You found a video of that school chorus rehearsing their opera version of Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason"? Wow, you must dig around for the good stuff. Think they are gonna take it on tour?

Ah, but it isn't the people going to U-Tube looking for the "how" that are the audience, nor why we say that it is exposure because it exposes to the audience. The people going to U-tube looking for the "how" then wind up in the audience of a magic performance, along with their big mouths and their little "look at me" egos and ruin the enjoyment of the audience present, and that is where the exposure to an unwitting audience takes place. It's because they have not agreed to handle the information responsibly, nor have they shown themselves likely to do so. Strangely, those same people seem statistically completely unwilling to follow the standard channels of magic education.

A lot of dicussion has been brought up on YT and potentional audience members or school kids. Has anyone else thought about the builders or vendors who steal ideas,products,designs, etc.? Don't think for a moment that some of these guys are not out there to make a buck and they will do anything they need to in order to make one.

C. brings up a lot of good points when he says if we have our own doing the same thing (exposing) then we really don't have a soap box to preach, or as he puts it

...sorry I got off the topic there.

If the "audience" is potential customers then the exposure is handled nicely by the muggles who buy the products but not the lies about secrets being the product. So the world is fair after all. Enjoy.

Children learn by imitating. This is pretty much the case with all mammals. When they learn through instructional videos, they also learn that one can make instructional videos. So this they do. There is a cause and effect type thing here somewhere.

And yes, they all have the same ring on their index finger and the same black playing cards that look really mysterious. And they are all very different and original because they're like into hardcore mentalizm right now.

And you on the other hand... you old dudes better chill. You no longer have enough hormones pumping through our veins to even understand the need to mark out a territory and win respect and popularity. You're not even original enough to produce a decent mashup of some stale old guy's magic DVD. How lame.

No... The question of it being good or bad or right or wrong is irrelevant. It is as it is. After thousands of generations people still find the energy to blame everything on teenagers. That is the surprising part.

Me, I would possibly consider selling a kidney before I would go to the extreme of sitting through another out of focus webcam video with incredibly loud really cheesy list music in order to learn something new. But of course my allowance is high enough for me to buy what I need so I may get to keep that kidney. We'll see.

The question has never been about learning by imitating.

It's simply about the basic premise that it's okay to post tutorials on YouTube in public.

My suggestion about posting but putting an invitation or password on the videos stands.

And as to hormones... what the heck is all that about? We have lots of over the top older folks doing so much whatever that we have TV commercials here telling them to check with their doctor before going after new territory.

I hope nobody here is blaming teenagers. What does seem counter to the basic premise of keeping secrets though is this practicing in public where hundreds of magicians and thousands of non-magicians will be clued in to the workings of tricks.

Oh, I think it's still there, the difference age brings is the selectivity of where you spray. We no longer hose down the audience while marking. We come here and fight for supremacy in our own little gladitorial ring. That's what old folks do.