Expertise in the Age of YouTube • Hacker News Board

Re: Expertise in the Age of YouTube

#71

Post by bambax » Sun, Nov 10, 2019, 9:48 AM UTC

Skillful coaching is important, but a big part of it is simply accountability: knowing that someone will check on your progress at regular intervals and that you need to do some work in between interviews to not look like a fool.

That's the concept behind the "accountability partner": someone who is not an expert into what you're trying to achieve, but who bugs you regularly to make sure you're moving forward.

After searching for "accountability partner as a service" I couldn't find anything other than weird marketing websites that looked more than a little scammy, so I built a simple tool that sends me an email everyday for each task defined in the system, and that lets me record progress by responding to those emails.

The concept is akin to Jerry Seinfeld's productivity hack: "don't break the chain", meaning you need to do something about your craft every day. If you skip a day, the chain breaks and restarts at zero.

The effectiveness of this is surprising; the accountability system can't assess the quality of the work in any way and isn't even a person that I could disappoint, but having to respond to an automated email every day to log my progress and store ideas, etc., pushes me in ways I would never have expected.

Re: Expertise in the Age of YouTube

#72

Post by kd5bjo » Sun, Nov 10, 2019, 9:50 AM UTC

angleofrepose wrote: post #37

lonelappde wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dijkstra and the European school took a dim view of gluttonous Americans who refused to do computer science if they didn't have an expensive computer in their lap. Your pencils, paper, and brain are an executable environment.

I'm not sure what you're referring to but I'd be interested if you shared more. I don't know the references you make, though I do know the Alan Kay nano-Dijkstra quote. I contest your second point, by definition my pensil and paper are not executable environments. My brain is, but this gets us into the game of "how much computer can you simulate with your brain." Why do we play the game of simulate-the-computer? We'v…

Fundamentally, it's the act of using your brain to simulate the computer that actually teaches your brain how the computer works so that you can reason about it later. In most domains, I find it best to start with doing things yourself, and only move on to the tool-assisted version once you thouroughly understand what the tool is doing for you. That way, you are still reasoning about the underlying system when working with the tool, and can figure out what happened when things go wrong.

Re: Expertise in the Age of YouTube

#73

Post by kfk » Sun, Nov 10, 2019, 10:03 AM UTC

bambax wrote: post #71

Skillful coaching is important, but a big part of it is simply accountability: knowing that someone will check on your progress at regular intervals and that you need to do some work in between interviews to not look like a fool. That's the concept behind the "accountability partner": someone who is not an expert into what you're trying to achieve, but who bugs you regularly to make sure you're moving forward. After…

I do this with my team with github issues. They get a daily reminder of issues older than 5 days. We are not getting more done, but we are more aware of what needs to be done and close issues that are just a nice to have. Accountability works well with people, unfortunately most companies just say accountability is important but don't put any real process in place to make it happen.

Re: Expertise in the Age of YouTube

#74

Post by ginko » Sun, Nov 10, 2019, 10:03 AM UTC

namelosw wrote: post #17

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…

'Polished' might be an result of large population of audience. If we take an example from programming: A fundamental Python or JavaScript course would have massive audiences. As a result, some of the video author would made money from their videos and then keep polishing the videos. In contrast, a in depth video guide on how to prove theorems in Coq would be very lucky if they have 10 audience... Not like the Olympic…

I never understood why anyone in their right mind would want to learn programming through a video course. Programming languages are inherently text based, why wouldn't you rather read a denser tutorial or book than have someone spoonfeed you at a pace that's often either too slow or too fast and doesn't easily allow you to reread or skip sections.

Re: Expertise in the Age of YouTube

#75

Post by kd5bjo » Sun, Nov 10, 2019, 10:05 AM UTC

jbob2000 wrote: post #68

JDiculous wrote: post #53

I love that information is so freely and readily available, and it's one of the reasons why I genuinely believe younger people these days are growing up more intelligent than the older generation (except maybe when it comes to social skills). The downside is that this means keeping a steady job is becoming increasingly more difficult. The moat that protected the job security of highly advanced professionals is rapidl…

I call what you’re describing “information asymmetry”; a small amount of people holding all of the information. Much of our society’s modes of productivity depend on many people not having access to information. How can you repair your car if there is nobody to show you how? I guess you’ll have to take it to a mechanic! But the internet completely destroyed information asymmetry, many people have access to lots of in…

> I don’t need to take my car to a mechanic or pay someone to teach me, I can watch a YouTube video on how to change my oil.

This is historically why reading comprehension has been such a big deal. This information has always been widely available, in a maintenance manual you could borrow from your local library.

Re: Expertise in the Age of YouTube

#76

Post by Dowwie » Sun, Nov 10, 2019, 10:05 AM UTC

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…

Those unfamiliar with a trade weight presentation of competence too heavily in decision making. This applies to contractors, auto body repair, and so forth. You pay a premium with the shop that has a pleasant waiting area and smiling salespeople yet the quality of the work is no better, even potentially worse, than what the unpolished one offers.

Re: Expertise in the Age of YouTube

#77

Post by jowsie » Sun, Nov 10, 2019, 10:34 AM UTC

ginko wrote: post #74

namelosw wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'Polished' might be an result of large population of audience. If we take an example from programming: A fundamental Python or JavaScript course would have massive audiences. As a result, some of the video author would made money from their videos and then keep polishing the videos. In contrast, a in depth video guide on how to prove theorems in Coq would be very lucky if they have 10 audience... Not like the Olympic…

I never understood why anyone in their right mind would want to learn programming through a video course. Programming languages are inherently text based, why wouldn't you rather read a denser tutorial or book than have someone spoonfeed you at a pace that's often either too slow or too fast and doesn't easily allow you to reread or skip sections.

Because if you sit me in front of a dense book of text I'm going to read the same line 3 times over before noticing and the information still wouldn't have gone in.

Different people learn in different ways.

Re: Expertise in the Age of YouTube

#78

Post by Dowwie » Sun, Nov 10, 2019, 10:40 AM UTC

One project that anyone reading Hacker News ought to not be afraid of taking on is that which involves under-sink plumbing. There are so many valuable instructional videos on YouTube that will show you how to do the work correctly. If you mess up, the materials are inexpensive and easily replaceable. The risk of doing the work incorrectly is relatively low. The greatest cost is of personal time. You'll end up making several trips to a supply store if you aren't prepared.

It's a valuable skill to have that will save you thousands of dollars over a lifetime. Give it a try next time you need work done.

Re: Expertise in the Age of YouTube

#79

Post by xorand » Sun, Nov 10, 2019, 10:55 AM UTC

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…

>" There's an inverse relationship between quality of video and accuracy of information"

This is a quote to remember. You nailed it.

Re: Expertise in the Age of YouTube

#80

Post by vturner » Sun, Nov 10, 2019, 11:24 AM UTC

ryandrake wrote: post #28

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…

I second the request for any channel recommendations, I bought a estate of two small houses that needs work. Contractors where I live are so busy and expensive, it's hard to get someone so I'm trying to get knowledgeable.