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There are some places online where I have to timebox and force myself to stop consuming information. Otherwise I end up mentally draining myself. YouTube is one

There are some places online where I have to timebox and force myself to stop consuming information. Otherwise I end up mentally draining myself. YouTube is one of those places and it does a really good job with the video recommendations. I wouldn't even call the content low quality or inaccurate. There's just too much that gets me interested.

LoganDark 2y ago
Absolutely. The only place I get videos from is from my home page. I use an extension (Unhook) to remove the side recommendations and end cards, otherwise I'd never be able to finish. I go through some home page videos, close each tab after the video is done, and then only load more of the home page if I truly want to watch more videos. No getting sucked into endless rabbitholes by accident.
aaron695 2y ago
[dead]
supriyo-biswas 2y ago
For me, what usually happens is that I try to look for music to get into the zone when writing code, but then see an interesting video on the homepage (they’re usually educational like stuff from Veritasium or Wendover) and get sucked into watching something that is useful in some sense, but that I don’t have time for. I’m already using Sponsorblock and added DeArrow for my YouTube watching experience, and am hoping the latter will cut down on my behavior.
- nehal3m 2y ago
  Try music.youtube.com, it's just music.
  - codelobe 2y ago
    Thanks for your suggestion! I tried cats.youtube.com also, but it's just like my IRL cat.
- DaSHacka 2y ago
  DeArrow looks great! I've been using "Clickbait Remover for Youtube"[1] that replaces thumbnails with auto-generated ones, and changes capitalization of titles to de-emphisize clickbait, but I think a sponsorblock-like crowdsourcing approach is an amazing idea for an extension like this. [1] https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/clickbait-remover-for-you/omoinegiohhgbikclijaniebjpkeopip https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/clickbait-remover-f...
- pompino 2y ago
  >educational like stuff from Veritasium People call his videos educational, but really, what is the actual education being imparted? Its superficial, and you will never know how rich the topic actually is, and what the nuances are who the critics are and what they say, etc, etc. I'd put those videos in the entertainment section. (FWIW I watch those videos too)
  - supriyo-biswas 2y ago
    The recent video about jumping spiders was pretty educational, for example; although I do agree that the informational content has reduced since he started heavily leaning on documentary style videos (the one about dropping pennies from a helicopter being one of the worse ones.)
    - pompino 2y ago
      I think he is good at building a narrative, but I guess I have a different view of what constitutes educational content. Nothing against the guy, I'm glad hes making the videos. Though I wish he would drop his scammy sponsor - betterhelp.
  - llm_trw 2y ago
    He is edutainment. Stricktly better than reality TV but don't expect it to be as good as real education.
    - red-iron-pine 2y ago
      edutainment is a fair criticism, but it's also a gateway drug. NileRed got me into more detailed chemistry topics, for example.
- layer8 2y ago
  YouTube Music is the solution.
makeitdouble 2y ago
It sounds like you found a happy place where your mind can get infinitely engaged and you can get back to it whenever needed ? Arguably that's better than being apathic and frustrated all day long with no escape. In particular you seem to handle it responsibly, it all sounds pretty nice as you put it.
- layer8 2y ago
  One can be infinitely engaged and apathic and frustrated at the same time.
  - makeitdouble 2y ago
    Frustrated I get. Not while being apathic though, either you have feelings or you don't. Then actually being apathic while engaged looks a lot like a zen like state, which would be fine in most people's book.
    - layer8 2y ago
      I don’t particularly associate “engaged” with emotionality.
pompino 2y ago
The trap is that the brain power required to consume the video is very low, due to the pressure to make content which the masses can consume. You can feel wonderful watching the video on time dilation but there is a zero chance a single viewer of that video actually understands any of the presented equations (or understands the various counter arguments/theories and nuances). You will leave with a shallow understanding of the topic. If you talk to an expert, they will have to work hard to not embarrass you.
- Aerroon 2y ago
  But I think that's where learning begins. The most-likely point of failure in learning is motivation. Getting somebody interested with bite-sized information can bait a person to go further without them using up much motivation. You're not going to learn every topic you hear about, but you might learn some.
  - pompino 2y ago
    That sounds nice, but I don't agree that it is the most-likely point. Anyway, I would argue the point of failure is lack of expert level guidance/mentorship and (sometimes) monetary resources to pursue higher education. Once you've received formal training, you also need someone to bounce ideas off-off, or a community for collaboration etc, etc.
    - Aerroon 2y ago
      I think you're right in a sense. Expert-level guidance is helpful, but I think its main value is filling up the gaps of motivation. Take school as an example. You don't need a math teacher to learn math. Everything you learn in that class is in the textbook. The textbook will even teach you math in a more formal way than a teacher will (at least mine did). But very few people end up learning math from the textbook. It's not because the teacher has better expert knowledge than the book, but because the teacher keeps you engaged in the learning process. A book won't do that. I think a sufficient amount of motivation can overcome a lack of expert guidance and lack of formal training. It might not get you to the exact same result as somebody that did receive all that, but for a lot of things I think it can get you close. I do agree with you on monetary resources. That will kill motivation and limit your ability to get guidance.

LoganDark 2y ago

Absolutely. The only place I get videos from is from my home page. I use an extension (Unhook) to remove the side recommendations and end cards, otherwise I'd never be able to finish. I go through some home page videos, close each tab after the video is done, and then only load more of the home page if I truly want to watch more videos. No getting sucked into endless rabbitholes by accident.

aaron695 2y ago

[dead]

supriyo-biswas 2y ago

For me, what usually happens is that I try to look for music to get into the zone when writing code, but then see an interesting video on the homepage (they’re usually educational like stuff from Veritasium or Wendover) and get sucked into watching something that is useful in some sense, but that I don’t have time for. I’m already using Sponsorblock and added DeArrow for my YouTube watching experience, and am hoping the latter will cut down on my behavior.

nehal3m 2y ago
Try music.youtube.com, it's just music.
- codelobe 2y ago
  Thanks for your suggestion! I tried cats.youtube.com also, but it's just like my IRL cat.
DaSHacka 2y ago
DeArrow looks great! I've been using "Clickbait Remover for Youtube"[1] that replaces thumbnails with auto-generated ones, and changes capitalization of titles to de-emphisize clickbait, but I think a sponsorblock-like crowdsourcing approach is an amazing idea for an extension like this. [1] https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/clickbait-remover-for-you/omoinegiohhgbikclijaniebjpkeopip https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/clickbait-remover-f...
pompino 2y ago
>educational like stuff from Veritasium People call his videos educational, but really, what is the actual education being imparted? Its superficial, and you will never know how rich the topic actually is, and what the nuances are who the critics are and what they say, etc, etc. I'd put those videos in the entertainment section. (FWIW I watch those videos too)
- supriyo-biswas 2y ago
  The recent video about jumping spiders was pretty educational, for example; although I do agree that the informational content has reduced since he started heavily leaning on documentary style videos (the one about dropping pennies from a helicopter being one of the worse ones.)
  - pompino 2y ago
    I think he is good at building a narrative, but I guess I have a different view of what constitutes educational content. Nothing against the guy, I'm glad hes making the videos. Though I wish he would drop his scammy sponsor - betterhelp.
- llm_trw 2y ago
  He is edutainment. Stricktly better than reality TV but don't expect it to be as good as real education.
  - red-iron-pine 2y ago
    edutainment is a fair criticism, but it's also a gateway drug. NileRed got me into more detailed chemistry topics, for example.
layer8 2y ago
YouTube Music is the solution.

makeitdouble 2y ago

It sounds like you found a happy place where your mind can get infinitely engaged and you can get back to it whenever needed ? Arguably that's better than being apathic and frustrated all day long with no escape. In particular you seem to handle it responsibly, it all sounds pretty nice as you put it.

layer8 2y ago
One can be infinitely engaged and apathic and frustrated at the same time.
- makeitdouble 2y ago
  Frustrated I get. Not while being apathic though, either you have feelings or you don't. Then actually being apathic while engaged looks a lot like a zen like state, which would be fine in most people's book.
  - layer8 2y ago
    I don’t particularly associate “engaged” with emotionality.

pompino 2y ago

The trap is that the brain power required to consume the video is very low, due to the pressure to make content which the masses can consume. You can feel wonderful watching the video on time dilation but there is a zero chance a single viewer of that video actually understands any of the presented equations (or understands the various counter arguments/theories and nuances). You will leave with a shallow understanding of the topic. If you talk to an expert, they will have to work hard to not embarrass you.

Aerroon 2y ago
But I think that's where learning begins. The most-likely point of failure in learning is motivation. Getting somebody interested with bite-sized information can bait a person to go further without them using up much motivation. You're not going to learn every topic you hear about, but you might learn some.
- pompino 2y ago
  That sounds nice, but I don't agree that it is the most-likely point. Anyway, I would argue the point of failure is lack of expert level guidance/mentorship and (sometimes) monetary resources to pursue higher education. Once you've received formal training, you also need someone to bounce ideas off-off, or a community for collaboration etc, etc.
  - Aerroon 2y ago
    I think you're right in a sense. Expert-level guidance is helpful, but I think its main value is filling up the gaps of motivation. Take school as an example. You don't need a math teacher to learn math. Everything you learn in that class is in the textbook. The textbook will even teach you math in a more formal way than a teacher will (at least mine did). But very few people end up learning math from the textbook. It's not because the teacher has better expert knowledge than the book, but because the teacher keeps you engaged in the learning process. A book won't do that. I think a sufficient amount of motivation can overcome a lack of expert guidance and lack of formal training. It might not get you to the exact same result as somebody that did receive all that, but for a lot of things I think it can get you close. I do agree with you on monetary resources. That will kill motivation and limit your ability to get guidance.