4 ms·

This is crazy, but hear me out... Is it possible that cooking and making-videos-about-cooking are two entirely different skill sets? The funny thing is I don'

This is crazy, but hear me out... Is it possible that cooking and making-videos-about-cooking are two entirely different skill sets? The funny thing is I don't disagree with the premise of the article. But I doubt I could think of a worse metric to measure success than YouTube views.

jmcgough 6y ago
Agreed. I checked out the channels he mentioned. Some put out videos that are completely unwatchable. The first video that loads on Massimo Bottura's channel is a portrait-style recording of a livestream shot with a phone and covered in emojis, it's not designed for the format of youtube at all. I would much rather watch someone like Adam Ragusea (https://youtu.be/SDpCzJw2xm4 https://youtu.be/SDpCzJw2xm4), who may not be as good as Bottura, but is much better at cooking than I am and can communicate information well and produces engaging videos.
- jsilence 6y ago
  Exactly this! I much rather like to watch a video of someone who is better than me, but reachable than someone off the charts and beyond my capabilities. Also Adam is really good at making videos. edit: typo
- cgrealy 6y ago
  > but is much better at cooking than I am and can communicate information well This is a really good point. To put it in simple geek numerical terms, if I'm level 20, I need someone who's level 50 to show me how to get to level 30 or 40. Someone who is level 100 would be wasted on me, and I'd probably learn less because it's so far out of my league!
- dogma1138 6y ago
  Besides the entertainment value and communication skills getting to Adam’s level and even beyond is achievable by most people who are willing to put in some time. Getting to Bottura’s level is not. If someone wants to get better at cooking they would gain far more value form watching what is essentially a decent home cook rather than a top chef. The same thing can also be applied to developers most people would gain far more from watching an average developer with good communication skills solving a problem than a top 0.1% talent. Because quite likely the way and speed you think at and your problem solving skills are far closer to them than to someone who designed a programming language or built an entire framework from scratch.
  - bopbeepboop 6y ago
    The gap is even smaller if you think of channels like ProtoCooks with Chef Frank, where the chef they got for meme cooking videos (an actual culinary instructor) has his own fun-to-watch channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZmp69SeMhs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZmp69SeMhs The gap for me, a complete amateur home cook, between one culinary instructor and the next is mostly down to who I find it fun to learn from. I think you see the same thing in programming: some principal engineers are more fun to listen to, even if they’re not the “most talented”, and the difference doesn’t matter until you’re further into the field. tldr: People who are top 5% talent and top 5% communicators are only 0.25% of the population, but they have outsized viewership in popular education materials. They’re their own kind of “special talent” in a field.
- dharmon 6y ago
  If you like Adam Ragusea, you might like my other favorite YouTube channel, Ethan Chlebowski. (although I'm guessing you've already seen him). Those two are actually about learning to cook better, rather than "cooking entertainment", like PBS cooking shows vs. the Food Channel.
munchbunny 6y ago
I think in general there is a difference between being good at something and being a good teacher of that thing. Not all masters are good at teaching, and not all good teachers are masters. And not all masters/good teachers are entertaining or engaging enough for Youtube.
echoradio 6y ago
> Is it possible that cooking and making-videos-about-cooking are two entirely different skill sets? Absolutely. I teach programming and one thing I have learned is my presentations must be heavily scripted to be effective. It is not that mistakes cannot happen during a presentation, but they should only be included with purpose (“I’m going to show you how this breaks...”). But mistakes that appear when unscripted, unless quickly caught and spun as being introduced on purpose can lead to a lot of confusion. Even the end result (to me) is scripted and won’t account for all the different scenarios that might occur in a real-world setting (i.e. spec changes, different environments). It’s entirely possible cooking videos may result in good-looking dishes, but since we never get a taste of the final result... :)

jmcgough 6y ago

Agreed. I checked out the channels he mentioned. Some put out videos that are completely unwatchable. The first video that loads on Massimo Bottura's channel is a portrait-style recording of a livestream shot with a phone and covered in emojis, it's not designed for the format of youtube at all. I would much rather watch someone like Adam Ragusea (https://youtu.be/SDpCzJw2xm4 https://youtu.be/SDpCzJw2xm4), who may not be as good as Bottura, but is much better at cooking than I am and can communicate information well and produces engaging videos.

jsilence 6y ago
Exactly this! I much rather like to watch a video of someone who is better than me, but reachable than someone off the charts and beyond my capabilities. Also Adam is really good at making videos. edit: typo
cgrealy 6y ago
> but is much better at cooking than I am and can communicate information well This is a really good point. To put it in simple geek numerical terms, if I'm level 20, I need someone who's level 50 to show me how to get to level 30 or 40. Someone who is level 100 would be wasted on me, and I'd probably learn less because it's so far out of my league!
dogma1138 6y ago
Besides the entertainment value and communication skills getting to Adam’s level and even beyond is achievable by most people who are willing to put in some time. Getting to Bottura’s level is not. If someone wants to get better at cooking they would gain far more value form watching what is essentially a decent home cook rather than a top chef. The same thing can also be applied to developers most people would gain far more from watching an average developer with good communication skills solving a problem than a top 0.1% talent. Because quite likely the way and speed you think at and your problem solving skills are far closer to them than to someone who designed a programming language or built an entire framework from scratch.
- bopbeepboop 6y ago
  The gap is even smaller if you think of channels like ProtoCooks with Chef Frank, where the chef they got for meme cooking videos (an actual culinary instructor) has his own fun-to-watch channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZmp69SeMhs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZmp69SeMhs The gap for me, a complete amateur home cook, between one culinary instructor and the next is mostly down to who I find it fun to learn from. I think you see the same thing in programming: some principal engineers are more fun to listen to, even if they’re not the “most talented”, and the difference doesn’t matter until you’re further into the field. tldr: People who are top 5% talent and top 5% communicators are only 0.25% of the population, but they have outsized viewership in popular education materials. They’re their own kind of “special talent” in a field.
dharmon 6y ago
If you like Adam Ragusea, you might like my other favorite YouTube channel, Ethan Chlebowski. (although I'm guessing you've already seen him). Those two are actually about learning to cook better, rather than "cooking entertainment", like PBS cooking shows vs. the Food Channel.

munchbunny 6y ago

I think in general there is a difference between being good at something and being a good teacher of that thing. Not all masters are good at teaching, and not all good teachers are masters. And not all masters/good teachers are entertaining or engaging enough for Youtube.

echoradio 6y ago

> Is it possible that cooking and making-videos-about-cooking are two entirely different skill sets? Absolutely. I teach programming and one thing I have learned is my presentations must be heavily scripted to be effective. It is not that mistakes cannot happen during a presentation, but they should only be included with purpose (“I’m going to show you how this breaks...”). But mistakes that appear when unscripted, unless quickly caught and spun as being introduced on purpose can lead to a lot of confusion. Even the end result (to me) is scripted and won’t account for all the different scenarios that might occur in a real-world setting (i.e. spec changes, different environments). It’s entirely possible cooking videos may result in good-looking dishes, but since we never get a taste of the final result... :)