why they love X" instead of "learn the basics of X". It's sort of more like an interview than a lecture.
Well said... Unfortunately some will then transfer this to their own resume in some sort of spin that they are a subject matter expert.
If I saw a masterclass on a resume I'd cringe for the candidate but wouldn't hold it against them :)
Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking
#67My first reaction to this blog post was kind of negative because Master Class is not free. I watched the teaser video and it's actually pretty inspiring. As someone who has done undergraduate Computer Science level Math, but completely forgotten most things about Math except for simple Algebra, I am going to try this. The cost is €16/month which is cheaper than Netflix. I just cancelled my Spotify recently so this is…
In case anyone missed the response to a similar comment on the blog: > Terence Tao on 27 January, 2022 at 10:31 am The production values of the lecture series given by Masterclass would not be possible for me to replicate by myself. (For instance, the film shoot alone involved well over a dozen people, including makeup, prop design, camera and lighting crew, director, editing, etc., in a custom studio with profession…
Plenty of Youtube teachers put out good quality stuff without access to any of that. People would listen to Terrence Tao using a cheap ass webcam and drawing on screen using a Wacom tablet. It's a justification for something that doesn't add value for learning mathematical thinking. To me it sounds more like he gets paid a passive income and a lump sum to make infotainment.
Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking
#68My first reaction to this blog post was kind of negative because Master Class is not free. I watched the teaser video and it's actually pretty inspiring. As someone who has done undergraduate Computer Science level Math, but completely forgotten most things about Math except for simple Algebra, I am going to try this. The cost is €16/month which is cheaper than Netflix. I just cancelled my Spotify recently so this is…
On that note, I wonder if anyone has suggestions for paid video content that is good? That is, "non fiction" or educational stuff like this series is supposed to be. I feel like I spend too much time watching YouTube (mostly free) and Netflix (very cheap, quality varies). This is a vague question but I'm interested in all kinds of suggestions... including meta suggestions to recommendation sites. I sometimes look at…
Coursera and EdX are generally quite good (a general heuristic is to avoid the certificate/microdegree stuff.)
Otherwise, I think the real question is "why just paid?!"
There's an absolute load of amazing free online video content. What topic(s) are you interested in?
Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
Genes must have something to do with it. Take the case of Srinivasa Ramanujan No formal training in math. Made insane contributions to mathematics including solving "unsolvable" problems. > A child prodigy by age 11, he had exhausted the mathematical knowledge of two college students who were lodgers at his home. He was later lent a book written by S. L. Loney on advanced trigonometry.[18][19] He mastered this by the…
I'm not sure why people feel so allergic to the idea of a genetic intelligence boost. Our genes encode the layout of physical race tracks on which marbles of matter and information travel. Some people's bodies have a bunch of muscle tracks, so as they grow, their body benefits from the activity on those. They grow up to find it easier to gain muscle than other people. For geniuses, I imagine that the brain is a perfe…
> I'm not sure why people feel so allergic to the idea of a genetic intelligence boost.
Because it kinda puncture this feel good marketing bull that "you can be anything you want". It could also shut endless flowing money into extra-coaching classes outside normal schools which promise to "help child to reach their fullest potential".
Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking
#70My first reaction to this blog post was kind of negative because Master Class is not free. I watched the teaser video and it's actually pretty inspiring. As someone who has done undergraduate Computer Science level Math, but completely forgotten most things about Math except for simple Algebra, I am going to try this. The cost is €16/month which is cheaper than Netflix. I just cancelled my Spotify recently so this is…
Seems like motivation porn more than education. Not that there's anything wrong with that, just knowing which one is which is useful.
True. They had this cooking classes from some Michelin 3-star restaurant chef. Apart from some slick flourishes these are not usually about learning some practical skills.