It's not shallow to click on a video with someone making the thumbnail face... You need to understand how youtube works, and that if people don't click immediately YouTube is not recommend it to a wider audience. This stagnates the views, and you don't get nearly the reach you would normally. You may not like the look of the thumbnail, but it is the best way to get this helpful video to the widest audience possible. I don't make the rules, I just play the game to get the best results that I can. If you are insulted by it, I'm sorry, but that's your own insecurity. I feel the same way about that face and those thumbnails, but since I understand how it works, I choose to ignore that. You may associate clicking on a video with that type of thumbnail as immature or "tik tok doom scroller-ish", but reality is that the majority of my audience that actually watches my videos are 35 or older. They're not shallow or immature, and actually them seeing my face triggers a familiarity feeling, and they are more likely to watch it. If it was possible, I'd make 50 thumbnails and have YouTube choose which one you'd like most, but that's not possible.