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Masterclass on mathematical thinking

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Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#111

Post by avnigo »

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…

CuriosityStream [0] has non-fiction documentaries on a broad range of subjects that can be educational, and is relatively cheaper than similar services. I have been a subscriber for a few years, and it's easy to default to it over YouTube, when you feel you're watching too much of YouTube and not really getting much in return.

I've also heard good things about The Great Courses Plus [1], but have not tried them out yet.

[0]: https://curiositystream.com/categories

[1]: https://www.wondrium.com/the-great-courses-plus

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#112

Post by Darkstryder »

mindcrime wrote: post #21

I'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?

Cinematography is a hobby of mine and I got gifted the "Ron Howard teaches Directing" Masterclass a few years back. I did not check the other Masterclasses, although I've considered watching a few others.

I've really enjoyed it but as it's already been said it's a lot better to approach the class as an extended interview and reflections from a world-class practitioner about their craft and career. Directing was an especially relevant discipline for the Masterclass formula as it is a mix of hard and soft skills, and there are a lot of resources for the hard skills, especially at an indie level. Ron Howard instead focused more on the soft skills and I gained something from it, especially as some of it is just plain old project management that I could also apply at my (engineering) work.

There was also a long, uncut practical session where Howard directed a scene on a set with an entire team of actors and crew, and I found it really interesting to watch them all work together like I was a fly on the wall.

So if you view Masterclass as a way to pick the brain of a celebrity practitioner you genuinely admire, I think it is 100% worthwhile. If you're instead looking for a regular tutorial about a discipline without having any interest in the instructor themselves, I'm less sure.

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#114

Post by robertlagrant »

imranq wrote: post #91

This is nice initiative and any attempt to make mathematics more accessible is a value added to society in my book. However, saying you will learn "mathematical thinking" by watching 1.5 hours of passively watching, even Professor Tao, is quite an overpromise. I don't think there's a subject that requires more hands on practice and thinking than math, especially higher level math, so this is more along the lines of e…

Also recommend Computerphile, inspired by Numberphile: https://www.youtube.com/user/Computerphile

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#116

Post by yayr »

laserlight wrote: post #113

> I was contacted by Masterclass (a subscription-based online education company) Masterclass is an entertainment company, nothing to do with education.

partially agree, but I also think that it is in many cases worthwhile entertainment compared to many other entertainment options available.

but also I think that understanding paradigms and thought processes outside your usual comfort zone is education, albeit not the formal one. And this is what Masterclass does great imho.

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#117

Post by cinntaile »

nopinsight wrote: post #108
cinntaile wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 o…

> He would own 100% of the contents and make millions simply out of his global name recognition.

I think you overestimate how commercially viable actual teaching is as opposed to infotainment. Either way, infotainment allows him to earn money and talk about a subject he loves. Good for him and people love infotainment, it tickles their brains just enough but not too much to require actual thinking.

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#118

Post by cinntaile »

CogitoCogito wrote: post #102
cinntaile wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I didn't say he was lying, I just think the value add of a crew of this size is overrated.

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#119

Post by pas »

calf wrote: post #60
ConnorCallahan wrote: post #57

I 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 there anything there that you wouldn't learn in the process of college-level STEM classes?

Tao said that they assumed no math knowledge, not even high school math. So .. um, absolutely no. It's probably a nice story/narrative involving a famous mathematician.

It's probably a nice watch, but not for the math value :)

Basically the math equivalent of all those quantum-blackhole-stringtheory videos from the last ~20 years.

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#120

Post by supernova87a »

imranq wrote: post #91

This is nice initiative and any attempt to make mathematics more accessible is a value added to society in my book. However, saying you will learn "mathematical thinking" by watching 1.5 hours of passively watching, even Professor Tao, is quite an overpromise. I don't think there's a subject that requires more hands on practice and thinking than math, especially higher level math, so this is more along the lines of e…

The 3B1B videos on 1) the Fourier transform, and 2) the determinant were eye-opening for me to understand what all the math actually meant physically, 20 years after learning about that stuff in a book. Sometimes it really does take explaining it from a different angle.
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