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  • Hello Internet,

  • Here we are: 500,000 subscribers -- well, actuallyby the time I finished this video

  • it's a bit more than that -- but who knew that after I promised to do a Q&A that the

  • pope would resign?

  • Anyway...

  • When I uploaded my first explanation video just over two years ago now, I would never

  • have expented this: over half a million subscribers and 16 videos with over a million views. Who

  • knew rapidly spoken educational videos could be so popular?

  • Thank you, Internet.

  • Now, as promised -- though slighly behind schedule -- it's time to answer some of your

  • questions.

  • ## "What's your educational background?" Rodrigo, Campo Grande, Brazil

  • I went to school in New York where I earned two college degrees, one in physics and one

  • in sociology. After that I moved to London and earned a PGCE in Science Education, and

  • became a qualified physics teacher in England.

  • ## "How long does it take to create a video?" Tracey, Ohio

  • I've tracked my time to get an accurate answer and every minute of final video you see takes

  • me between 10 and 20 hours of writing and animating to make. So a typical 5 minute video

  • is 50 to 100 hours of work.

  • While that's a lot, it doesn't include the research phase which is difficult to quantify

  • -- some of the videos I've made I'd been collecting notes on for more than a year before starting.

  • ## "What was you favourite video make?" Brittany P, UK

  • The 2012 video was the most fun by far -- mainly because I didn't have to do a lot of complicated

  • research and I got to complain about things I don't like.

  • ## "What change would you make to the education system?" Lumbajack Gangsta, Austin, TX

  • Instead of grouping kids by age, I'd group try grouping them by ability instead.

  • The idea that just because a kid is 14-years-old they're ready for trigonometry is weird. No

  • other part of human society oranizes itself this way and for good reason: it artificially

  • slows down the best and brightest.

  • ## "What is do you think should be in the curriculum but isn't?" Jamaal, Arizona

  • Computer programming. I was kind of shocked and horrified when I started teaching in the

  • UK to discover there were no real computer programming lessons.

  • Of course, there are only so many classes in the day, and everyone wants their pet subject

  • taught in schools, so the equally important question is what to get rid of to make room

  • for computer programming and, without the slightest hesitation I'd ditch the foreign

  • languages classes -- after all, computer programming is getting us closer and closer to a universal

  • translator anyway.

  • ## "What do you do when you receive pennies?" johnjac, Owasso

  • I die a little inside thinking about how political systems can distribute tiny costs across large

  • numbers of people to the benefit of a few.

  • ## "What's your favorite element?" Rasmus, Denmark

  • I don't have a favorite but I'm irrationaly fond of Tungsten mainly because my wedding

  • ring is made out of it.

  • ## "What's the story behind your logo?" Joshua B.

  • It's basically a personal flag for my love of science and technology.

  • When I first started this channel, I thought that I would make videos mostly about those

  • two things, but for various reasons, that hasn't happened yet.

  • And besides, it's not like there's a shortage of good science channels on YouTube.

  • By the way, If you really like the logo, you can get it on T-Shirts and now coffee mugs

  • -- which is particularly appropriate as coffee is the fuel that without which these videos

  • could not be made.

  • ## "What do you do in your free time?" Sam L, Higginsville, MO

  • I like to horseback ride through the mountains.

  • Nah, it's mostly just reddit.

  • Speaking of which...

  • ## "Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or 1 horse-sized duck?" techtakular,

  • Alex, va

  • One horse-sized duck. The cube-squared law means the legs of a horse-sized duck probably

  • wouldn't be structually sound. Easy fight.

  • ## "Are there going to be more "politics in the animal kingdom" videos?" Oli

  • Yes, I'm sorry, I know this playlist is unfinished and, if any of the videos videos I've ever

  • made can be said to be important, it's these.

  • I promise at least one more about the single transferable vote, but I don't make any promises

  • about when that will happen.

  • ## "Do you think third parties will ever gain ground in the United States?" Kerl, Florida

  • No.

  • The problem isn't politics or voter apathy, it's the system that creates the politics

  • and voter apathy.

  • The US election system is pretty much the worst in the civilized world -- often voting

  • for a 3rd party isn't just a waste it's also a vote *against* your own best interests.

  • 3rd parties really can't thrive under those conditions.

  • ## "What's one technology you wish to see before you die?" zigonick, MO, USA

  • Immortality technology.

  • ## Where do you get your ideas?

  • It's been my experience that creative projects are self-sustaining. The more you write, the

  • more things you want to write about and the more you program the more programming ideas

  • you have.

  • For me each video spawns more videos. The daylight saving one, for example, originally

  • contained spots for information about longitude and time zones and the seasons that got cut

  • but will probably become their own videos at some point.

  • Also, I listen to a monstrous number of audiobooks and podcasts. If you're interested, you can

  • see some of my favorites here. These help me keep in touch with the wider world and

  • expose me to ideas and information that I would not have come across on my own.

  • ## "If you could live at any time in history when would it be?" Bonnie, Scotland

  • I wouldn't.

  • Allow me to summarieze all of human existance with this single graph.

  • ## "What's the best way be successful on YouTube?" Joe Kowalski, 44074

  • Make videos people want to watch.

  • I'm not trying to be glib here but when asked this question I see many YouTubers talk about

  • the importance of upload schedules and managing your social media and colloborations, and

  • my experience says that's completey backwards.

  • If you're videos aren't interesting, no one will care that you upload them regularly.

  • And twitter followers don't get you views, views get you twitter followers and people

  • who want to collaborate with you.

  • I know it's not very helpful advice, but it's the most truthful advice I can give.

  • ## "What is the most interesting fact you've ever been told." Stu1278, England

  • It's difficult to pick just one from an entire lifetime, but last year Veritassium visited

  • me in London and walked me thorugh the process by which trees get water from their roots

  • to their leaves.

  • That sounds really boring but it was one of the most mind-blowing conversations I've had

  • in a long time.

  • ## "How often do you engage with profesionals while you research?" theLarom, Washington,

  • DC

  • For me, being confused and frustrated with a topic is a vital part of figuring out how

  • to explain it to others so I'd say 95% of research I do on my own.

  • If I'm really out of my depth on a topic -- like the debt video and the pope video -- I try

  • very hard to find an expert to look over the final draft of my script but time constraints

  • and finding trustworthy experts is sometimes a bit difficult.

  • ## "What is your favorite internal organ?" trint99, DFW, TX

  • The Brain -- because it's the one that's me.

  • ## "Is there any part of science do you want to be proven wrong?" Jrod N, Massacusetts

  • Yes, the current interpretations of the ultimate fate of The Universe all make me sad.

  • ## "Can you answer 10 questions in under 30 seconds?" YouReadMeName

  • ## 1: "What is your favorite scientific study ever published?" Marie, Reno, NV

  • Unskilled Are Unaware: Further Explorations of (Absent)

  • Self-Insight Among the Incompetent

  • Link in the description.

  • ## 2: "Hogwarts house?" Zeinoun Awad, Lebanon

  • Ravenclaw. (I'd hope)

  • ## 3: "Celsius or Fahrenheit?" Kubez

  • Fahrenheit.

  • ##4: Kirk or Picard

  • Picard.

  • ## 5: "Do you wear glasses?" Spartacus McFancy Pants

  • Uh, yeah.

  • ## 6: "Favorite empire?" Caleb Glickman, USA

  • The second one. Those monks were awesome.

  • ## 7: "How can a country be totally self sufficient -- as in no imports or exports?" Amberjack1973

  • Simple, resort to a midevil level of technology.

  • ## 8: "Favourite sport?" soccernhlfan, Canada

  • No.

  • ## 9: "Should science play a bigger role in politics?" Dip, London, UK

  • What, you mean the method by which we determine truth? Yeah, I think it should.

  • ## 10: "Can you answer 10 questions in under 30 seconds?" YouReadMeName

  • Apparently.

  • Alright, thanks to everyone who submitted questions -- it's been fun, Internet.

Hello Internet,

Subtitles and vocabulary

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B1 programming duck sized politics favorite picard

Q&A With Grey for 500,000 Subscribers

  • 614 26
    張軒榮 posted on 2013/08/29
Video vocabulary

Keywords

computer

US /kəmˈpjutɚ/

UK /kəmˈpju:tə(r)/

  • noun
  • Machine for storing data, accessing the internet
group

US /ɡrup/

UK /ɡru:p/

  • other
  • Put together; form into a group.
  • noun
  • Two or more musicians who play music together
  • A set of things that are similar or related in some way.
  • An atom or group of atoms that replace another atom or group of atoms in a molecule.
  • A number of military personnel under a single command.
  • A band of musicians who perform together.
  • Number of people or things gathered together
  • An organization or set of people working together, especially one with a particular purpose.
  • A number of people or things that are located close together or are considered or classed together.
  • A number of people or things that are located close together or are considered or classed together.
  • A number of things that are located close together or are considered or classed together.
  • verb
  • To combine or collect objects or people together
answer

US /ˈænsɚ/

UK /'ɑ:nsə(r)/

  • noun
  • Reply to a question someone asks
  • Solution to a problem or test question
  • verb
  • To reply to a question someone asks
  • To solve a test question or a problem
time

US /taɪm/

UK /taɪm/

  • noun
  • Speed at which music is played; tempo
  • Point as shown on a clock, e.g. 3 p.m
  • Number of hours, minutes needed to do something
  • Occasion when something happens
  • Period or occasion that something occurred
  • Period in history or the past
  • Something measured in minutes, hours, days, etc.
  • How long an event takes; duration
  • verb
  • To check speed at which music is performed
  • To choose a specific moment to do something
  • To measure how long an event takes, e.g. a race
  • To schedule something to occur at a specific moment
favourite

US /'fevərɪt/

UK /ˈfeɪvərɪt/

  • adjective
  • Best liked or most enjoyed
  • noun
  • A thing that someone likes best or enjoys most
difficult

US /ˈdɪfɪˌkʌlt, -kəlt/

UK /'dɪfɪkəlt/

  • adjective
  • Hard; not easy; you need to work hard to do it
  • Not easy; requiring effort or skill to accomplish, understand, or deal with.
  • Not easy to please or satisfy; causing trouble or problems.
  • Full of hardships or problems; causing distress or worry.
coffee

US /ˈkɔ:fi/

UK /ˈkɒfi/

  • noun
  • A brown drink made from roasted beans and water
  • A tropical evergreen shrub or small tree cultivated for its coffee beans.
  • A shop that sells coffee and other drinks and snacks.
  • other
  • The beans from the coffee plant.
  • A hot drink made from roasted and ground coffee beans.
  • adjective
  • A brown chocolate color
close

US /kloʊz/

UK /kləʊz/

  • other
  • To complete or finalize (a deal, transaction, etc.).
  • To move (something) so as to cover an opening; shut.
  • To bring together the parts or edges of.
  • To block or obstruct (a road, etc.).
  • adjective
  • Almost; near
  • (Of a friend) well-known; liked by others
  • Intimate; on very good terms.
  • With little difference between competitors; nearly equal.
  • Being near or related
  • Similar; nearly the same
  • (of the weather) uncomfortably warm and humid; stifling.
  • verb
  • To come progressively nearer to something
  • To end; to bring to an end
  • To make something shut; stop from being open
  • noun
  • The end or conclusion.
  • other
  • To come to or bring to an end.
  • adverb
  • Near in space or time.
  • Near in space or time.
die

US /daɪ/

UK /daɪ/

  • noun
  • Cube with dots numbering 1-6 on it used in games
  • A small cube with a different number of spots on each side, used in games of chance
  • A tool for cutting an external thread
  • verb
  • To cease to function or work
  • (Of a thing) to stop being used or done
  • (Of a person) to stop living
  • other
  • To want something very much
  • To stop operating
  • other
  • To cut, form, or stamp with a die
know

US /noʊ/

UK /nəʊ/

  • verb
  • To be certain or sure about something.
  • To be familiar with a person or place, thing
  • To be acquainted or familiar with.
  • To feel sure or be convinced about something
  • To discover or be aware of something
  • To be able to distinguish
  • To have knowledge of things
  • To have the skill or ability to do something.
  • To have information or be aware of something.
  • To be acquainted or familiar with someone.
  • To be able to identify someone or something.
  • To be aware of through observation, inquiry, or information.