HackerTube.dev

Why Do You Make People Look Stupid?

Veritasium · 2.1M views · 2012-03-18 · 3:21

Open on YouTube ↗

If playback is restricted in your region, try opening the original video. Use Mark watched to add it to your marked videos.

Overview

Veritasium answers criticism that his videos make people look stupid, explaining that teaching must address learners' misconceptions and that holding common beliefs inconsistent with science is not stupidity.

On Hacker News

HN references it in discussions of how misconceptions are studied and how interview editing can make people look foolish.

Discussed on HN; no positive recommendation is recorded in this export · HN mentions 2013–2023

Topics

Scientific method & science communicationEducation & learningFundamental physics
Search by tags
veritasiumscience educationmisconceptionsscience literacy

What people said

Stratoscope · 2023-12 · Reference

So many great videos on Veritasium, and that is one of my favorites. Anyone who is not familiar with the channel should check it out. Of course, there is this counterpoint... [VIDEO]

Read the original HN comment ↗
Strilanc · 2013-11 · Criticism

Veritasium [1] often interviews people as part of his videos, and the results are consistent with what's being described in the post: somewhat distressing [2]. To the point where you might think he was purposefully making fun of them [3]. 1: [LINK] 2: [LINK] 3: [VIDEO]

Read the original HN comment ↗
lake99 · 2013-10 · Reference

> Spread facts, not "myths" I think this guy [1], with his PhD thesis on the topic, would beg to differ. Also, I don't think the website's sole purpose is to destroy them (misconceptions/people?). Some of us lay people who are knowledgeable, but have learnt the wrong factoid, for one reason or another, could still benefit from it. [1] [VIDEO]

Read the original HN comment ↗

Sources

Video by Veritasium, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

Views, duration and playback status refresh separately from the published catalog. When an update fails, existing data remains visible.

Selection checks
  • SaaS & AI candidates: Topic keywords do not match
  • Editor-approved picks: Editorial review is required

Rule matches identify candidates. They do not guarantee video quality or financial results.

About the library and its sources