Edutainment

The fact of the matter is that digital products make it uniquely easy to trick yourself into thinking that you’re learning when you are actually being entertained.

A lot of my daily intake of information has skewed towards entertainment over the years. When I listen to podcasts discussing current news events, I find that my retention is abysmal. Most of the short-form online news articles I read are forgotten faster than the time it takes to read them. I agree with Gian that we should be more mindful about distinguishing between education and entertainment. While both are great, mixing them up often leads to being solely entertained.

The methods described in this article don’t appeal to me much. I either make an effort to pursue knowledge in the short term or, if I don’t have the time, I simply forget about it until it comes across my path again. Keeping a learning wish list seems like a mental burden, especially considering that it will inevitably grow to unwieldy proportions.