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Knowing is not Understanding - Pluto and the P4A

2022-02-11 · explainer · Hank · 3:41 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Global development (also: Science & nature, Everyday life) · mode: Advice & reviews · tags: civic or action cta, calendar ritual

Arguing that understanding beats knowing (Pluto was taught as a planet without the why, essays as a structure without a purpose), Hank performs a self-aware essay that teaches how to make a Project for Awesome video: hook attention, make a clear, simple case in the body, conclude, and don't overstay.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Hook: understanding beats knowing; Pluto taught as a planet and then not, without the why

  • ★★★ Hank says he is passionate about the idea that understanding something is much more valuable than just knowing that it exists. — 00:00:00 · education
  • ★★ Hank says Pluto is a mess because people were taught it was a planet, and now that it isn't, without being taught why, which is confusing and even upsetting. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Hank says Pluto is part of the Kuiper belt as Ceres is part of the asteroid belt, but the Kuiper belt was unknown until he was 12; that interesting story is usually skipped. — 00:00:29
  • ★★★ Hank says textbook teaching treats knowing as being as important as understanding, or more, and that is wrong: understanding is more important than knowing. — 00:00:29 · education

00:00:58 — Essay structure taught without purpose; Hank reveals he is performing an essay

  • ★★ Hank remembers being told the proper structure of an essay without ever learning why it is a good structure or what an essay is for; essays have many purposes. — 00:00:58
  • ★★ Hank reveals he is performing an essay written earlier that day; he wrote the introduction not as a required part but to hook viewers and give context. — 00:00:58

00:01:27 — The essay as a P4A video guide: hook, body, conclusion, and the impact P4A videos can have

  • ★★★ Hank says making a great charity video, or any video, is hard, and the main thing needed is to capture and hold people's attention. — 00:01:27 · Project for Awesome
  • ★★★ Hank says a Project for Awesome video needs a hook like his, which paired two things people are passionate about: education done right, and Pluto. — 00:01:27 · Project for Awesome
  • ★★★ The body does the work and should not be too long; in a P4A video it explains why the organization's work matters, why they are good at it, and how they do it. — 00:01:56 · Project for Awesome
  • ★★ Hank says the conclusion is largely restating the case but can add new information. — 00:02:26
  • ★★★ Hank says making a P4A video is a way to have real, significant impact: not every featured charity gets money, but many do, and that money can have real, significant impact for those organizations. — 00:02:26 · Project for Awesome
  • ★★ Even without a grant, Hank says, an organization might use a viewer's P4A video to promote its work. (hedged) — 00:02:55 · Project for Awesome
  • ★★ Hank says he has had 15 years of practice at this; it isn't easy, but it isn't magic, just work. — 00:02:55

00:03:24 — Thanks to video makers, submission window, summary tips; sign-off

  • ★★ Hank deeply appreciates anyone who takes the time to make a P4A video and is excited to see what they come up with. — 00:03:24 · Project for Awesome
  • ★★★ Hank says P4A video submissions are open now and close 48 hours before the Project for Awesome starts on the 25th. — 00:03:24 · Project for Awesome
  • ★★ Hank sums up: capture and hold attention however you can, make a clear, simple case, and don't overstay your welcome. — 00:03:24

In the description and comments

  • ★★★ The description says viewers have 14 days to make their P4A videos and submit them at projectforawesome.com. — video description · Project for Awesome
  • ★★ In the description Hank calls this one of the strangest Vlogbrothers videos he has made: natural to him, but he worries how so self-aware a video feels to others. — video description · Vlogbrothers

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: education · Pluto · Project for Awesome

Also: asteroid belt · Ceres · essay · Kuiper belt · Solar System

Also centred on Pluto: How to Get to Pluto: From a Waterpark

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