The Most Persistent Myth
VeritasiumCited 3× on HN, 2015–2024
commentary · general · evergreen · 2015–2024 on HN
Veritasium argues that every new technology, from motion pictures to TV, was predicted to revolutionize education and none did. It asks what actually could, drawing on the host's physics education research.
HN cites it in education and AI threads as a history of failed technology-will-transform-teaching predictions.
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3 comments from Hacker News
Of course it has been a problem, I provided you with books from the 60s and the 70s to show a better way to educate people. See ▶ this video for why TV or anything else didn't obsolete teaching.
Reminds me of "This Will Revolutionize Education: No prediction has been made as often, and as incorrectly as that." ▶ this video The main problem is that learning is hard, and occurs inside the learner's head, rather than anything external outside of the learner.
We definitely have had a long history of "this changes everything for education!"[1], but 15 years is a long time for internet infrastructure to change and spread. The article seems to allude to such innovations. [1] ▶ this video