Study music is Overrated: Learning Expert Explains WHY
Summary
TLDRIn this episode of 'Overrated, Underrated', Dr. Justin Sung, a former medical doctor turned learning coach, shares his insights on various topics. He discusses the value of reading nonfiction, the myth of music improving study focus, and the potential of AI tools like Chat GPT. Sung also addresses the overrated nature of cold showers for productivity, the underrated impact of Khan Academy on education equity, and the changing necessity of university degrees. He emphasizes the importance of regular exercise for cognitive performance and criticizes the effectiveness of inquiry-based learning and YouTube for skill development, concluding with his views on the detrimental effects of social media.
Takeaways
- 📚 Reading nonfiction is properly rated as it's useful but only if the knowledge is applied in life, not just consumed.
- 🎵 Listening to music while studying is overrated; white noise is recommended for deep cognitive focus tasks.
- 🤖 Chat GPT is slightly underrated, with potential for more efficient use that most people haven't yet realized.
- 🏠 Coach House is overrated; personal anecdotes suggest it's more of a hype than a necessity for productivity.
- 🏫 Khan Academy is underrated for its significant impact on educational equity and non-profit work in education.
- 🎓 University degrees are overrated unless required for specific careers, as workplace changes outpace curriculum updates.
- 👩🏫 School teachers are underrated due to the unseen challenges they face and the effort required to be effective educators.
- 🏋️♂️ Regular exercise is very underrated for its multiple benefits including cognitive performance and metabolic health.
- 📺 YouTube for learning is overrated, especially for complex skills that require offline practice and feedback.
- 📱 Social media is overrated and generally detrimental to brain health, with a humorous exception for following the speaker.
- ❓ The speaker encourages viewers to ask for more details on specific topics, emphasizing the need for clear questions.
Q & A
What is Dr. Justin Sung's current profession after being a medical doctor?
-Dr. Justin Sung is now a full-time learning coach and consultant.
What is Dr. Sung's opinion on the value of reading nonfiction books?
-Dr. Sung believes that reading nonfiction is properly rated because it's useful if applied, but overrated if the knowledge is not integrated into one's life.
According to Dr. Sung, why is listening to music while studying generally considered overrated?
-Dr. Sung considers it overrated because studies suggesting benefits from listening to classical music, like Beethoven or Mozart, have been discredited, and there's no strong evidence supporting the use of music for cognitive focus.
What does Dr. Sung recommend for students who require deep cognitive focus while studying?
-Dr. Sung recommends using white noise for deep cognitive focus instead of music.
What is Dr. Sung's perspective on the current state of Chat GPT and its utilization?
-Dr. Sung believes that Chat GPT is slightly underrated, as most people are not using it to its full potential and lack the base learning techniques to use it effectively.
Why does Dr. Sung consider Coach House to be overrated?
-Dr. Sung thinks Coach House is overrated based on anecdotal evidence, as he has observed that people who take cold showers are not necessarily more productive or focused.
What is Dr. Sung's view on Khan Academy's role in education equity?
-Dr. Sung views Khan Academy as underrated for its significant contributions to education equity, being one of the pioneers in the edtech and online learning space.
What does Dr. Sung think about the necessity of a university degree for most career pathways?
-Dr. Sung believes that a university degree is overrated for most career pathways, as the workplace is changing faster than the curriculum, making degrees less relevant.
How does Dr. Sung evaluate the role of school teachers in the education system?
-Dr. Sung considers school teachers to be underrated due to the lack of understanding of the challenges they face and the energy and effort required to be a good teacher.
What is Dr. Sung's stance on inquiry-based learning as it is currently implemented in educational institutions?
-Dr. Sung considers inquiry-based learning to be overrated in its current implementation because it lacks the effectiveness of a blended approach with cognitive learning techniques.
Why does Dr. Sung believe regular exercise is underrated?
-Dr. Sung believes regular exercise is underrated because it not only improves health and cognitive performance but also addresses the issue of adaptive thermogenesis, which affects weight management and metabolic rate.
What is Dr. Sung's opinion on using YouTube for learning complex skills?
-Dr. Sung considers YouTube for learning to be overrated for complex skills because it is difficult to provide pattern identification, mistake correction, and feedback through the platform, which are crucial for skill development.
How does Dr. Sung view the impact of social media on the brain?
-Dr. Sung views social media as overrated and detrimental to brain health, with a humorous exception for following his own content.
Outlines
🎓 Introduction and Reading Nonfiction
Dr. Justin Sung introduces himself as a former medical doctor turned learning coach and consultant. He begins the 'Overrated, Underrated' series by discussing reading nonfiction. He believes reading nonfiction is properly rated because it is useful but only if the knowledge is applied. Simply consuming books without integrating the knowledge is not beneficial.
🎵 Listening to Music While Studying
Dr. Sung explains why he thinks listening to music while studying is overrated. He mentions that early studies linking classical music to high achievement have been discredited. He prefers white noise for tasks requiring deep focus and uses Lo-Fi music for less cognitively demanding tasks.
🤖 ChatGPT
Dr. Sung discusses the underrated potential of ChatGPT. He is working on an AI email project and notes that while ChatGPT is popular, many people do not utilize its full potential. Effective use requires higher-order learning techniques and systems that most people lack.
🛁 Cold Showers
Dr. Sung shares his view that cold showers are overrated. He believes that while some people find them helpful for productivity, there are other, more effective methods for improving focus and productivity. His opinion is based on personal experience and anecdotal evidence.
📚 Khan Academy
Dr. Sung praises Khan Academy, calling it underrated. He highlights its significant role in promoting equity in education and its impact on the global scale. Khan Academy's contributions to the non-profit education sector and its pioneering efforts in online learning are emphasized.
🎓 University Degrees
Dr. Sung argues that university degrees are extremely overrated unless required for specific careers like medicine or law. He points out that many industries change faster than university curriculums, leading to outdated knowledge. He advises prospective students to evaluate the necessity of a degree in their chosen field.
👩🏫 School Teachers
Dr. Sung discusses the general underappreciation of school teachers. While acknowledging that not all teachers are great, he stresses that the system makes it challenging to be a good teacher. Therefore, good teachers are rare, and the profession as a whole is underrated.
🧠 Inquiry-Based Learning
Dr. Sung believes inquiry-based learning is overrated due to its poor implementation and lack of evidence supporting its effectiveness. He advocates for a blend of inquiry-based and cognitive approaches to enhance educational outcomes.
🏋️ Regular Exercise
Dr. Sung emphasizes the underrated benefits of regular exercise. Beyond physical health, exercise improves cognitive performance and helps regulate metabolism. He explains the concept of adaptive thermogenesis, which makes exercise essential for long-term health and fitness.
🎥 YouTube for Learning
Dr. Sung considers YouTube overrated for learning complex skills. While good for declarative knowledge, it lacks the capacity to provide the necessary feedback and practice required for skill mastery. He highlights the limitations of learning intricate skills solely through YouTube.
📱 Social Media
Dr. Sung concludes that social media is overrated due to its negative effects on the brain. He humorously notes that following him is an exception. He ends the episode by inviting viewers to suggest topics for future discussions and to provide specific feedback.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Nonfiction
💡Cognitive Focus
💡Chat GPT
💡Coach House
💡Khan Academy
💡University Degrees
💡School Teachers
💡Inquiry-Based Learning
💡Adaptive Thermogenesis
💡YouTube for Learning
💡Social Media
Highlights
Dr. Justin Sung discusses the value of reading nonfiction, suggesting it's properly rated due to its usefulness when knowledge is applied.
Listening to music while studying is considered overrated, with classical music studies being discredited and no strong evidence for cognitive benefits.
Chat GPT is slightly underrated, with potential for more efficient use in education and AI, but most people lack the learning techniques to utilize it effectively.
Cold showers, often associated with productivity, are anecdotally overrated, with Dr. Sung questioning their actual impact on focus and productivity.
Khan Academy is underrated for its significant contributions to educational equity and its pioneering role in online learning.
University degrees are overrated unless required for specific careers, with Dr. Sung highlighting the gap between curriculum and workplace needs.
School teachers are generally underrated due to the lack of understanding of their challenges and the effort required to be effective.
Inquiry-based learning is overrated in its current implementation, lacking evidence and often missing valuable cognitive learning aspects.
Regular exercise is extremely underrated for its impact on health, focus, efficiency, and cognitive performance.
YouTube for learning is overrated, particularly for skill development, due to the difficulty of providing effective feedback and tracking progress.
Social media is super overrated and generally bad for the brain, with a humorous exception made for following Dr. Sung.
The importance of specifying questions when requesting further exploration of topics in the comments section for better clarity.
A call to action for viewers to like, comment, and subscribe for more content on the overrated and underrated series.
The potential of Chat GPT in the AI email space and its current underutilization by most people.
Coach House being overrated based on Dr. Sung's anecdotal experience and questioning its actual impact on productivity.
The need for employers to recognize that degrees are not always necessary for certain jobs, as the workplace evolves faster than education.
Adaptive thermogenesis explaining why diet alone is not sufficient for weight loss or fitness, emphasizing the role of exercise.
Transcripts
hey everyone it's Dr Justin sung here
I'm a former medical doctor and now
full-time learning coach and consultant
and this is another episode of overrated
underrated where we're going to be
taking a lot of different ideas and I'm
going to be giving my take on them as
briefly as possible so let's go
okay reading nonfiction overrated or
underrated reading nonfiction overall
I'm gonna say is properly rated because
it's useful but also it's not useful if
you just like buy a non-fiction book you
read it and then you assume that that
knowledge is now yours you can use it
you have integrated you've applied the
skill like learning and then consuming
knowledge actually not the same thing
some people just buy books and consume
it and then they're like oh yeah that's
part of my life now but actually you
look at the bookshelf it's like well how
much of that are you actually applying
in your life so in that case it could be
overrated but a lot of people do not
read very much so therefore that will be
underrated so therefore we land in the
middle at properly rated
listen to music while studying I think
is overrated for sure so the whole idea
behind listening to music especially
classical music is actually done through
correlative studies like there used to
be these studies that were done on like
high achieving students and what they
listen to and then they listen to more
classical music I think specifically
there's the more Beethoven or Mozart or
something but that there's so much
confounding in those studies that those
Studies have now since essentially been
discredited when you look at this purely
the research around like list like the
sensation of taking in something orally
while you're listening there doesn't
seem to be any benefit of actually
listening to anything or rhythmic or
even like binaural beats and things
there's not really strong evidence for
it for me personally and for what I
recommend to my students I generally
just recommend having White Noise if
there's anything that requires deep
cognitive Focus
I haven't been convinced that listening
to music is beneficial for that for
doing things that don't require so much
cognitive Focus then yes uh definitely
something that's a little bit more
creative something a little bit more
relaxed something where you're just kind
of like going along in your workflow
that's fine I listen to Lo-Fi like crazy
my Spotify my Spotify wrap up for the
years always a slow by Lo-Fi Lo-Fi Lo-Fi
okay so I listen to a lot but I don't
when I need a really focus and
concentrate
chat chatgpt is extremely like The Buzz
and it's still it's probably still
slightly underrated
um most people don't realize but right
now I'm sort of months into working on a
artificial intelligence email project
um with some with some big names and
I've been in this space and I've been
learning about it and then
coincidentally chat GPT got released
like in the middle of me working through
that so when I was looking through it I
was looking through a lens of just an
educator but also someone that had been
kind of immersed in the AI email space
for a little bit by that point and I
think the way that chat GPT will be
utilized and can be utilized are still
being very very like you know most
people are not using it to the extent
that it could be used they're not
getting the efficiency they could get
most people probably don't have the base
learning technique at a higher order to
be able to use chappy T in the right way
because there are certain inquiry
approaches that could be really
effective if used in the right way
however most people don't have a system
that would allow them to use that in the
first place because it's too lower order
based so for that reason it's going to
be underrated
Coach House
[Music]
I want to say Coach House overrated
um and look this is going to be
completely just purely anecdotal like
this is not coming from me having like
years of experience working with
students and things like this is just
like me thinking about it myself I
believe I am able to have good focus and
productivity and you know manage myself
and things like that I do not need to
take cold showers and just purely
anecdotally
some of the people around me that are
into taking cold showers are not
particularly very productive or focused
so it makes me think maybe it's like the
easy thing that you can set your mind to
to do that kind of like you know can
help trigger and springboard things for
you but I feel like there are probably
more high-yield things that you could
work on that are maybe less obvious to
understand as shower in cold water
um so for that reason I'm gonna say it's
a little overrated I think I think it's
hyped a little bit more than it maybe
needs to be
Khan Academy
Khan Academy is probably
underrated Khan Academy does a lot in
the equity for Education space so I
think most people don't know this but
um for you know I've been in the
education industry for 10 years now and
my first seven years were in the
non-profit sector in fact I didn't even
pay myself for the first four or five
years four and a half years so I am very
very like keenly aware of the issues of
like equity in in education and Khan
Academy was one of the first players on
the scene that actually did that at a
global scale like Khan Academy is like
an OG in the in the edtech and education
online learning space no one was doing
it like Khan before Khan Academy well at
least no one was doing it well so I
think for the impact the Khan Academy
made the road that it paved the equity
for Education that it's done and a lot
of the non-profit work that Khan Academy
continues to do I'm going to say it's
it's underrated I don't think it gets a
prop set it deserves
foreign
extremely overrated unless you are doing
a career that literally requires that
degree so for example like medicine law
accounting like uh you know Financial
Services type thing like these these
career Pathways that the entry point to
it is having the degree outside of those
I would say that University is I think
it's very very overrated I know that
there are some degrees that the
workplace is changing faster than the
curriculum is changing so it's like I
mean the Gap is going to be widening and
widening and widening so I remember you
know one of the previous marketing
interns that I hired on they eventually
became my marketing manager they they
did a marketing degree and they said
that none of the stuff they learned in
uni they were able to actually use at
their work and everything they learned
about marketing was just purely on the
job and I looked at the curriculum and I
could agree the stuff was so outdated so
for example it was a marketing degree at
the time this is like six seven years
ago now at the time there was nothing
about social media can you imagine doing
a marketing degree with nothing about
social media anyway overall I think
universities are never going to be able
to catch out fast enough and so for some
some Industries I don't think it's
necessary and I think a lot of employers
are wising up to that to the point where
you do not need to have the degree to
have certain jobs when five ten years
ago you used to so if you're looking at
going into University because you want
to go down a career pathway I'd
recommend go and look at what the
employment space is like see right now
today do you actually need that degree
or can you do a udemy course can you do
a course there like can you do something
else without without having the
university part
[Music]
oh School teachers well School teachers
are you know like an entire group like a
massive group of people as they're not
homogeneous I think I think that they're
they are underrated because of the fact
that most people will never really
interface with education very deeply and
so they don't really know what it's like
behind the scenes and so they you know
they they don't really understand the
plight of a school teacher already and
and what they have to kind of deal with
you know but having said that if you've
had a bad teacher is that bad teacher
like underrated well I mean like no not
not really I suppose but I think the
issue is that it's very easy to become a
bad teacher because the system is set up
where being a good teacher is actually
very hard it takes a lot of energy and a
lot of effort so that's why they are
they're rare
um and so School teachers as a general
category I'll say that it's they're
underrated
inquiry-based learning is
in the present sense the way that is
being used now and the way that it's
being implemented in the real world by
the vast majority of Institutions
inquiry-based learning is heavily
overrated because inquiry-based learning
is first of all does not have great
evidence for it when you when you look
at the implementation there are a lot of
variables that factor into it
inquiry-based learning is actually one
school of thought that this was in
construct constructivist schools of
education and learning whereas the
opposite is called cognitivist and I
think the best blend is the marriage of
the two like inquiry-based learning
misses a lot of the things that are very
valuable in the cognitive of space and
therefore you have these schools and
people that are using inquiry-based
learning and they're not getting any
effect from it and then they're
wondering why and it's because the
missing ingredient might be something in
the cognitive space and that's something
that I'm very passionate about actually
bringing the two together because I
think they complement each other but
that hasn't happened right now yet in
the main space when I consult schools or
organizations no one is really bringing
them together and for that reason I'd
say just inquiry based learning by
itself the way it's implemented now very
overrated
regular exercise is very very underrated
and it's underrated for more reason than
people would think so the obvious
reasons is like it keeps you healthy
some less known reasons might be that it
helps you to focus improves your
efficiency and actually improves the
studies that's shown that aerobic
exercise increases your cognitive
performance as well but the other thing
is that there's something called
adaptive thermogenesis which means that
even for purely thinking about exercise
as a tool to like lose weight or get fit
some people will just say like well diet
is the most important thing and diet is
important but actually adaptive
thermogenesis tells us that it's a
losing game only thinking about diet
because your body gets more efficient
with less calories so it means that your
metabolic rate will start going down and
down and down so if you are on a diet
you will you will get short-term benefit
but then eventually your body will adapt
to having low calories and so it won't
be burning anymore because it's not
spending as many calories to do the same
type of cellular activities and so then
over time you have to then eat less and
less and less and less and less and so
then you end up eating like very like
very very little and then you don't even
have any energy and now your quality of
life is affected even more than it was
before so for that reason as well I
think regular exercise is underrated
people learning
YouTube for learning is this is probably
this is probably an interesting view
because I am like an educator on YouTube
but I actually think YouTube for
learning is actually overrated because
it's actually very hard to teach
something complex through YouTube I'm
not talking about Concepts you can you
can create a playlist of Concepts but
it's very hard to teach skills on
YouTube because a lot of skill
development requires like pattern
identification finding mistakes getting
feedback like doing stuff offline with
what you learned online and from a
education at scale perspective that's
really really hard to facilitate like
it's hard to know whether people have
got the right understanding and to track
it and to encourage them to do various
activities and get feedback on that
through a platform like YouTube I think
for declarative knowledge only where
it's just purely about just learning
some Concepts YouTube is good but I'm
still saying I'm overrated because of
the fact that everyone knows you can
learn everything on YouTube like no
one's out there not knowing that you can
learn things on YouTube so people will
know it but I think people overestimate
how much you can learn there are certain
skills that to learn on YouTube maybe
only two to three percent of the
population would actually really be able
to learn it to to that level and that's
the reason why if you want to learn you
know Muay Thai or Jiu Jitsu or you want
to learn to be a great violinist or a
Pianist or something you're not just
going on YouTube like the people that
are able to do that and become a very
good that thing are very very very few
compared to the number of people that
are doing it and often if you are
someone that is like an instructor of
these things you'll know that there are
a lot of people that start learning on
YouTube and they come to you and the
technique is terrible and actually they
now need to like unlearn a lot of those
mistakes and relearn things so that can
be quite problematic
social media is super overrated I mean
do I need to explain that it's just like
it's really just bad for your brain you
know honestly unless you're following me
in that case that's underrated so that's
it for this episode of overrated
underrated if there's anything that I
mentioned that you want me to dive into
in more detail please leave a comment
down below let me know what it is that
you want me to dive into and also
specify the question about what aspect
of it you want me to dive into in the
very very first overrated underrated
video that we did for this I just said
leave a comment below on what you want
me to expand on people just said like
the word expand on it and I was like
what about it so that that was my fault
this time be a little bit more specific
but anyway thank you for watching if you
like this stuff leave a like leave a
comment make sure to subscribe and I'll
catch you in the next one
[Music]
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