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I'm afraid this comment may fall afoul of Poe's law - but I think I agree. In my elementary school, That Favorite Science Teacher made gunpowder as an in-class

I'm afraid this comment may fall afoul of Poe's law - but I think I agree. In my elementary school, That Favorite Science Teacher made gunpowder as an in-class demonstration, as well as hydrogen balloons. Should that content be allowed on YouTube? There are plenty of college-level chemistry demonstrations which have serious safety concerns; if not in the performance, then in the safe and ethical disposal. Cody's views on elemental mercury being vilified push me over the edge to wanting that type of speech protected on the platform, lest fears of dihydrogen monoxide rule.

ryanmercer 7y ago
I think doing things in a safe method are fine. Channels like NileRed discuss that this is dangerous, that is dangerous, I'm properly venting and wearing a respirator, I have to do these steps so this is safe to dispose of etc. That is safe, channels like this are commendable. Channels like BackyardScientist and Cody's Lab where you are making your own nitro and whacking it with a steak knife or making weapons firing rather fast moving (and heavy) projectiles in your backayrd in the suburbs... yeahhh not so much (or worse, the time DemolitionRanch fired a proper firearm inside his HOUSE). Channels like TheSlowMoGuys and Hydraulic Press Channel/Beyond the Press are the grey area. They both use some safety precautions and both often stress "don't try this yourself" or some such, but they also do stuff that is still pretty dangerous and questionable at best like getting inside giant water balloons for Slow and making rocket engines out of "play doo" for Beyond.
- s_m_t 7y ago
  And how many people injure themselves doing stupid "science experiments" vs any type of sporting activity? By your logic youtube should ban anything to do with soccer, football, cheerleading, skateboarding, extreme sports. Definitely anything to do with getting cars to go faster as cars kill about 30k people a year in the US.
- oasisbob 7y ago
  IIRC, even Cody's steak knife NG video had pretty serious "don't do this" disclaimers. And, I genuinely think it had educational value as an example of a project gone wrong. The biggest problem for me in this train of thought is whether the danger lies in the danger (if emulated), the attractiveness, or the availability. At what point do you start banning extreme sports videos from the platform? There are some activities which simply aren't safe, and are clear outliers. (Say, free soloing vs typical rock climbing.)

ryanmercer 7y ago

I think doing things in a safe method are fine. Channels like NileRed discuss that this is dangerous, that is dangerous, I'm properly venting and wearing a respirator, I have to do these steps so this is safe to dispose of etc. That is safe, channels like this are commendable. Channels like BackyardScientist and Cody's Lab where you are making your own nitro and whacking it with a steak knife or making weapons firing rather fast moving (and heavy) projectiles in your backayrd in the suburbs... yeahhh not so much (or worse, the time DemolitionRanch fired a proper firearm inside his HOUSE). Channels like TheSlowMoGuys and Hydraulic Press Channel/Beyond the Press are the grey area. They both use some safety precautions and both often stress "don't try this yourself" or some such, but they also do stuff that is still pretty dangerous and questionable at best like getting inside giant water balloons for Slow and making rocket engines out of "play doo" for Beyond.

s_m_t 7y ago
And how many people injure themselves doing stupid "science experiments" vs any type of sporting activity? By your logic youtube should ban anything to do with soccer, football, cheerleading, skateboarding, extreme sports. Definitely anything to do with getting cars to go faster as cars kill about 30k people a year in the US.
oasisbob 7y ago
IIRC, even Cody's steak knife NG video had pretty serious "don't do this" disclaimers. And, I genuinely think it had educational value as an example of a project gone wrong. The biggest problem for me in this train of thought is whether the danger lies in the danger (if emulated), the attractiveness, or the availability. At what point do you start banning extreme sports videos from the platform? There are some activities which simply aren't safe, and are clear outliers. (Say, free soloing vs typical rock climbing.)