[HN Gopher] A video tour of the Standard Model (2021)
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       A video tour of the Standard Model (2021)
        
       Author : goodway
       Score  : 105 points
       Date   : 2025-01-05 21:43 UTC (3 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.quantamagazine.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.quantamagazine.org)
        
       | jiggawatts wrote:
       | I'm so fed up with "icons and cartoons" particle physics. It's a
       | waste of everyone's time.
       | 
       | It's like trying to teach someone AI/ML and only ever showing
       | them vendor logos as illustrations and never the code or even
       | pictorial representations of the models.
       | 
       | It's absurd, yet 99% of such presentations for physics look like
       | this -- _unnecessarily_ -- because it is possible to show a
       | _rendering_ of fields, their various properties changing over
       | time and space, etc...
       | 
       | You can't learn anything from a thousand such videos that already
       | exist, so what's the point of a thousand and one? It adds
       | nothing.
       | 
       | PS: To gauge if the content is meaningful or valueless, just ask
       | yourself if _anything would change_ about its educational value
       | if you arbitrarily but consistently replaced the icons and /or
       | their labels. If you're still exactly as mystified as before,
       | then their information content was zero. "The three quarks, rock,
       | paper, and scissors have a three-way symmetry, blah blah blah".
       | Congratulations, you now know the quantum theory of roshambo!
        
         | slt2021 wrote:
         | its easy to critique, but have you produced a better
         | educational content ?
        
         | throwawayk7h wrote:
         | What educational materials would you recommend for someone
         | dabbling?
        
           | jiggawatts wrote:
           | Sure, here's an example that isn't just "scribbles":
           | https://youtu.be/Sj_GSBaUE1o?si=TfqBYfpCYcy-OsL4
        
             | agnivade wrote:
             | As clearly stated in the video, you need to have
             | prerequisite knowledge of quantum physics and special
             | relativity. The quanta video can be understood by someone
             | out of high school. Different audiences. Different goals.
             | Just because something is all charts and animations,
             | doesn't mean that it's bad.
        
         | gitaarik wrote:
         | Well maybe meant for a different audience? You don't have to
         | watch it if it doesn't appeal to you.
        
       | thekevan wrote:
       | When I see "explanation of the Standard Model", my mind
       | immediately goes to my favorite YT video, which is Dr Tong's talk
       | at the Royal Institution. I started watching this video and it
       | took me a second to recognize the voice, it's him as well!
       | 
       | If you want a long version:
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNVQfWC_evg
        
       | lcuff wrote:
       | I confess I was disappointed in the video. As someone who decades
       | ago read Stephen Hawking's book A Brief History of Time, it
       | doesn't substantially add to my (lame!) understanding of the
       | Standard Model. It names the 17 entities in the model, classifies
       | them (fermions vs bosons), makes the distinction between matter
       | particles and force particles, chats about each of the four
       | forces, and drops in a number of other factoids. All well and
       | good, and if you had no previous exposure to the standard model,
       | you'd learn a lot. But the contrast to videos in other realms I
       | explore (3Blue1Brown in mathematics, Guitar instructional videos
       | by folks who include tab + video of actual fingers + sound, and
       | woodworking videos where tricky constructions are shown from many
       | angles) casts this Standard Model video in a poor light. The
       | visuals just recapitulate the words that are being spoken. Sigh.
       | Maybe there's nothing else to show, but, as I led with, I ended
       | up disappointed....
        
         | agnivade wrote:
         | > All well and good, and if you had no previous exposure to the
         | standard model, you'd learn a lot.
         | 
         | That is exactly what this video is about. If you want something
         | to be more in-depth, this video is not going to help you. But
         | that's okay.
        
       | leoc wrote:
       | "Four hundred years ago, Galileo started piecing together the
       | basic principles ..." oh no https://aeon.co/ideas/galileo-s-
       | reputation-is-more-hyperbole...
        
         | jonlong wrote:
         | Indeed -- for a more detailed, incisive, and entertaining take,
         | check out Season 1 of the "Opinionated History of Mathematics"
         | podcast by Viktor Blasjo
         | https://intellectualmathematics.com/blog/the-case-against-ga...
        
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       (page generated 2025-01-08 23:01 UTC)