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PBS SpaceTime

pbsspacetime.com

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Re: PBS SpaceTime

#81

Post by formerly_proven »

nkrisc wrote: post #17
formerly_proven wrote: post #8

Spacetime is nice because they / Matt often acknowledge uncertainty (indeed, gaps being found or closed in current understanding are probably one of the most common themes of the show), unlike many others which tend to present theories as facts (e.g. kurzgesagt often does this). Likewise, they don't shy away from making relatively complex explanations instead of leaning all to heavily into bogus analogies. They made…

I think acknowledging uncertainty is one of the most important jobs of science communicators. It’s important that they say, “…but we really don’t know for sure” and emphasize when something is theoretical, a best guess, or a rough model. I think Matt and team do this very well.

I've come to somewhat randomly expose a few of my major biases and preconceptions in the last couple months, which has been very interesting. This video hits the nail on the head for science communication (the 2nd half is the meta portion, the 1st half addresses a specific issue): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzpIsjgapAk

Re: PBS SpaceTime

#82

Post by formerly_proven »

supercheetah wrote: post #37
formerly_proven wrote: post #8

Spacetime is nice because they / Matt often acknowledge uncertainty (indeed, gaps being found or closed in current understanding are probably one of the most common themes of the show), unlike many others which tend to present theories as facts (e.g. kurzgesagt often does this). Likewise, they don't shy away from making relatively complex explanations instead of leaning all to heavily into bogus analogies. They made…

Kurzgesagt has acknowledged this was a problem with some of their earlier videos, but they're trying to do better with presenting any uncertainty around the topics they cover from now on.

Do you remember where they did this / have a link? I'm not "citation needed"-ing you, I'm just curious when they said this.

Re: PBS SpaceTime

#83

Post by system2 »

TheDesolate0 wrote: post #67
woojoo666 wrote: post #38

It's really sad that PBS ended their sister series on math, Infinite Series[1]. Those videos were just as deep, informative, and accessible as PBS Spacetime. Some of my favorites are the one on the mathematical "hydra"[2] and the ones on voting systems [3][4] [1]: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs4aHmggTfFrpkPcWSaBN9g [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWwUpEY4c8o [3]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoAnYQZrNrQ…

Numberphile fills the void.

Gets too mainstream though.

Re: PBS SpaceTime

#84

Post by jjcon »

dskloet wrote: post #65
woojoo666 wrote: post #38

It's really sad that PBS ended their sister series on math, Infinite Series[1]. Those videos were just as deep, informative, and accessible as PBS Spacetime. Some of my favorites are the one on the mathematical "hydra"[2] and the ones on voting systems [3][4] [1]: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs4aHmggTfFrpkPcWSaBN9g [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWwUpEY4c8o [3]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoAnYQZrNrQ…

It was good with Kelsey, but after she had to leave and was replaced, it somehow became really bad.

I'll second that, it died only because the new host couldn't fill her shoes. Conversely Matt on SpaceTime has done a great job taking over from Gabe.

Re: PBS SpaceTime

#85

Post by plandis »

wing-_-nuts wrote: post #47
shrikrishna wrote: post #20

A channel worth subscribing. Matt (and team?) manages successfully to walk the fine line between managing the complexity of the topics they discuss (which are sometimes extremely dense), making it consumable for the population that's interested in science and physics, but doesn't pursue it on a daily basis. At the same time, they don't fall for the trap of dumbing it down to the point where the audience develops misc…

>making it consumable for the population that's interested in science and physics, but doesn't pursue it on a daily basis. While I love the channel, it seems like they're more targeted to someone with a lot of physics education, more so than lay people. This is the only channel I've ever watched and genuinely felt dumb on a regular basis.

Yeah definitely true.

I have an undergraduate degree in physics and sometimes I don’t understand the things they are talking about.

I still find it interesting and valuable though.

Re: PBS SpaceTime

#87

Post by plandis »

zabzonk wrote: post #39

This, together with The History Guy and The Critical Drinker are my three favourite channels on YouTube.

I’ve been adding a bunch of new recommendations from this post… If you had to give like a one line pitch for each how would to describe them?

Re: PBS SpaceTime

#88

Post by edem »

This is the only Youtube channel where I watched __all videos__. In fact I watched many more than once! Ever since Gabe left and Matt took over the quality also increased tremendously. I've learned more about how the universe works from this source than any other source combined. this channel is a must for everybody interested in the topic!

Re: PBS SpaceTime

#90

Post by edem »

wing-_-nuts wrote: post #47
shrikrishna wrote: post #20

A channel worth subscribing. Matt (and team?) manages successfully to walk the fine line between managing the complexity of the topics they discuss (which are sometimes extremely dense), making it consumable for the population that's interested in science and physics, but doesn't pursue it on a daily basis. At the same time, they don't fall for the trap of dumbing it down to the point where the audience develops misc…

>making it consumable for the population that's interested in science and physics, but doesn't pursue it on a daily basis. While I love the channel, it seems like they're more targeted to someone with a lot of physics education, more so than lay people. This is the only channel I've ever watched and genuinely felt dumb on a regular basis.

Im a total layperson and i can still understand everything, although i sometimes have to watch a video multiple times.
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