00:21
Alright, so at the end of the last episode, we ended the episode saying that I, Asami, find
video tutorials extremely difficult to follow and I feel like I'm kind of behind the trend
of the world where there are video tutorials for everything.
Right, and there really are, right? On YouTube, you can find a video tutorial for just about
everything. Like, it's not uncommon to find a recipe website that has a traditional written
instruction as well as videos and I feel like this is so redundant and kind of confusing even
because who's gonna like stop and watch and stop and watch a video as they cook?
Yeah, this, yes, yeah, yeah. It's beyond me, but what are your thoughts on video tutorials?
I, man, tonight is just so many thoughts. You also, I think when you mentioned this,
you brought up the example of like kind of an emergency or semi-emergency situation. I think
I connected it to an emergency one. Like, you know, the plumbing suddenly stops working, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
The toilet stops working. I want to touch on that and then I'll come to the idea that you mentioned
with like recipe stuff because that's, I think that'll bring us to the rest. So the first one,
I, it was over a decade ago now, but this anecdote is waking up in the very early morning hearing
the sound of like water just like flowing, like as if it was coming out of like the bathtub or
something. And I was living in an apartment with like four other people at the time. And
I could tell that I was starting to wake up and wonder what that noise was.
And my roommate was definitely also waking up and figuring out what is that noise.
And he suddenly jumps up and like, you know, moves quickly. He gets to the door and his footsteps go
from nice, soft padding on carpet to squish, squish, squish, like walking through a marsh.
03:02
The water had just basically exploded out of the pipe next to the toilet because it had frozen.
So this was during the winter in that area. And it had frozen, cracked, and just sprayed.
And why did I bring this up? Because when you mentioned that, this does relate to the idea of
what do you do when you need like instructions on something, right?
You have this idea of now there's lots of video tutorials on things.
There's also the idea of reading a manual or reading the written instructions or getting images.
And there's a third one, which is you just act and you hope that it turns out okay.
And in this case, it was like, there was a mix because my roommate was like,
what do we do with this? Sort of like, you know,
look into like finding numbers to call or something. They're like, not sure what to do.
And the other one was kind of hesitating. Like, do we try to do something with the,
and I'm half awake, so I don't have enough brain power to make any other decisions.
So I just walk through the water and stuff my hand behind the toilet,
grab the thing that looks like a valve, and I just tighten it until it stops.
And so like, and it worked, right? There's a chance maybe it wouldn't have, right?
But it was like, I have enough pieces. I have enough, and this will, I think,
connect later. Enough of a framework of general like pipe and things flowing through it to make
the assumption that if it can be stopped. You knew that if there is a pipe,
there's also probably a valve. Something, right? Like there's
gotta be a valve. And if there isn't a valve, we're screwed anyway,
but I've got to go and see, right? So that framework, I think, is really helpful because
then like, say it wasn't that bad, right? I could have used the framework to maybe
look at something real quick and then easily go figure it out, right?
But you have to like know something about it first. And this brings us back to the idea of
like all video tutorials, right? In those situations, you can't watch a video.
It's just not going to happen, right? Like I'm not going to go like,
oh, it's time to watch a video. And by the time it's done, I'm drowning, you know?
It's like, by the time, hello, I'm Bob, bro.
Right, right. You're like, shut up, Bob. Tapping the screen, trying to get it to go ahead.
Yeah. So this, I think, it introduces the idea of having a framework, which is an educational
term, right? That idea of having some information to build onto so you can just make decisions in
those cases as well. But it applies to what you were saying about any type of video tutorial where
there's just too many things happening if you know nothing about it, right? And they're sort of
showing you and explaining, even if they have the most clever of video editing, if you don't have
any framework, you can't take in the information in a way that you can then kind of use it, right?
06:04
And the cooking was an interesting one because I've also seen that. And because I sort of know
and because I sort of know how the general process in the kitchen works,
I would prefer to read it most of the time because it's faster and easier to refer to,
just like you said. The times that I would look at the video is when it's something like a new
technique that I'm having trouble visualizing, actually trying to make it a visual. And then
I want the visual, right? But you could use a picture or something else. But yeah, it's like
if the idea is to have it active and referable, a video tutorial is not necessarily the way to do
that, right? Like that doesn't... Yeah. And even then I would argue that I would much rather like
a series of action photos, right? Than like a video which is gonna go at its own pace. And
yeah, like I guess it's just expecting that I follow. Yeah. Or that you pause and like, yeah.
Yeah, I find it much more hard to follow on top of the fact that it's already not my like favorite
media of learning. It makes it hard. But like I know for instance like Khan Academy and stuff,
right? Like they have completely revolutionized like education and education opportunities.
A lot of these universities now have like online lectures of a bunch of things. And clearly some
are probably better designed than the other, but there's clearly a lot of demand. Like people,
like I don't think it's just the convenience that's driving the demand. Like some people
genuinely learn better through this video format. And that fraction of some people is
growing increasingly as we age, I think. And I don't know where I missed a memo,
but I clearly did not get the memo. And I am generally adaptable to a lot of new technologies,
new ideas, whatever. But video tutorials, I just cannot get myself like, yeah, no.
Yep. I hadn't even thought of this, and I'm glad that you brought it up, the idea of like,
even in the academic side, right? This is very clearly also growing. I really should have
09:08
thought of this because I'm currently teaching an online course of which I definitely have to have
basically video tutorial type content, right? And I did actually just this summer, I have a,
you know, a stand now that I can like attach the phone to so that I can record.
So they can see what you're writing?
Yeah. So I did it for like, just to try it out, to like demonstrate sort of walking through one or
two of the things as an example, and me talking at the same time. And like, it's kind of satisfying
to put together because it feels closer to doing it in person, right? Like you're kind of-
Yeah, and I think there's actually a lot you can learn from making a video.
Yeah, there's that as well. Man, that's another thing. Yeah, the crafting,
that's where I think the learning comes in is the actively doing of something, right?
Right, because you have to think about like, how you're going to structure your flow,
what requires, you know, oh, at this point, I'm going to draw a diagram, or like, at this point,
I'm going to pause for questions, like things like that you need to think about and plan
accordingly to make a decent video, which, you know, every one of those decisions challenges
your own understanding of the material to the next level, right? So like, I think video making
as an educational tool is 100% great. But I feel like the maker gets more out of it than the viewer.
Yeah, there's, yeah, yeah, measuring what one gets out of it.
Maybe that's just like, maybe my expectation of learning is, like, arguably higher than
like, what many of these people want. Like, maybe they just want like,
osmosis information into it, right? And for me, I don't really count it as a learning,
unless I can use it myself, in appropriate situation. Like, one, I need to be able to
identify, okay, this is a good place to pull this toolkit out. And then to actually pull the toolkit
out and use it, right? So, like, unless that happens, it doesn't really count as, I have
learned something to me. But many people don't really need to get to that point. Or maybe they
just have a different expectation of what a learning is. And they just like, you know,
oh, I heard that word before, is like, maybe good enough learning for some people. And in that case,
video probably works great, right? You can consume a lot of content in a short amount of time.
Yep. Yeah, I...
12:04
I'm thinking out loud, by the way.
Oh, no, I, this is, yes, yes, you are. And this is wonderful, because I'm sitting here,
and most, most every sentence you've shared so far, I'm sort of like,
wow, what an interesting sort of branch that that conversation could go.
We're just deviating us from the original thoughts.
Which is totally fine. I should be writing these down. But I'm a little, I'm a little tired,
I think. So this, this idea, which one am I going to pick? This idea about the
definition, or the personal decision, when you say like, I've learned a thing, maybe is something
like, I guess, for me, recently, I don't think much about like, whether I have learned it or not,
I think I've come to the current status of, like, in nothing, am I an expert, but I am able to sort
of investigate what I need to in order to come to, you know, conclusions or something semi actionable
with a foundation that says, I'm doing this, you know, to the best of my ability.
I think there's more to it than that. But like, yeah, there's, there's a knowledge,
I think, in there, just like how you're saying, in order to learn, you have to be able to take it
and know when to apply it and how to apply it. And like, that has to be something you now carry
with you. And what I'm seeing is like, I don't consider myself knowledgeable, even if I do
actually know about the subject matter. Unless I were to really readily have like everything on
hand that I needed to have on hand. And that's a very high bar, right? Which is why I just kind of
don't, I don't believe that exists for most of the conversations that I will ever have in a space,
unless we dedicate, like specific time to that one particular topic.
I think the podcast group that you've recommended to me, but it's entirely in Japanese,
is a good example of like, diving in, they read like, you know, hundreds of books a month or
something, right? And that, to me, that's like a, ignoring expert terminology, but that is like,
deep learning. And if I were to make a marker, you, I would consider that you've learned something
much earlier than when they get to the end, right? They've learned things, but by the end,
15:04
they've certainly gathered a huge web of knowledge, which is, you know, much more learning.
This sort of range is hard to measure. But yeah, it wasn't much of a conclusion.
Yeah, maybe, like, maybe I don't feel like I learned much because my, like, own internal standard of
learning is like, maybe too high for a casual video watching person. And whether that's good
or not, is really a separate question. But like, so when I think about learning tool, video is not
what comes first to me. And perhaps because I am that person who generally enjoys learning new
things and kind of want to be doing that in my free time also. So like, I don't, again, maybe
like, for the better or for worse, I don't really have a concept of just like,
watching video for the sake of watching video type activity. Yeah. And yeah, I mean, does that
mean I don't melt my time watching reels after reels of cats? Of course not. I do. I do waste
embarrassing amount of minutes and hours watching adorable cat videos. But when I when I want to
learn something, when I actively want to learn something, video is not what I reach for.
Yeah. That's it for the show today. Thanks for listening and find us on X at Eigo de Science.
That is E-I-G-O-D-E-S-C-I-E-N-C-E. See you next time.
