[ExI] Preference for video over text?

[Gabe Waggoner]

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
On Sunday, June 6th, 2021 at 3:42 PM, SR Ballard via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
> Why do so many people have a preference for video over text? Is it slow reading speed, laziness?
> I can read much faster than a video can present, I can scan the text, I can easily copy-paste quotes from text. I don’t have to fight with accents and poor pronunciation.
> Is it due to my “learning style” that I have a preference for text? And/or why does it seem like everyone prefers video to text?
> SR Ballard

I wonder the same thing, and I'm glad you asked. As a science writer-editor, I always prefer being able to work with text over video. I can process information on my own terms and at my own speed instead of having everything thrown at me in some packaged format that may or may not be attuned to how I learn. I retain more when I'm working with text. Text seems to me more structured, with headings and typography and design elements used to convey information efficiently and (one hopes) concisely. Video has many distractions that I have to avoid, obstacles between me and the information. I consider myself a visual learner, but only in the sense that I process text visually; video to me is more auditory despite its visual component.

Gabe