[barkerja]

But that is unfortunately a nuclear option that should not need to be taken to perform such a thing. Like the op, I have no interest in Shorts, especially considering the type of content that seems to proliferate that format.

However, I feel like YouTube does a genuinely good job — at least for me personally — of curating my feed with videos I have genuine interest in; mostly being tech talks and home DIY.

I'd hate to lose the discoverability I currently have for the sake of having to disable a feature like Shorts.

[lupusreal]

I use youtube without an account, only a cookie which I can nuke anytime. My experience with this is as you describe; it does a great job of giving me videos relevant to my interests. If it ever goes off the rails, I nuke the cookie and start over; reseeding the recommendations by watching a few videos from high-brow channels like Applied Science. It recommends no shorts to me.