Using videos to learn has been more useful and engaging for me, than books

Before today, I used to feel bad about...I prefer to watch videos to learn rather than reading books. When I would hear readers say, "I read a book a day", or "I read 2 books a week".

From today, I give myself permission not to feel bad anymore. Why? The vast majority of the things that I have learned in a lot of disciplines, skills, and softskills, has been through video. I have become a filmmaker by watching countless talks and listening to countless movies' director audio commentaries.

I became a visual effects artists by watching tutorials and putting the lessons into action


I learned presentation skills by watching so many TED talks and other talks like these


and of course this...


And I became informed in many fields through video.

Then of course people like Salman Khan of Khan Academy and Sebastian Thrun of Udacity said, "Wait...we naturally like to watch videos and movies. So, let's use videos to teach!" Over a few short years, those services became very valuable, Udacity becoming a billion dollar company.





And so, from today henceforth, I congratulate myself on the education that I have given myself beyond the classroom.

Mark Twain said, "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education". I prefer the paraphrase, "I have never let my schooling get in the way of my education."

So if anyone tried to make you feel bad because you don't read books as much as you watch videos to learn, do not give them that permission anymore.

You might even be retaining more information. Or, each person is just different in the way that they learn. So, to each, their own.