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comment by Bendini (bendini) · 2019-08-29T07:40:36.400Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Critical question : If you've done some cursory research you'll know that you aren't the first person to think of this. There have been somewhere between 10-100 channels started that focused on the Sequences, with only a couple achieving minor success (e.g. Julia Galef's channel). Given this reality, what do you plan to do differently so this doesn't end up as a waste of time?
Replies from: Benito, John_Maxwell_IV↑ comment by Ben Pace (Benito) · 2019-08-29T10:24:57.109Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Pretty sure learning the skills to make youtube videos and practising explaining ideas isn't a waste of time for someone to try, even if the channel doesn't take off.
Replies from: John_Maxwell_IV↑ comment by John_Maxwell (John_Maxwell_IV) · 2019-08-30T04:19:56.216Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Also, in general, if you observe someone doing something that seems like a suboptimal use of time to you, before being critical, it might be worthwhile to take a guess as to what this person will do with their time if they abandon this project. Like, it could very well be that alternatives are not "YouTube video creation" vs "super optimized project bendini would approve of" so much as "YouTube video creation" vs "YouTube video consumption" ;-)
And if you want to convince someone to adopt a superior alternative, I humbly suggest putting on your salesperson hat and finding a way to create desire instead of scolding. After all, for today's discount price of acquiring some salesperson skills, you could help launch 100 high-impact projects ;-)
Replies from: bendini↑ comment by Bendini (bendini) · 2019-08-30T08:17:34.476Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
I disagree.
If someone specifically asks for criticism and I have something to say, I like to treat them like an adult instead of assuming they're just repeating tribal shibboleths. This also has a bonus of punishing people who are insincere about wanting critisism while rewarding those who honestly seek it.
While it's possible to gain useful skills from a failed project, opportunity costs are real. I don't think people should be risk averse (quite the opposite), but I do think people should put a bit of thought into a viable strategy before commiting the time needed to determine if a project will succeed.
Yes, I'm aware that my comment resembles the snark you get on Hacker News, but there is a distinction: I'm saying "There's a pile of skulls on this mountain, if you are going to climb it, figure out how to avoid making the same mistakes"
Replies from: Dominik Tujmer, John_Maxwell_IV↑ comment by Dominik Tujmer · 2019-09-05T11:01:34.275Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Replies from: bendini↑ comment by Bendini (bendini) · 2019-09-06T05:46:32.830Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Focusing on video quality instead of talking to a webcam is a differentiator, so that should raise your odds of success.
↑ comment by John_Maxwell (John_Maxwell_IV) · 2019-08-30T16:23:56.637Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Ah I didn't see he was asking for criticism, that's fair.
↑ comment by John_Maxwell (John_Maxwell_IV) · 2019-08-30T04:11:26.442Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Here's another successful one:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLB7AzTwc6VFZrBsO2ucBMg
Is there a reason to think the success rate for rationality channels is below the success rate of new channels in general?