The Little World

If you have no idea what you are talking about?

Oddly enough…yes. I have watched a number of YouTube videos made by people with no experience, expertise, or ability to communicate…and gained valuable insights.

It is not for everyone to be a Solon or an Arnold. Most of us are not teachers – and the ones who are may be sometimes very much set in their ways. I have learned not to raise the topic of literature with an English teacher if I do not wish to sit through a lecture.

The valuable part of the valueless video is the realisation that it is just that…and to see what it says, and how it says it. and then to avoid doing so yourself. Of course there can be technical insights – like how to open a paint jar or the writing on the outside of a plastic kit. You just have to follow along as best you can and hope that some of that wisdom sticks with you.

You can also observe someone get it wrong, but unknowingly. The dilution that goes past usability and has to be recalled by adding more paint, and then more thinner, and then more paint… Looking at them with a quart of salmon-coloured lacquer and a part to spray the size of a match head is one of the most valuable lessons you can see.

And you can predict what the colour of their next four car kits will be.

The best part about YouTube advice is the fact that you are anonymous and need not react to the stuff. In your hobby club there is a fight brewing if you brush off or contradict a club expert. With the internet you just scroll right away from the thing and no-one is offended. Resist the temptation to leave nasty comments.