Okay, I don't spend that much time on YouTube, so some or all of you may already know who this is and say it's old hat. But I had no idea there was a blonde bombshell with a Russian accent teaching the origins of words:
http://www.youtube.com/user/hotforwords
I know it is hard to believe but there is some entertaining original content on YouTube.
Holy crap! Something good on the 'Tube!
Interesting that you would say disseminating the origin of words is "entertaining" or "good". You mean if I were to start recording home videos in my underwear discussing the origins of words used in, say, role-playing games I'd get a ton of hits? Or would you not consider that entertaining?
I think a large part of her draw is the sexual overtones in her site and her videos. I just don't know whether I consider that a good or a bad thing... Use sex to attract people, then stimulate their brains?
Quote from: Thorin on April 02, 2008, 09:15:13 AM
You mean if I were to start recording home videos in my underwear discussing the origins of words used in, say, role-playing games I'd get a ton of hits? Or would you not consider that entertaining?
No, but if you did a presentation on DnD topics dressed as a wizard with some power point slides people might watch..
The fact she has crafted something that mixes sex with some form of educational content to attract an audience is very interesting.
The upside is that more people listen to her when she's trying to teach us interesting stuff.
The downside is that people may start to expect that only pretty people have interesting stuff to teach.
I'd love to get my kids hooked on something like this, where they learn the whys behind words. But I don't think I'd want my kids to see people dressed that provocatively...
Quote from: Thorin on April 02, 2008, 11:15:27 AM
The upside is that more people listen to her when she's trying to teach us interesting stuff.
The downside is that people may start to expect that only pretty people have interesting stuff to teach.
I'd love to get my kids hooked on something like this, where they learn the whys behind words. But I don't think I'd want my kids to see people dressed that provocatively...
Once again the Simpsons did it:
http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Teleboobies
But, back on topic...
There are a bunch of reasons why this is cool:
1. There is an interactive / collaborative educational element (like MythBusters).
2. It breaks the stereotype that if you are sexy you are a dumbass.
3. It will inspire others to use "marketing tactics" to make learning and questioning things more attractive.
Make learning entertaining and fun and all of a sudden you have a bunch of educated, grateful people who stick with you even though they've moved beyond the entertainment fluff because there was actual content underneath. Think of Bill Nye or even The Daily Show.
But Bill Nye and Jon Stewart use funny haha jokes. They don't use normally-only-worn-in-porno clothing or pushed up boobs to entice their audience. Would you have wanted your teacher to dress like that in grade 4? Would you want your kids' teacher to dress like that in grade 4?
At the same time, if this is intended solely for an adult audience rather than kids (and I think it's adult-themed, given the liberal use of swears in some of her videos) then my whole argument about "not wholesome for kids" goes out the window.
Yeah, you completely missed my point. We have a huge adult population that could care @%&# all about furthering education. If there is a hook that gets adults interested in etymology then it's a great win for etymology.
I used Bill Nye as an example because he's a name that most of us associate with fun kiddie learning, well, he's still kicking around you know though they tend to interview him on Discovery these days as a "notable" voice that big kids like you and me recognize as a sort of science pop-star.
The correlation between John Stewart and Political Science should be obvious, once again, most people don't care to understand politics (local or otherwise) but he puts a clown nose on, makes fun of it in an intelligent way and all of a sudden you have throngs of people who actually start caring about the ramifications of every decision point big or small.
If someone sexy decides to teach softcore porn seekers to think about the words that flow out of their mouths, I see that as a positive experience FOR EVERYBODY (not just YouTube comment writers).
If someone dresses trampy AND teaches your kids AND your kids learn the nature of language better than if they got it jammed into them by wrote I don't see a problem (other than your own prejudice).
Quote
Philology + Blonde with Boobs = HotForWords
to paraphrase somebody ( ;) ) ... Blond+Boobs != Hot (necessarily)
Quote from: Thorin on April 02, 2008, 09:15:13 AM
Interesting that you would say disseminating the origin of words is "entertaining" or "good".
Interesting that word choice, "disseminating" -- its origin has sexual-reproductive context, to spread seed (in this case, seeds, kernels, of ideas and information...).
Quote from: Darren Dirt on April 02, 2008, 03:02:24 PM
Quote
Philology + Blonde with Boobs = HotForWords
to paraphrase somebody ( ;) ) ... Blond+Boobs != Hot (necessarily)
I made no such claim. Also, blond
e is female, blond is male. Blond + boobs == SCARY
Quote from: Thorin on April 02, 2008, 06:42:07 PM
Quote from: Darren Dirt on April 02, 2008, 03:02:24 PM
Quote
Philology + Blonde with Boobs = HotForWords
to paraphrase somebody ( ;) ) ... Blond+Boobs != Hot (necessarily)
I made no such claim. Also, blonde is female, blond is male. Blond + boobs == SCARY
The name's Blond, James Blond...