Looking for opinions on YouTube Fermilab videos

[HankDorsett]

TL;DR Summary

Just as the title says

I've come across a few different videos from this person and I'm curious if they are accurate enough to rely on.

 

[Orodruin]

Accurate enough for what purpose? You have to understand that videos such as these are created for popular purpose. As such, you can rely on them to give you a flavour of the subject. If you want to get a working knowledge of the subject, they will be too popularized and shallow.

 

[HankDorsett]

I'm not looking for a working knowledge but rather an accurate basic overview. Every so often I come across information that has been overly simplified which sometimes leads to an incorrect understanding.

 

[Orodruin]

You can only get a correct understanding from acquiring a working knowledge or better.

 

[Torbert]

I have clicked on stuff like that when I was bored. I have not been bored enough to do so since I actually began pursuing educational information. Quite often the science is deliberated misrepresented, very rarely this is by accident. I have to ask why a particular video is made, is it advancing knowledge with testable documentation or saying 'have faith' without proof?
An occasional 'Aliens Built This' video is clicked for the sometimes amazing photos of human artifacts that are shown, but usually with the sound off and my own music playing for background.

But science that can be relied on? No.

 

[PAllen]

There are fundamental limits to the accuracy of short videos on topics that require systematic study to understand. That said, Don Lincoln's are among the 'best possible' for this genre.

 

[pinball1970]

Summary: Just as the title says



I've come across a few different videos from this person and I'm curious if they are accurate enough to rely on.

I think they are great fun, really good for kids to get interested in Science too. @Orodruin said 'flavour' and that is best description.

I like this one
.

This for maths

 

[PAllen]

Numberphile is typically very good for the length and intended audience. However, this particular one is very bad, as explained here:

 

[Ibix]

I think popsci videos are a bit like watching sport on the TV. You can watch the best players with commentary from former players and you can be inspired by it. But to actually learn to play the sport it you are far better off joining your local Saturday morning club.

Depends what you want, in short. The problem with videos explaining cosmology (or whatever) in everyday terms is that it isn't an everyday situation. So it's inevitably inaccurate and prone to mislead you because there are subtleties and complications that you simply cannot communicate that way.

 

[pinball1970]

Numberphile is typically very good for the length and intended audience. However, this particular one is very bad, as explained here:

Trust me to pick one that has been debunked...
Ill watch this debunking when I get the chance.

The ones on Grahams number and Tree (3) were very interesting.

 

[phinds]

One of the most serious problems with such videos is that they often cover topics in a brief time that just cannot BE covered in a brief time. As a consequence, the presentations quite often (as you clearly realize) simplify things to the point where the explanations are not even correct.

You can only get a correct understanding from acquiring a working knowledge or better.