On the August 20 episode of tvN’s popular variety show You Quiz on the Block, Yale University psychology professor Ahn Woo-kyung captivated viewers with a unique blend of intellect and humor—revealing that he makes students dance to BTS videos in class as part of a psychological lesson.
Ahn, who is the first Korean to become a tenured psychology professor in the Ivy League, has taught at Yale for over 30 years and is a recipient of the university’s prestigious Lex Hixon Prize for Teaching Excellence, awarded for top-rated student lectures.
When host Yoo Jae-suk asked about his course content, Ahn explained, “I teach how to think rationally, what the consequences are if you don’t, and strategies for better thinking.”
But the real surprise came when Yoo brought up Ahn’s famous in-class experiment: “I heard you make students dance?” Laughing, Ahn described one of his most talked-about teaching methods:
“I cut a 6-second clip from a BTS music video and tell the students they’ll get a reward if they can copy it exactly. I play it 10 times. About 15 students usually raise their hands thinking it’ll be easy—but once they try, it’s a complete mess.”
This humorous yet insightful exercise serves a deeper purpose.
“In your head, you think, ‘I can do that,’ but when you actually try, you can’t,” he said. “That’s the illusion of fluency. You think something will be easy just because you’ve seen it.”
The illusion of fluency, according to Ahn, also explains why people sometimes underestimate the difficulty of real-life tasks—including public speaking and time management.
“Even I practice out loud for an hour and a half before every lecture,” he added. “You only truly know something when you try to do it yourself.”
He offered another hilarious anecdote:
“I once watched a 40-minute dog grooming tutorial online and tried it myself. When I was done, my family couldn’t even recognize the dog.”
The classroom laughter and confusion are part of Ahn’s broader mission: helping students understand cognitive biases and the gap between perception and performance. This is also why he often tells students, “You’re wrong too.”
“I want them to know that even good people can make mistakes and carry biases,” he explained.
Throughout the segment, Ahn’s charisma, wit, and creative approach to teaching resonated not only with Yoo Jae-suk and co-host Jo Se-ho but also with viewers across the nation. From BTS dance clips to dog grooming mishaps, Professor Ahn Woo-kyung continues to redefine what a world-class education looks like—one laugh, one lesson at a time.
Sources: Netizenbuzz
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