We currently live in one of the most entertaining times in the history of humankind. Never before have humans had the resources and tools to get entertained as they are today.
Learning and entertainment have both been part of our lives since the beginning. Learning is essential to progress and thrive as a society, whereas, entertainment provides an opportunity to give yourself a break and slow down.
The fact is that both were seen as different aspects until the last 10-15 years. Even when I was growing up, textbooks, papers, classrooms, etc. were seen as a medium of learning. For entertainment, I had to turn to magazines, television, movie theatres, etc.
It was easy to identify when I was learning and when I was getting entertained.
As more and more digital worlds entered into our personal lives, that line between learning and entertainment became thinner. It is way more challenging today to recognize if I am learning or getting entertained.
Often we start something with the aim of learning but eventually, it becomes entertainment.
How is it so?
The Illusion of Learning
Have you heard the word edutainment?
People say that when there is education and entertainment together, it is edutainment.
I think it is bullshit. Education is not supposed to be entertainment. Yes, education can be fun sometimes but not gross entertainment. Unfortunately, a lot of schools, institutes, people, etc. these days give too much attention to entertainment in the name of education.
The leaning toward edutainment also suggests that today’s generation is witnessing entertainment in abundance. So much so that most young ones today aren’t differentiating between when they are learning and when getting entertained. It is not entirely their fault as well.
The nature of society today has diluted the concept of learning vs entertainment. When we search for something on Google, we feel like we are trying to learn something. When we watch a 20-minute video on YouTube, we like to believe we are watching with the purpose of learning. In most cases, these are just an illusion of learning than actual learning.
It works because we as an audience get some scattered information (hence get the feeling of learning) and creators have to spend less time making something. It seems like a win-win situation for both sides.
Watching a short video or a quick article can be a starting point to learn something but never a complete package. Somehow we are getting accustomed to just bits and pieces of information instead of in-depth learning.
When is it Learning
How did you learn to cycle or swim? How did you learn algebra?
By devoting time and practicing for months or years. It required deliberate effort. It could be fun or may not be fun in the beginning.
Learning inherently requires deliberate effort. It is not supposed to be easy always. In the process of learning your brain undergoes structural changes at the neural level.
Watching quick videos or reading a few blog posts does not rewire your brain. All those ads for learning something in 6 hours or 3 days are gimmicks. You have to put in consistent effort for a while. That’s real learning.
The abundance of videos, articles, and short-form content has made making effort more challenging. Why would you put effort when some creators are telling you to just watch 3 videos/articles to learn a topic?
The truth is most creators want to keep their stuff simple and not deep in order to attract a more general audience.
What they are looking for is a larger audience for views by lowering the threshold of detailing. This creates a hindrance to in depth of knowledge and gives an appearance of learning.
If you watch a video with the sense that you want to get entertained, there is no problem. But if you watch the same video with the feeling that you are actually learning, that’s a big problem. The clarity of your thoughts improves your actions.
Next time you watch a reel or short video, ask yourself ‘Do I want to learn or get entertained?‘. The answer to that questions will lead to different actions.
The Primary Resources for Learning
The most important resource for learning anything in depth is long-form content. Books, research papers, interviews, essays, etc. Mostly what is known as the primary source of knowledge.
Videos are great if they are longer and contain some detail. Once you get your primary resources in place, you can then look for shorter content but not vice versa.
Reading for hours, taking notes, rereading, and going back and forth are all part of the process. Exactly how we used to learn in school/college. When you feel you are not required to put any effort during an activity, that’s probably not learning.
Why Learning Has Become More Challenging and Way Outs
Having Common Platforms for Education and Entertainment
Our brain works far better when we have clarity of actions. Using things for a single purpose is much better in terms of clarity than having a multipurpose.
When you pick up a pen and paper, the brain instantly perceives that you would write or draw something. When you pick up a digital device like an iPad, the brain suffers from decision fatigue in many cases.1 Even if you are predetermined that you will take notes on your iPad, in hindsight, your brain always gets the sensations about visuals/audio that are possible with iPads, especially if nobody is looking at you.
For me, using multipurpose things often becomes an obstacle (a shuttle one) to the main purpose. If you think about today’s kids, online classes and using laptops/iPads in school/college have become the norm. Their devices for learning and entertainment are the same.
Diving deep into a subject often requires uninterrupted focus which is more challenging when you have entertainment right at the tip of your finger beside you.
If used smartly, digital devices can aid in learning. The problem is relying heavily on them. I still feel that a young child aged between 5 to 10 should not rely on multipurpose digital devices for learning.
Instant Gratification
Learning is just inherent and natural to humans. We are exploratory creatures constantly seeking to understand the world around us. Before the social media arrival, people used to learn for the sake of learning.2 The process was sometimes fun and sometimes not. It was never just about fun.
Post 2010, suddenly we started looking for fun in almost everything. Why learn something if there is no fun? It may be true in some cases but if our approach starts with fun and ends with just fun then we may not find fun enough things to learn.
When you try something new, most probably it does not seem fun, but in the process of learning, we feel rewarded because of the progress. We feel worthwhile when overcome an initial obstacle.
The ultra-short content (video/audio/text) culture is ruining our ability to sustain focus on a single thing. As if our brains scream from inside ‘come to the point, come to the point‘.
Any valuable skill takes extended focus and time to grasp. An impatient brain just can’t get through it.
Try reading books for at least 20-40 minutes at a go. Watch longer and slower videos (interviews/Podcasts/explainer videos/documentaries). Walk through streets and parks aimlessly observing trees, roads, people, etc.
I have always wondered why life seems faster after 30. Why does it seem we are not savoring experiences in life?
Is it because people get married and are busier in their professional lives?
Maybe to some extent. But one of the primary reasons I believe is that we stop learning. When we don’t learn or attempt to learn something new, our experiences seem limited which in turn makes us feel bored and stuck in life.
When Benjamin Franklin said-
Most people die at 25, we just bury them at 75
He knew people stop learning after 25. And in today’s age, unless we are proactive, learning seems even more challenging to pursue.
I agree with most of your thoughts on this topic. It’s certainly thought-provoking, and I appreciate you bringing it up. However, I believe we now live in a rapidly changing world. The time we used to devote to conventional, in-depth learning is becoming less popular with the next generation, not just due to a lack of patience or the presence of distracting devices. It’s also because there’s a growing emphasis on being a jack-of-all-trades rather than a master of one.
For example, I have a highly specialized skill in bike repair, having spent years honing this craft. However, if bikes become obsolete and everyone switches to a new type of vehicle, my expertise may become irrelevant, no matter how well-developed it is. I also miss the deep pleasure of immersive learning, so I can totally relate to your perspective.
Another example is the skill of effective writing and communication. Those who excel in these areas have often invested significant time in reading and developing their writing skills. With the advent of AI, these hard-earned skills might become less valued or make less of a difference compared to those who haven’t invested as much time in developing them.
I think the fast pace of change in today’s world is the primary reason why people need to acquire a wide range of knowledge, even if it’s only superficial. It’s better than knowing nothing at all. Just a thought to add to your discussion from a different perspective. I think here lies the importance of the short contents, which is not intellectually satisfying, like in-depth learning but it also helps to quickly solve things and keep on being relevant.
Thanks Jayita for your thoughtful comment. I agree that the world is changing fast and demands new skills after a few years. But I still believe that learning something in depth (this is relative but in detail to some extent) has its own benifits (even considering the pace of today’s changing world).
Take your example of writing-
Why invest significant tien when AI can help writing great content?-. My arguments are-
1. Learning for its pleasure. I think part of what gives us deep pleasure as humans is realizing we are capable of mastering a skill. Only those who actually invests time, realized that.
2. Now from materialistic point of view- At least I have my own reservations in accepting that AI can completely replace humans in creative skills in near future. However, I do believe that AI could replace average skilled person. This is why I think learning in depth is even more important these days, otherwise AI could just replace an average skilled man. We are witnessing that in writing already. If you read enough AI generated content (which most of us read these days), you could easily recognize a non-human nature in that. Although AI could replace (or help) people’s general writing ability, when it comes to authentic/original form of writings, humans will still thrive. Only thing is there would be a few who can actually write original content. Few because most people would not be interesteed to invest time (as you mentioned) in today’s fast paced world. Hence, considering that most people perhaps think ‘what’s the point of investing too much time when this may be replaced by some form of AI‘ people who would actually go against this trend and learn something deep would be valued more (supply vs demand for highly skilled workers).
Regarding generalist vs specailist, I feel it is natural that evry person would like to know/learn a few skills. In fact, in earlier centuries people used to have more skills at any point in life than most people today. The term specialist itself is a relative, modern society created. I think the problem is of mindset where we feel jumping from one topic to another is justified due to nature of today’s world (of course, the whole arrangement of today’s digital world is to show you 10 things at a time and not let you invest your attention at one place for longer).