At some point in the distant past, the universe went through a phase of cosmic inflation,
Stars formed, planets coalesced, and on at least one of them life took root.
Through a long process of evolution this life developed into the human race.
Humans conquered fire, built complex societies and advanced technology .
All of that so we can argue about nothing.
- + New Debate
- Debate News
- About
- Debra AI More
frame
Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
DebateIsland.com is the largest online debate website globally where anyone can anonymously and easily debate online, casually or formally, while connecting with their friends and others. Users, regardless of debating skill level, can civilly debate just about anything online in a text-based online debate website that supports five easy-to-use and fun debating formats ranging from Casual, to Formalish, to Lincoln-Douglas Formal. In addition, people can improve their debating skills with the help of revolutionary artificial intelligence-powered technology on our debate website. DebateIsland is totally free and provides the best online debate experience of any debate website.
Communities
- 8.3K All Communities
- 254 Technology
- 1.9K Politics
- 675 United States
- 592 Global
- 65 Immigration
- 1.9K Religion
- 230 TV SHOWS
- 60 Movies
- 78 History
- 44 Work Place
- 475 Philosophy
- 411 Science
- 62 Earth Science
- 9 Books
- 101 Economy
- 34 Investments
- 14 Europe
- 10 Tea
- 7 Coffee
- 59 Sports
- 42 Products
- 283 News
- 13 Airplanes
- 33 Cars
- 851 General
- 9 Mafia Games
- 24 Art And Design
- 20 Space
- 50 Military
- 3 Premium Member
DEBATE NEWS BREAKING NEWS
House GOP's aid bills for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan advance — with Democrats' help
The bills are part of a complicated plan by Speaker Mike Johnson to get badly needed lethal aid to Ukraine, as well as security funding for Israel and...
Is watching YouTube a good way to know if something is true?
Debate Information
Let's have a little discussion about epistemology, the field of philosophy concerned with questions about how knowledge can be obtained.
There are millions of videos on Google's web hosting service YouTube, and the barriers are such that anyone can upload a video that could potentially be viewed by anyone. Some of these videos contain contradictory statement, and engage in a public dialogue across several different videos.
For the layman, is watching these videos a good way to come to knowledge?
I say no for the following reasons:
1) Since anyone can upload a video, it is possible for lies, disinformation, gross conceptual errors, and misunderstandings to enter videos that do not need to be fact checked and so lack any rigorous epistemic backing. This means there is no accountability, no verification, and no need for intellectual honesty.
2) The YouTube algorithm recommends content based on what you have previously watched. This means that it is very difficult for someone to get an unbiased cross-section of videos, since you will just keep getting more of what you previously watched.
3) YouTube recommends videos based on views/engagement, so only the most proactive or entertaining videos will get recommended. This means that videos that are dry or provide mostly factual information in a lecture format will be forgotten while videos that are accessible or feature a charismatic person will be promoted.
4) YouTubers have a profit incentive, as does the company and therefore will provide content based on what generates the most revenue. Harsh truths are not looked on as favorably as comforting lies. Someone who is telling the truth therefore, is not going to be as successful as someone who says what viewers want to hear. For this reason, many details and important facts might be overlooked for simplicity or emotions so as to maximize engagement.
5) Watching videos doesn't engage critical thought. If someone watches a video, even contradicting ones, they might accept one view wholly while rejecting the other without critically thinking about them because there is no opportunity to ask questions or get clarification.
Now, this isn't to say that watching YouTube is bad, but as a means to know what is true and what is false it is dubious as an epistemology, only slightly worse than reading a blog in fact. For these reasons I would not recommend this as a solid epistemology over actual scientific and philosophical work.
There are millions of videos on Google's web hosting service YouTube, and the barriers are such that anyone can upload a video that could potentially be viewed by anyone. Some of these videos contain contradictory statement, and engage in a public dialogue across several different videos.
For the layman, is watching these videos a good way to come to knowledge?
I say no for the following reasons:
1) Since anyone can upload a video, it is possible for lies, disinformation, gross conceptual errors, and misunderstandings to enter videos that do not need to be fact checked and so lack any rigorous epistemic backing. This means there is no accountability, no verification, and no need for intellectual honesty.
2) The YouTube algorithm recommends content based on what you have previously watched. This means that it is very difficult for someone to get an unbiased cross-section of videos, since you will just keep getting more of what you previously watched.
3) YouTube recommends videos based on views/engagement, so only the most proactive or entertaining videos will get recommended. This means that videos that are dry or provide mostly factual information in a lecture format will be forgotten while videos that are accessible or feature a charismatic person will be promoted.
4) YouTubers have a profit incentive, as does the company and therefore will provide content based on what generates the most revenue. Harsh truths are not looked on as favorably as comforting lies. Someone who is telling the truth therefore, is not going to be as successful as someone who says what viewers want to hear. For this reason, many details and important facts might be overlooked for simplicity or emotions so as to maximize engagement.
5) Watching videos doesn't engage critical thought. If someone watches a video, even contradicting ones, they might accept one view wholly while rejecting the other without critically thinking about them because there is no opportunity to ask questions or get clarification.
Now, this isn't to say that watching YouTube is bad, but as a means to know what is true and what is false it is dubious as an epistemology, only slightly worse than reading a blog in fact. For these reasons I would not recommend this as a solid epistemology over actual scientific and philosophical work.
Post Argument Now Debate Details +
Arguments