This may be abit too old of a reference, but have you ever gone back in time and watched old MTV videos back to back, the key part of any entertainment economy is not relevance, rationality to the internal idea or even good art. The point is always based on the external rationality of engagement and what is 'engaging' is generally a dialectical process between entertainers, audience, ownership of the medium, the physical nature of the medium itself, and the surrounding economic climate of the medium.
What the physical medium of TikTok allows for is fast loading, rapidly regurgitated content. The audience for this content is the people with the most time to dominate the algorithms, people who are the most susceptible to advertising, and people with disposable income. In general, this means young kids with a smattering of aging boomer, xers, and millennials who are susceptible to social media addiction. Young kids these days have been engaged in non-stop MTV like content since they were born, which causes them to scroll through things quickly as they are generally better at receiving digital information (I disagree on their advantage at processing that information, but that is a digression), which means the best way to get them to stop and listen to something is to present it in an audio/visually confusing way that makes them have to stop and process what they are seeing, or just watch something else and listen to what is going on.
On the other end of the spectrum, people like us gravitate towards long form content videos and podcast because they appeal to our general sense of loneliness and attempt to waste time in the day. Also waves cranky old man stick it is generally better to get an overview of the subject, though Joe Rogan and his ilk certainly prove that that isn't always the case.
Basically, this kind of stuff is the equivalent of online Saturday morning cartoons, and it's only going to get weirder from here.
On the other end of the spectrum, people like us gravitate towards long form content videos and podcast because they appeal to our general sense of loneliness and attempt to waste time in the day. Also waves cranky old man stick it is generally better to get an overview of the subject, though Joe Rogan and his ilk certainly prove that that isn't always the case.
I used to feel this way, and I guess I still kinda do but I think the way the average person engages with video essays and podcasts is like, barely better than tiktok in terms of learning. I know people who consume lots of the stuff but its just entertainment at the end of the day. If you were actively paying attention maybe you remember the basic topic and some fun facts, if you weren't super engaged you'll probably barely remember you even watched the video tomorrow. anything that passive is just not a good way to learn. reading and taking notes is the gold standard IMO, if for no other reason than because you can't completely zone out and just be like "welp I finished it" at the end, and taking notes requires you to comprehend the subject enough to paraphrase, and the act of writing aids in recall.
Not to say other things don't work but they require more conscious effort not to zone out or get overwhelmed and have details go over your head. Especially written word that is being read aloud verbatim I find can be exhausting because written language is dense in a way that speech very rarely is, and with reading you can just read slower or shift your eyes to reread a sentence in an instant, rather than constantly pausing and rewinding, or simply letting the details wash over you without comprehension
I generally find it is a good overview before reading about something. It forms a general structure from which written details can then seep into later. To be an even more cranky old man and paraphrase Socrates (or technically Plato through the character of Socrates), the gold standard imo, isn't even written paraphrase, but reading and going over the book with a trusted colleague to see if there are any alternative explanations, and if there are, why they are there. Leaving someone alone in the ocean of reason is a sure way to drown.
TikTok, on the other hand, is a barrage and because it jumps topics so often, it doesn't even give you a chance to zone out and gloss over the details, the details just simply aren't there to begin with. That doesn't mean it can't be a learning tool, on the contrary, I'd say more kids these days know more about the JFK assassination conspiracy theories than anyone in my generation at that age, but that being said, there is generally very little in the way of them putting that into context, and they are equally likely to rattle off Chinese COVID conspiracy theories with equal confidence.
This may be abit too old of a reference, but have you ever gone back in time and watched old MTV videos back to back, the key part of any entertainment economy is not relevance, rationality to the internal idea or even good art. The point is always based on the external rationality of engagement and what is 'engaging' is generally a dialectical process between entertainers, audience, ownership of the medium, the physical nature of the medium itself, and the surrounding economic climate of the medium.
What the physical medium of TikTok allows for is fast loading, rapidly regurgitated content. The audience for this content is the people with the most time to dominate the algorithms, people who are the most susceptible to advertising, and people with disposable income. In general, this means young kids with a smattering of aging boomer, xers, and millennials who are susceptible to social media addiction. Young kids these days have been engaged in non-stop MTV like content since they were born, which causes them to scroll through things quickly as they are generally better at receiving digital information (I disagree on their advantage at processing that information, but that is a digression), which means the best way to get them to stop and listen to something is to present it in an audio/visually confusing way that makes them have to stop and process what they are seeing, or just watch something else and listen to what is going on.
On the other end of the spectrum, people like us gravitate towards long form content videos and podcast because they appeal to our general sense of loneliness and attempt to waste time in the day. Also waves cranky old man stick it is generally better to get an overview of the subject, though Joe Rogan and his ilk certainly prove that that isn't always the case.
Basically, this kind of stuff is the equivalent of online Saturday morning cartoons, and it's only going to get weirder from here.
I used to feel this way, and I guess I still kinda do but I think the way the average person engages with video essays and podcasts is like, barely better than tiktok in terms of learning. I know people who consume lots of the stuff but its just entertainment at the end of the day. If you were actively paying attention maybe you remember the basic topic and some fun facts, if you weren't super engaged you'll probably barely remember you even watched the video tomorrow. anything that passive is just not a good way to learn. reading and taking notes is the gold standard IMO, if for no other reason than because you can't completely zone out and just be like "welp I finished it" at the end, and taking notes requires you to comprehend the subject enough to paraphrase, and the act of writing aids in recall.
Not to say other things don't work but they require more conscious effort not to zone out or get overwhelmed and have details go over your head. Especially written word that is being read aloud verbatim I find can be exhausting because written language is dense in a way that speech very rarely is, and with reading you can just read slower or shift your eyes to reread a sentence in an instant, rather than constantly pausing and rewinding, or simply letting the details wash over you without comprehension
I generally find it is a good overview before reading about something. It forms a general structure from which written details can then seep into later. To be an even more cranky old man and paraphrase Socrates (or technically Plato through the character of Socrates), the gold standard imo, isn't even written paraphrase, but reading and going over the book with a trusted colleague to see if there are any alternative explanations, and if there are, why they are there. Leaving someone alone in the ocean of reason is a sure way to drown.
TikTok, on the other hand, is a barrage and because it jumps topics so often, it doesn't even give you a chance to zone out and gloss over the details, the details just simply aren't there to begin with. That doesn't mean it can't be a learning tool, on the contrary, I'd say more kids these days know more about the JFK assassination conspiracy theories than anyone in my generation at that age, but that being said, there is generally very little in the way of them putting that into context, and they are equally likely to rattle off Chinese COVID conspiracy theories with equal confidence.
true, the social element of book clubs is good too. I am guilty of neglecting it haha
deleted by creator