Thanks. That makes sense. The more you stand to lose by drifting off, the less likely you are to do it. Even if the cost of getting back on track is just pressing F11 or seeking back in the video, it can be a significant disincentive.
I think the whole computing experience -- sitting upright in front of a screen with a mouse in your palm -- puts your mind in "hunting mode". Web surfing is all about clicking, clicking, clicking. It's like a videogame -- a series of clicks produces a reward (or not): a funny video, a witty exchange, an interesting piece of news, an update from a friend.
I think this induces a certain state of videogame-style excitement, which is incompatible with "calm consumption", as when you're reading a book. On the Web, one minute you're playing "the Web game", the next you're supposed to read a serious text on math, history or geography. But you can't focus because your brain wants to get another dopamine fix. You need to calm down first, which takes time.
All I want to argue is that, at best, this is a slim advantage of a video over a book. So we shouldn't be saying that Khan Academy is revolutionary in any meaningful sense. It's a new medium for the same old content, and it's a medium whose advantages are pretty slim, at least for the way Khan is using video.
Sure. I'd even agree. I would say that for certain use cases, the advantage of video can be large. Averaged over all use cases that matter, there may be no advantage at all. Of course that doesn't mean you shouldn't use it where the advantage is large (not that I think you're saying that!)
I think the whole computing experience -- sitting upright in front of a screen with a mouse in your palm -- puts your mind in "hunting mode". Web surfing is all about clicking, clicking, clicking. It's like a videogame -- a series of clicks produces a reward (or not): a funny video, a witty exchange, an interesting piece of news, an update from a friend.
I think this induces a certain state of videogame-style excitement, which is incompatible with "calm consumption", as when you're reading a book. On the Web, one minute you're playing "the Web game", the next you're supposed to read a serious text on math, history or geography. But you can't focus because your brain wants to get another dopamine fix. You need to calm down first, which takes time.