Youtube is a blessing. Google is a blessing. I found literally all my teachers online and I almost swear by online mentorship because of how well it worked out for me. But ....... Youtube is also a maze of information that is often unfounded and unverifiable. In 2012 when I lost my voice and began to go everywhere for information, I quickly realized that I was led totally astray by Youtube videos and random articles on Google put up by well meaning but terribly misinformed people. I was a vocal novice, how was I to know that they weren't teaching the correct stuff???? I took that leap of faith and it messed me up.
THE CIRCLE OF MISINFORMATION
Youtube is the land of content creators. Some of these people are experts - Such as Lex Fridman, or Andrew Huberman or Mark Baxter..... But many people are not experts.
Here's the funny thing. The non-expert often does his research ON YOUTUBE ITSELF!!! Picking info that might seem unique or catchy or dramatic. . . or simply rich in keywords.
What this does is that it creates repetition in the content. And this is what a novice finds when innocently asking Youtube to help him with voice or with swimming technique or with cooking lessons.
REPETITION CREATES TRUST because the info becomes familiar to our brains. We see 20 sources saying the same thing about a topic and we assume that it might be true. We are innocent in this because we take a leap of faith when we go to Youtube asking for answers to our queries! We step trustingly into a trap.
Once you fall into the circle of misinformation, you lose precious time. You may gain some terms that sound fancy but the contextualization, application and probable limits to a concept are often totally missing.
Jargon becomes important and real concepts are lost in jargon. Information may be gained in bits and pieces but insight isn't gained. Repetition of an idea that doesn't serve you creates setbacks that even you didn't calculate.
ALWAYS DO A BACKGROUND CHECK
Nope. Instagram is not a background check. You've got to find a way to scoot over to the good side of the internet. The place where the gold is. The place where real masters have shared information with insight.
Look for the murmurs of the community. A community of practitioners knows who a master of their field is. Go to the actor that all the other actors are raving about. Go to the boxer that the other boxers can't get enough of. Go to the model that the other models worship. Look through the eyes of the real practitioners and you will get clues about the depth of a certain creator.
You will save precious time by trusting the word of groups that have spent years learning and making mistakes in a field. This alone will help you develop quick discernment.
The community is the true keeper of any players track record! When they speak of one with deep respect, you know you've found your mentor.
There is no need to unlearn crap when you can quickly learn the good stuff from a tried, tested, trusted source.
WHAT IF I'M BROKE AND THEREFORE LEARNING ON THE INTERNET?
My answer has sometimes been books written by experts. Suppose the guitar player community is saying that Sanjay Divecha is a Master. Sanjay doesn't have a book out yet. Dig up who Sanjay says is a Master... One of the names he might take is Scott Henderson. Boom. Go find every resource created by Scott Henderson.
It takes a lot of effort and research to write a book and folks trying to make a quick buck won't take on such a task at all. Books are cheaper than private classes and now the commitment to go through it is totally yours.
For a more detailed idea on getting around the money issue, Here's a post I put up recently about how to upgrade like a pro even when there's less money
I love you guys. We have a lot to do and we must be efficient in making our own dreams come true. Love Vasundhara
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