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I have a 9 and 7 year old and we are constantly enjoying such YouTube channels as "smarter every day", "veritasium" (spelling?), "Stuff made here", to some exte

I have a 9 and 7 year old and we are constantly enjoying such YouTube channels as "smarter every day", "veritasium" (spelling?), "Stuff made here", to some extent Colin furze, "technology connections", and other such edutainment. Not sure it speaks about differences in kids, in ages, in households, or likely a combination of sorts. Also, not a judgement on your kids, just a counterpoint about the resources available and how some people will tend to gravitate in different directions. 7 year old daughter is learning to knit and forgot how to "cast on" , so she jumped on YouTube to search a how-to and had one of the methods figured out in 20 minutes. So, perhaps it does have more to do with the availability of such edutainment since they were very young -- we've been on this path for 5 years or so and it has just become "the norm" if we are to use YouTube as a household. (I will admit that as Dad, my time on YouTube is split between learning about whatever new hobby has peaked my interest , currently SDR related stuff, and car related material for fun. I've also fallen into the LTT universe, but am aiming to back away because it, in my opinion , is just providing that mindless watching which I aimed to get rid of around 16 years old (ie, decades ago) to better use available free time. Seems everyone is just different, but the resources are for sure there!

stormfather 3y ago
Can you attribute your kids' behavior to any actions you took or policies you had? Please don't be shy about it, I would love to inculcate that into my kids as well.
- ramraj07 3y ago
  Not OP, but no matter what they say take it with a grain of salt. Rising kids is like throwing dice. No matter what you do (or don’t) within normal ranges of behavior, it’s pretty much a crapshoot to predict what comes out of them. The only correlation I’ve seen is they tend to emulate the parents’ intelligence levels and if you’re passionate about what you do, they might be too.
  - zelphirkalt 3y ago
    I think you are probably right and that there are many things in the environment, that also have influence. However, I would say that there are some tricks one can try: Reading stories to children for example. If the story is interesting, the child will want to know how the story goes on. As soon as they can read, they will be tempted to grab that book and find out.
- brewtide 3y ago
  No policies really just a general way of living. This is a disposable comment so am aiming to write more but things got 'busy' here and now we're getting ready for school! (And work..) I'll elaborate this evening, but as a lower poster said, it is all rolling dice and everyone is certainly their own beast in their own cage. I will gladly share how it seemingly transpired (and I feel, more important, the reasoning behind focusing on such things). In very short, I'm a huge believer that we seriously underestimate what small children are capable of understanding at you get ages, and have always felt that exposure to 'all the things' helps provide needed prospective about all that is available in life. They have both absorbed enough surface level interest and actual information that when watching a video about a semi related subject, they find themselves referencing OTHER information they learned from another video/source and click the pieces together like Lego -- you can see their eyes light up when this connection is made in their head, and I feel it starts really showing that information across the board is solely a piece to a way way bigger puzzle, and that although learning about seemingly disconnected things in a jumble can often find itself existing the jumble and finding its place in APPLICATION in life somewhere. This seems to really nail home the point that anything, really, may be worth learning because no doubt a real world use case may arise sometime in the future. Again, I can write more when time allows, but that's the reasoning behind it all. We also do a ton of projects where we can actually, partially at least, use a lot of the things learned from videos and transcribe them from thoughts alone into tangible end results - beyond important for everyone of every age, IMO
javajosh 3y ago
peaked my interest That's "piqued my interest". It's a homophone. Also used in "fit of pique" and, very rarely "piquant". It's a word on its way out, but I like it.
- mcmcmc 3y ago
  It's a homophone, not a homonym. If you're going to correct someone's grammar, you should probably proofread your correction.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - rolldat777 3y ago
    Speaking of corrections, it appears that homophones are a type of homonym, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homonym https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homonym
  - nayuki 3y ago
    When I was a schoolkid, I received various lesson materials that labelled homophones as homonyms. It took me years to discover that was wrong and unlearn that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homonym#Related_terms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homonym#Related_terms
  - AlecSchueler 3y ago
    Muphry's Law
  - javajosh 3y ago
    That begs the question: does correcting a homophone constitute a correction of grammar or of spelling? And another: can I successfully provoke another correction by 'misusing' "begs the question"?
j-bos 3y ago
>"veritasium" (spelling?), Close, V E R I S T A B L I U M
- Twisol 3y ago
  Hosted by good ol' Dirk! (For those not in the know, this is an in-joke originating at least from the Hello Internet podcast, with CGP Grey and Brady Haran. "Veritasium" is, indeed, the correct spelling.)
  - VHRanger 3y ago
    RIP Hello Internet
  - danans 3y ago
    > Hosted by good ol' Dirk! Ol' Dirk Miller! Heckuva guy! But that there's that other guy Derek Mueller who has totally copied his channel.
DontchaKnowit 3y ago
But those channels you listed are not educational, theyre "educational" e.g. you may learn some factoids about physics are learn about some cool experience but in no way will they impart to you a deep understanding of any subject. Those sorts of edutainment style videos are not ever going to compete against say, a college degree. Now there is excellent serious educational material on youtube, stuff like khan academy, etc, but thats not what people are watching for leisure. If youre going to learn something useful, it is going to be difficult - e.g. it requires work on the part of the watcher. Gen z isnt just learning physics by idly watching veritasium videos.
- com2kid 3y ago
  > but in no way will they impart to you a deep understanding of any subject. Technology Connections will provide deep understanding of the refrigeration cycle, how different types of gas lamps work, how heat pumps work, and how developing film works. And those are just the video series I can remember.
- ramraj07 3y ago
  When I was a kid I learned everything I could by watching discovery channel which in the late 90s was the equivalent of what you get from the Popsci YouTube channels. This was good enough for me to write a space settlement design proposal, submit it to NASA and win. The “surface level” stuff is more than sufficient to pique your interest and get a good understanding. Combine this with good schooling and you’re on path to be a great scientist leave alone a well learned person.
- karmelapple 3y ago
  The person you’re replying to has kids in the single digits for age. Thinking about a college-level education for a 7 and 9 year old seems fairly unrealistic, and learning “educational” topics like you point out at that age is perfectly fine. You’re still learning addition and subtraction at age 7.
- amscanne 3y ago
  I don't think any of those channels are trying to replace an actual science education in any given subject. But they are certainly imparting a lot more than physics "factoids", and some are probably closer to intro lectures on specific topics intended for a general audience (done by a talented and engaging educator). It's not directly equipping the audience with professional skills for a scientific career, but it is generating interest in science, and indirectly encouraging people to expand their own STEM skills and knowledge. I'm sure that dozens (hundreds? thousnads?) of people have gone into mathematics at least in part due to an interest generated by the likes of numberphile, etc.
no_butterscotch 3y ago
"infotainment" or "edutainment" is what that type of content is - I think it's mostly mindless entertainment masquerading as informative or educational content

stormfather 3y ago

Can you attribute your kids' behavior to any actions you took or policies you had? Please don't be shy about it, I would love to inculcate that into my kids as well.

ramraj07 3y ago
Not OP, but no matter what they say take it with a grain of salt. Rising kids is like throwing dice. No matter what you do (or don’t) within normal ranges of behavior, it’s pretty much a crapshoot to predict what comes out of them. The only correlation I’ve seen is they tend to emulate the parents’ intelligence levels and if you’re passionate about what you do, they might be too.
- zelphirkalt 3y ago
  I think you are probably right and that there are many things in the environment, that also have influence. However, I would say that there are some tricks one can try: Reading stories to children for example. If the story is interesting, the child will want to know how the story goes on. As soon as they can read, they will be tempted to grab that book and find out.
brewtide 3y ago
No policies really just a general way of living. This is a disposable comment so am aiming to write more but things got 'busy' here and now we're getting ready for school! (And work..) I'll elaborate this evening, but as a lower poster said, it is all rolling dice and everyone is certainly their own beast in their own cage. I will gladly share how it seemingly transpired (and I feel, more important, the reasoning behind focusing on such things). In very short, I'm a huge believer that we seriously underestimate what small children are capable of understanding at you get ages, and have always felt that exposure to 'all the things' helps provide needed prospective about all that is available in life. They have both absorbed enough surface level interest and actual information that when watching a video about a semi related subject, they find themselves referencing OTHER information they learned from another video/source and click the pieces together like Lego -- you can see their eyes light up when this connection is made in their head, and I feel it starts really showing that information across the board is solely a piece to a way way bigger puzzle, and that although learning about seemingly disconnected things in a jumble can often find itself existing the jumble and finding its place in APPLICATION in life somewhere. This seems to really nail home the point that anything, really, may be worth learning because no doubt a real world use case may arise sometime in the future. Again, I can write more when time allows, but that's the reasoning behind it all. We also do a ton of projects where we can actually, partially at least, use a lot of the things learned from videos and transcribe them from thoughts alone into tangible end results - beyond important for everyone of every age, IMO

javajosh 3y ago

peaked my interest That's "piqued my interest". It's a homophone. Also used in "fit of pique" and, very rarely "piquant". It's a word on its way out, but I like it.

mcmcmc 3y ago
It's a homophone, not a homonym. If you're going to correct someone's grammar, you should probably proofread your correction.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- rolldat777 3y ago
  Speaking of corrections, it appears that homophones are a type of homonym, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homonym https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homonym
- nayuki 3y ago
  When I was a schoolkid, I received various lesson materials that labelled homophones as homonyms. It took me years to discover that was wrong and unlearn that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homonym#Related_terms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homonym#Related_terms
- AlecSchueler 3y ago
  Muphry's Law
- javajosh 3y ago
  That begs the question: does correcting a homophone constitute a correction of grammar or of spelling? And another: can I successfully provoke another correction by 'misusing' "begs the question"?

j-bos 3y ago

>"veritasium" (spelling?), Close, V E R I S T A B L I U M

Twisol 3y ago
Hosted by good ol' Dirk! (For those not in the know, this is an in-joke originating at least from the Hello Internet podcast, with CGP Grey and Brady Haran. "Veritasium" is, indeed, the correct spelling.)
- VHRanger 3y ago
  RIP Hello Internet
- danans 3y ago
  > Hosted by good ol' Dirk! Ol' Dirk Miller! Heckuva guy! But that there's that other guy Derek Mueller who has totally copied his channel.

DontchaKnowit 3y ago

But those channels you listed are not educational, theyre "educational" e.g. you may learn some factoids about physics are learn about some cool experience but in no way will they impart to you a deep understanding of any subject. Those sorts of edutainment style videos are not ever going to compete against say, a college degree. Now there is excellent serious educational material on youtube, stuff like khan academy, etc, but thats not what people are watching for leisure. If youre going to learn something useful, it is going to be difficult - e.g. it requires work on the part of the watcher. Gen z isnt just learning physics by idly watching veritasium videos.

com2kid 3y ago
> but in no way will they impart to you a deep understanding of any subject. Technology Connections will provide deep understanding of the refrigeration cycle, how different types of gas lamps work, how heat pumps work, and how developing film works. And those are just the video series I can remember.
ramraj07 3y ago
When I was a kid I learned everything I could by watching discovery channel which in the late 90s was the equivalent of what you get from the Popsci YouTube channels. This was good enough for me to write a space settlement design proposal, submit it to NASA and win. The “surface level” stuff is more than sufficient to pique your interest and get a good understanding. Combine this with good schooling and you’re on path to be a great scientist leave alone a well learned person.
karmelapple 3y ago
The person you’re replying to has kids in the single digits for age. Thinking about a college-level education for a 7 and 9 year old seems fairly unrealistic, and learning “educational” topics like you point out at that age is perfectly fine. You’re still learning addition and subtraction at age 7.
amscanne 3y ago
I don't think any of those channels are trying to replace an actual science education in any given subject. But they are certainly imparting a lot more than physics "factoids", and some are probably closer to intro lectures on specific topics intended for a general audience (done by a talented and engaging educator). It's not directly equipping the audience with professional skills for a scientific career, but it is generating interest in science, and indirectly encouraging people to expand their own STEM skills and knowledge. I'm sure that dozens (hundreds? thousnads?) of people have gone into mathematics at least in part due to an interest generated by the likes of numberphile, etc.

no_butterscotch 3y ago

"infotainment" or "edutainment" is what that type of content is - I think it's mostly mindless entertainment masquerading as informative or educational content