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Masterclass on mathematical thinking

terrytao.wordpress.com

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Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#101

Post by estaseuropano »

throwawaygh wrote: post #68
chubot wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

And there look for non-US universities or the older courses by US universities (when MOOCs were still a thing idealists did). For US universities providing such online courses are now either part of marketing or an attempt to sell overpriced masters. For the European state-run universities they instead mostly deliver good content but without the rip off. They lack slick design and editing but they usually make up for it with substance. For example look at TU Delft for the absolutely best aeronautics and engineering courses.

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#102

Post by CogitoCogito »

cinntaile wrote: post #67
dfdz wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> 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.

That's possible. It's also possible that Terrance Tao is correct in his judgement that using Masterclass was worth it for him. Personally I'd give him the benefit of the doubt that he's not lying.

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#103

Post by throwawaygh »

estaseuropano wrote: post #101
throwawaygh wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

And there look for non-US universities or the older courses by US universities (when MOOCs were still a thing idealists did). For US universities providing such online courses are now either part of marketing or an attempt to sell overpriced masters. For the European state-run universities they instead mostly deliver good content but without the rip off. They lack slick design and editing but they usually make up for…

Agreeed. Crufy MIT OpenCourseware stuff is way better than almost all paid options.

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#104

Post by [deleted] »

lenkite wrote: post #87
forgotmyoldacc wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like motivation porn more than education. Not that there's anything wrong with that, just knowing which one is which is useful.

I wish people would avoid suffixing porn to give a negative connotation to anything they disagree with. As a non-native English speaker, I truly hate the way some Americans butcher the language.

[deleted]

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#105

Post by edanm »

lee wrote: post #88
beebmam wrote: post #84

The more that education becomes monetarily inaccessible to the masses, the more the masses will reject the educated. And then god help us.

This comment bothered me for a few reasons: 1. Masterclass is $20/month. The "masses" can absolutely afford it. It's not really a barrier for entry. 2. There's tons of free lecture content already. Khan Academy is a great example and it'll actually dive deeper than a short episodes. 3. If you're an American, $20/month is laughable for an education. Getting a post-secondary education is like getting a mortgage. 4. Why…

> 1. Masterclass is $20/month. The "masses" can absolutely afford it. It's not really a barrier for entry.

Agree with your other points, but disagree on this - there are plenty of people who can't afford this kind of subscription (e.g. most materially poor countries in the world, which make up billions of people).

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#107

Post by christudor »

chubot wrote: post #36
Graffur wrote: post #7

My 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…

MASSOLIT (www.massolit.io) might be up your street. Short video lectures from university academics on a whole range of topics.

Disclaimer: I run it.

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#108

Post by nopinsight »

cinntaile wrote: post #67
dfdz wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I think the gratuitous cynicism toward the mathematician is uncalled for. Terence Tao has devoted a lot of time writing educational articles on his blog. [1] If he mainly cares for passive income, he could divert a bit of time to hire a production company and film a few courses. He would own 100% of the contents and make millions simply out of his global name recognition.

Going with Masterclass is probably the path of least resistance for him to create high-quality video content while continuing to spend most time on research and other educational activities.

Another possible factor: Many good mathematicians are quite perfectionistic and would not want to create homemade-quality videos if they can avoid it.

[1] https://terrytao.wordpress.com/

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#109

Post by openfuture »

cinntaile wrote: post #67
dfdz wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I don't think you understand the pressure he is under. Being a mathematician is not a joke, they project a fear-aura and can never tell a lie. It's the closest you can come to finding aliens on the planet.

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#110

Post by iamthemalto »

cinntaile wrote: post #67
dfdz wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Sure, if you're a full time youtuber already with years of experience knowing how to script, film, light, edit, do post production, etc. etc. etc.

A lot of these youtubers who put out fantastic videos do essentially all the same things as the Masterclass production crew, but just on a smaller scale. Countless hours are poured into producing these youtube videos that are maybe just as short as 10 minutes.

And even if Terrance Tao wants to make some infotainment, what's wrong with that?

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