The original post appeared on LinkedIn. You can view it below on Linkedin or scroll below for the web version.
I might be considered a bit old-fashioned, but I still can't wholeheartedly endorse the recent trend of 'Youtuber Teachers".
Learning is inherently uncomfortable, yet profoundly rewarding when understanding finally clicks into place. The initial discomfort is what kickstarts the process, and the eventual "aha" moment reinforces the loop, drawing us back to learn more. Experiencing both of these emotions—discomfort and discovery—is essential to mastering any subject. When you encounter a new concept, your brain has to work overtime, forging new connections and storing information in a way that makes it easily retrievable and reproducible. While the biological process may vary, this sequence effectively captures the essence of learning.
Becoming a celebrity YouTube “teacher” often means prioritizing followers, which in turn comes from your creating videos focused on viewership. One can't afford to give their learners initial discomfort associated with learning. With the ever-decreasing attention span of social media users and the trend of reels and shorts, the addiction to quick dopamine hits can only be sustained by a continuous stream of entertaining content. Everything, except education, is acceptable when it comes to getting views. It genuinely bothers me to see the kind of things some “teachers” say on reels.
The phenomenon, along with work from home, mainly emerged as an outcome of COVID restrictions. While the concept of working from home has mostly transitioned to hybrid models, the rise of YouTube celebrity teachers has not seen a similar reversal. In fact, the recent wave of civil servants turning into YouTube educators has only deepened my concern. I’m not sure whether to blame these YouTube teachers for knowingly misleading aspirants or to question the aspirants themselves—those who aspire to run the country yet are easily deceived by such inept educators.
Of course, exceptions exist, as they always do. MIT OCW, Khan Academy etc are some of the channels that I used to refer regularly during my preparation and sometimes still do. But exceptions should not define the norm.
To the aspirants, my suggestion is not to deceive yourself by substituting education for entertainment. The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool!
Pic: A quiet and hidden corner of wisdom at IIT Bombay Library!
