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  • - Sometimes learning can be hard,

  • so hard that it feels like it isn't worth it.

  • Let's fix that.

  • (soft music)

  • Hello and thank you to our Patreon supporters

  • for making this video possible.

  • Because we have a Patreon now, whoo!

  • Anyway, I hate learning,

  • so, I'm ending the channel.

  • No, but can you imagine, the views!

  • Anyway, I bring it up because,

  • I guess it's kind of ironic.

  • If you watch our videos,

  • you might assume that the three of us

  • have this wholesome, unconditionally loving

  • relationship with learning.

  • Like we were born with this unusually strong desire

  • to figure stuff out,

  • but I don't think that's true.

  • (bell ringing)

  • Hello.

  • - Hello.

  • - Okay, I have a question for you guys.

  • Do you like learning?

  • - Yes.

  • - Yes, but-

  • - Next question (chuckles)

  • - Continuing on that but, hmm.

  • Do you actually like learning though?

  • - Okay, so basically,

  • I think I like the idea

  • of being someone who likes learning,

  • but like, actually sitting and learning,

  • like there are a lot of like, asterisks on it.

  • - I like being knowledgeable.

  • I like being able to like have a conversation

  • and be knowledgeable about topics.

  • But to get to the point of being knowledgeable,

  • (scoffs) that's pain!

  • - Yeah, I do find that sometimes,

  • a lot of the joys of learning are like locked behind,

  • like basically paperwork.

  • I don't know how else to say it.

  • I find it really difficult to get excited

  • about learning things when you're taught facts

  • and information in isolation.

  • - Yeah, you want to apply it to the real world, you know?

  • - Yeah, it's like a toast and butter.

  • You've gotta put the facts on the toast of the world.

  • You know what I mean?

  • You were making so much sense.

  • - And then I made more sense, right?

  • - It's kinda like the three of us exist

  • in this weird space

  • where we like the idea of learning.

  • We like having learned something,

  • but we don't like that, unfortunately,

  • necessary bit in the middle.

  • So today in this video,

  • we are going to figure out why learning is so hard

  • and hopefully, how to make it easier.

  • This is gonna be a big one.

  • - The research for this question

  • didn't take a few days or weeks,

  • it took over a year,

  • learning about learning through application.

  • We challenged ourselves to pursue little things,

  • weird things, and things so big

  • that we were kind of doomed to fail.

  • - [Taha] We documented the process

  • and examined every step of the way.

  • - [Melissa] Where do I start without a syllabus to guide me?

  • - [Sabrina] When do I find the time to read a 300 page book

  • about olive oil?

  • - [Taha] Why keep going

  • when I just want to play "Minecraft?"

  • - [Melissa] We found all these little obstacles

  • that have nothing to do

  • with the thing we were trying to learn.

  • - [Sabrina] And everything to do with a faulty approach

  • to learning itself.

  • - [Taha] One that we wanna fix.

  • - So, what did we find?

  • Now, I should say that this isn't gonna be

  • the be all end all all of education issues.

  • Race, class, culture can impact your approach,

  • your access, your experience in learning.

  • Because as you know,

  • (glass clattering)

  • we live in a society.

  • However, these are the problems

  • that we found ourselves struggling with the most.

  • So here's why learning can be so hard.

  • - First, we need to understand how thinking works.

  • A simple model of the mind has three parts.

  • The collection of all the knowledge

  • you've built up in your life,

  • the sights, sounds in situation around you,

  • and the working memory.

  • This is where elements from long-term memory

  • and the environment are combined to better understand

  • and interact with the world.

  • In other words, thinking.

  • Thoughts from this process

  • that transfer to long-term memory for future use

  • can be considered learning.

  • While this process seems straightforward,

  • it can fall apart in three major ways.

  • Let's assume you're trying to figure out

  • where grass comes from.

  • If your long-term memory

  • doesn't have enough related knowledge,

  • your ability to learn weakens.

  • This is because your energy is spent on the basics,

  • like determining whether a fact is relevant

  • or googling the definition of a new word.

  • You're building the paths connecting your environment

  • in long-term memory to your working memory.

  • Unfortunately, this slows progress

  • on the thing you actually care about.

  • Making exploring unfamiliar territory frustrating

  • instead of exciting.

  • Common techniques to ease those frustrations

  • are visual demonstrations, jokes, and personal stories.

  • They can create a better,

  • more memorable atmosphere for learning,

  • but they can also serve as distractions.

  • Ones that shift focus away from the core goal.

  • Forming a tempting exit

  • for people who may already want a way out.

  • But suppose you have the background knowledge

  • and determination you need,

  • applying that knowledge can still be a challenge.

  • In school, your teachers were your educational GPS.

  • Narrowing the scope of the problem

  • and controlling the pace of new information.

  • Outside of that structure,

  • it's easy to be overwhelmed by your own curiosity,

  • seemingly trapped between an academic maze

  • that costs $200 to enter

  • or hoping someone has made a simple video

  • answering your question.

  • So, that's the problem, or at least part of it.

  • It was honestly kind of weird

  • seeing the frustrations that we felt for so long

  • laid out so neatly on the pages in black and white.

  • If the problem was so obvious, so well-documented,

  • why isn't more being done about it?

  • - [Both] So we're doing something about it.

  • - Melissa. - [Melissa] Oh!

  • - So, secretly, we have actually been

  • doing something about it,

  • this whole year, basically.

  • We've been trying to solve these problems

  • through our videos and making you lab rats.

  • - Welcome, lab rats.

  • Okay, so problem number one.

  • As I mentioned before,

  • the amount of long-term memory

  • or general knowledge you have

  • can limit the amount that you can learn.

  • So this is your brain on limited long-term memory.

  • This is your brain on "Answer In Progress."

  • Did I change slides?

  • Yeah, I did, big.

  • - Many wrinkles.

  • - And the reason why this is your brain

  • on "Answer In Progress"

  • is because we take an interdisciplinary approach.

  • We're talking about all of these things

  • so that we can help you build up

  • a kind of broader range of knowledge

  • just by watching these videos.

  • We aren't building out a niche,

  • which some people would say is a bad strategy

  • for growing out a YouTube channel,

  • but who cares about that?

  • I care about that.

  • Please share this channel.

  • - For the low price of one share,

  • you can save three kids from getting real jobs.

  • - [Melissa] Double thumbs up.

  • - But the second problem is that,

  • when you're learning,

  • you become the frustrated stock image man from Google.

  • "Oh no, learning is so hard."

  • Sometimes learning can be really trying

  • because it's just a series of information

  • that you have to memorize,

  • and that can just be very boring.

  • And so, we're trying to solve this problem.

  • So how do we do that?

  • We do that by Immaculate Vibes.

  • Wow!

  • (Sabrina laughing)

  • The process of discovery can be exciting in itself.

  • As seen here from a documentary film

  • called "Phineas and Ferb"

  • going from "Hmm mildly interested" to "WOW!"

  • That is somebody enjoying learning.

  • Basically, what I'm saying is that,

  • learning theory in isolation can be dry

  • No longer wow.

  • However, interesting applications of that theory,

  • can become wow!

  • For example:

  • machine learning ethics,

  • may be pretty dry.

  • Deciding who to hit with a train,

  • very interesting.

  • - [Melissa] Learning alone can be... lonely.

  • - Learning alone can be lonely, nice.

  • - The dramatic pause!

  • - In our videos, we try to take you along

  • this chaotic journey of learning.

  • And boy... it's chaotic.

  • But we try our best to follow some sort of scientific method.

  • We start with an observation!

  • Olive oil fraud.

  • Then we ask a question.

  • What is olive oil fraud?

  • - And can we do it?

  • - We do some research.

  • And this is where it gets interesting or sad,

  • depending on if you're you or us.

  • Uh...

  • (all laughing)

  • - And even if we fail,

  • we still learn something along the way,

  • - Because really, it's the process of discovery where the real learning happens!

  • So, that's how we are trying to solve this.

  • This presentation, I envisioned it

  • as a way to clarify what we're doing.

  • I'm not entirely confident we got there,

  • but I hope you understood.

  • So here's the dream.

  • Step one, we make a neighborhood of nerds

  • who love learning, who love discovery.

  • Step two, we just keep doing that, I guess.

  • And step three, profit.

  • - Nice.

  • - [Sabrina] But like, actually-

  • - Wait, what did this slide do in this presentation?

  • - What, who put the screenshot our Patreon page,

  • patreon.com/answerinprogress?

  • What was that?

  • Patreon.com/answerinprogress? What was that?

  • Patreon.com/answerinprogress?

  • (all laughing)

  • - You're such a bad actor it's outrageous.

  • - The dumbest thing I have ever done.

  • (all laughing)

  • - [Melissa] Do you think people got it? I think people get it.

  • - This YouTube channel has had an identity crisis,

  • like every two years,

  • but I'm kinda hoping that this is the one that sticks.

  • Because learning to love,

  • learning really embracing that

  • has been a problem I've cared about my whole life.

  • I've got one of those quirky brains.

  • Like you need to trick into functioning,

  • but that's just me,

  • Melissa and Taha have their own reasons

  • for why they're doing this.

  • Why we're doing this.

  • For me, one of the things that I think

  • "Answer In Progress" is about,

  • and one of the reasons why I really care about it is that,

  • there is so much information online.

  • Like, there is no point in human history

  • that we have had this much access

  • to the collective human knowledge.

  • What we're trying to do is distill parts

  • of this huge body of work that's just out there

  • on the internet into small, interesting things

  • that people can actually learn from.

  • - "Answer in Progress" just makes me excited

  • to want to learn more things.

  • Maybe it's because we've kinda started to build

  • this little community amongst the three of us.

  • - Like a by-product of posting things on the internet

  • and having a comment section

  • that people can provide feedback and thoughts to

  • is that it's not just the three of us,

  • it's I think 500,000 now.

  • - It's wild, it's just-

  • - It's pretty crazy.

  • One thing that I'm really excited about

  • is like, when I was learning in school,

  • even when the topics were interesting,

  • I felt like there wasn't any point in learning

  • anything that wasn't gonna be tested.

  • And I'm really excited to, like,

  • if I start researching a tangent and exploring a tangent,

  • to be able to give myself the permission,

  • to just continue to go deep into that tangent

  • and learn about it,

  • and find interesting things about it,

  • and then tell everyone on the internet

  • is like such a fun, continuous,

  • huge online collaborative group project

  • that will just never end.

  • - So, that's it.

  • That's who we are.

  • That's what we're doing.

  • And if you like it,

  • if you believe in it,

  • then share this video with a friend,

  • share this channel with a friend.

  • And if you have a couple dollars to spare every month,

  • you can also support our Patreon.

  • Because we have a Patreon now, ta-da! (chuckles)

  • In case you don't know,

  • Patreon is a platform that lets you pledge

  • a certain amount of money to a creator every month,

  • to help them keep doing what they're doing.

  • If you support us on Patreon,

  • not only do you help us continue to make videos,

  • but you also get an exclusive podcast,

  • behind the scenes footage, and other chaos.

  • Now I'm not gonna lie to you.

  • The benefits are fun,

  • but they're not highly produced

  • because we don't wanna put all of our energy

  • behind a paywall.

  • The goal is to keep making stuff

  • for this channel for anyone to see.

  • And if you wanna help us keep doing that,

  • keep answering interesting questions in ambitious ways,

  • and honestly paying the bills,

  • then support us on Patreon.

  • It's linked in the description,

  • but either way, have a lovely day.

  • (upbeat bright music)

- Sometimes learning can be hard,

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