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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 som

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 affordable for me right now. EDIT: The problem I see with Master Class as a subcription service is... if you watch Master classes on everything you are getting a broad education rather than a deep dive. I guess it's more for entertainment though.

kinghtown 5y ago
Which actually adds value to Masterclass because really what kind of an education could one get from Netflix? I’ve thought for years that netflix could/should really do something interesting with education. I’d love some high quality lectures and courses from them. Like actually legit ones.
forgotmyoldacc 5y ago
Seems like motivation porn more than education. Not that there's anything wrong with that, just knowing which one is which is useful.
- throwawaygh 5y ago
  I think of it like "listen to an expert in X talk about why they love X" instead of "learn the basics of X". It's sort of more like an interview than a lecture.
  - gompertz 5y ago
    Well said... Unfortunately some will then transfer this to their own resume in some sort of spin that they are a subject matter expert.
    - throwawaygh 5y ago
      If I saw a masterclass on a resume I'd cringe for the candidate but wouldn't hold it against them :)
- geodel 5y ago
  True. They had this cooking classes from some Michelin 3-star restaurant chef. Apart from some slick flourishes these are not usually about learning some practical skills.
- Syzygies 5y ago
  I'm a mathematician who joined Masterclass to improve my cooking. I look forward to checking out the class by Terence Tao, as a diversion. I held off joining for the longest time because I didn't want twenty hours of each person telling me "You can do this!" The cooks such as Thomas Keller simply aren't capable of staying in affirmation mode that long (think of their kitchens!) and they do get down to business. I learned a lot, even as an experienced cook. (Math meets Keller: I still don't believe they use a 10% brine in the restaurant. I think he's confused as to what they do.)
- lenkite 5y ago
  I wish people would avoid suffixing porn to give a negative connotation to anything they disagree with. As a non-native English speaker, I truly hate the way some Americans butcher the language.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - anonymouse008 5y ago
    You and George Orwell: Politics and the English language http://www.public-library.uk/ebooks/72/30.pdf http://www.public-library.uk/ebooks/72/30.pdf
paulpauper 5y ago
You are not going to go from high school math to graduate level competency with this course, obviously.
codezero 5y ago
Same for me, I also appreciated that he responded to the question on his blog of why it is paid - production value / editing / professional equipment etc... it makes sense.
ahahahahah 5y ago
There's some good comments on the blog post about why he thinks doing it through MasterClass brought a lot of value that wouldn't be there otherwise.
chubot 5y ago
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 various subreddits like /r/netflix but I don't find much there.
- pumanoir 5y ago
  https://www.wondrium.com/home https://www.wondrium.com/home
- throwawaygh 5y ago
  Coursera and EdX are generally quite good (a general heuristic is to avoid the certificate/microdegree stuff.) Otherwise, I think the real question is "why just paid?!" There's an absolute load of amazing free online video content. What topic(s) are you interested in?
  - estaseuropano 5y ago
    And there look for non-US universities or the older courses by US universities (when MOOCs were still a thing idealists did). For US universities providing such online courses are now either part of marketing or an attempt to sell overpriced masters. For the European state-run universities they instead mostly deliver good content but without the rip off. They lack slick design and editing but they usually make up for it with substance. For example look at TU Delft for the absolutely best aeronautics and engineering courses.
    - throwawaygh 5y ago
      Agreeed. Crufy MIT OpenCourseware stuff is way better than almost all paid options.
- christudor 5y ago
  MASSOLIT (www.massolit.io) might be up your street. Short video lectures from university academics on a whole range of topics. Disclaimer: I run it.
zwieback 5y ago
We've had Masterclass for a bit over a year now. It's not deep, for sure, not going to replace any kind of study or exercise. However, the production value is not only visually high, it is generally well done so I find myself watching something I might otherwise not be interested in. It's not like TED talks, which I often find too showy, too heavy on the presentation. I think Masterclass is a good platform for this kind of thing: get experts to introduce people to watch something they otherwise wouldn't.
dfdz 5y ago
In case anyone missed the response to a similar comment on the blog: > Terence Tao on 27 January, 2022 at 10:31 am The production values of the lecture series given by Masterclass would not be possible for me to replicate by myself. (For instance, the film shoot alone involved well over a dozen people, including makeup, prop design, camera and lighting crew, director, editing, etc., in a custom studio with professional-quality recording equipment. The professional scriptwriting services were also very valuable, improving the selection and arrangement of material in ways I would not have thought of.)
- cinntaile 5y ago
  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.
  - CogitoCogito 5y ago
    > 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 Terrance Tao is correct in his judgement that using Masterclass was worth it for him. Personally I'd give him the benefit of the doubt that he's not lying.
    - cinntaile 5y ago
      I didn't say he was lying, I just think the value add of a crew of this size is overrated.
      - CogitoCogito 5y ago
cloudedcordial 5y ago
I had a similar negative knee jerk reaction upon learning that Yo-Yo Ma gives one of the courses from MasterClass. The whole MasterClass business seems like entertainment as you've noted. Music could be entertainment but there's some deep subjects just like mathematics. One cannot just sit back and gain deep understanding.
- beambot 5y ago
  It would take hundreds or thousands of lectures to go deep on a subject as vast as mathematics. Even cooking would require hundreds -- there's a whole lot of dishes, cuisines, styles and techniques. May of any subject is likely a years-long endeavor.

kinghtown 5y ago

Which actually adds value to Masterclass because really what kind of an education could one get from Netflix? I’ve thought for years that netflix could/should really do something interesting with education. I’d love some high quality lectures and courses from them. Like actually legit ones.

forgotmyoldacc 5y ago

Seems like motivation porn more than education. Not that there's anything wrong with that, just knowing which one is which is useful.

throwawaygh 5y ago
I think of it like "listen to an expert in X talk about why they love X" instead of "learn the basics of X". It's sort of more like an interview than a lecture.
- gompertz 5y ago
  Well said... Unfortunately some will then transfer this to their own resume in some sort of spin that they are a subject matter expert.
  - throwawaygh 5y ago
    If I saw a masterclass on a resume I'd cringe for the candidate but wouldn't hold it against them :)
geodel 5y ago
True. They had this cooking classes from some Michelin 3-star restaurant chef. Apart from some slick flourishes these are not usually about learning some practical skills.
Syzygies 5y ago
I'm a mathematician who joined Masterclass to improve my cooking. I look forward to checking out the class by Terence Tao, as a diversion. I held off joining for the longest time because I didn't want twenty hours of each person telling me "You can do this!" The cooks such as Thomas Keller simply aren't capable of staying in affirmation mode that long (think of their kitchens!) and they do get down to business. I learned a lot, even as an experienced cook. (Math meets Keller: I still don't believe they use a 10% brine in the restaurant. I think he's confused as to what they do.)
lenkite 5y ago
I wish people would avoid suffixing porn to give a negative connotation to anything they disagree with. As a non-native English speaker, I truly hate the way some Americans butcher the language.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- anonymouse008 5y ago
  You and George Orwell: Politics and the English language http://www.public-library.uk/ebooks/72/30.pdf http://www.public-library.uk/ebooks/72/30.pdf

paulpauper 5y ago

You are not going to go from high school math to graduate level competency with this course, obviously.

codezero 5y ago

Same for me, I also appreciated that he responded to the question on his blog of why it is paid - production value / editing / professional equipment etc... it makes sense.

ahahahahah 5y ago

There's some good comments on the blog post about why he thinks doing it through MasterClass brought a lot of value that wouldn't be there otherwise.

chubot 5y ago

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 various subreddits like /r/netflix but I don't find much there.

pumanoir 5y ago
https://www.wondrium.com/home https://www.wondrium.com/home
throwawaygh 5y ago
Coursera and EdX are generally quite good (a general heuristic is to avoid the certificate/microdegree stuff.) Otherwise, I think the real question is "why just paid?!" There's an absolute load of amazing free online video content. What topic(s) are you interested in?
- estaseuropano 5y ago
  And there look for non-US universities or the older courses by US universities (when MOOCs were still a thing idealists did). For US universities providing such online courses are now either part of marketing or an attempt to sell overpriced masters. For the European state-run universities they instead mostly deliver good content but without the rip off. They lack slick design and editing but they usually make up for it with substance. For example look at TU Delft for the absolutely best aeronautics and engineering courses.
  - throwawaygh 5y ago
    Agreeed. Crufy MIT OpenCourseware stuff is way better than almost all paid options.
christudor 5y ago
MASSOLIT (www.massolit.io) might be up your street. Short video lectures from university academics on a whole range of topics. Disclaimer: I run it.

zwieback 5y ago

We've had Masterclass for a bit over a year now. It's not deep, for sure, not going to replace any kind of study or exercise. However, the production value is not only visually high, it is generally well done so I find myself watching something I might otherwise not be interested in. It's not like TED talks, which I often find too showy, too heavy on the presentation. I think Masterclass is a good platform for this kind of thing: get experts to introduce people to watch something they otherwise wouldn't.

dfdz 5y ago

In case anyone missed the response to a similar comment on the blog: > Terence Tao on 27 January, 2022 at 10:31 am The production values of the lecture series given by Masterclass would not be possible for me to replicate by myself. (For instance, the film shoot alone involved well over a dozen people, including makeup, prop design, camera and lighting crew, director, editing, etc., in a custom studio with professional-quality recording equipment. The professional scriptwriting services were also very valuable, improving the selection and arrangement of material in ways I would not have thought of.)

cinntaile 5y ago
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.
- CogitoCogito 5y ago
  > 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 Terrance Tao is correct in his judgement that using Masterclass was worth it for him. Personally I'd give him the benefit of the doubt that he's not lying.
  - cinntaile 5y ago
    I didn't say he was lying, I just think the value add of a crew of this size is overrated.
    - CogitoCogito 5y ago

cloudedcordial 5y ago

I had a similar negative knee jerk reaction upon learning that Yo-Yo Ma gives one of the courses from MasterClass. The whole MasterClass business seems like entertainment as you've noted. Music could be entertainment but there's some deep subjects just like mathematics. One cannot just sit back and gain deep understanding.

beambot 5y ago
It would take hundreds or thousands of lectures to go deep on a subject as vast as mathematics. Even cooking would require hundreds -- there's a whole lot of dishes, cuisines, styles and techniques. May of any subject is likely a years-long endeavor.