Decoding The Gurus

Interview with Renee DiResta on Disinformation (Video)

Hey everyone,

The new episode is out today with Matt Johnson with new intro/outro segments. We have also recorded the full Hitchens decoding episode but that will take a little bit of time to edit.

In the meantime, here is an interview we just recorded today with Renee DiResta on a range of topics including...

Contemporary disinformation networks (including how they have been impacted by Elon’s Twitter), Renee's research on the 2016 election, covid conspiracies, and disin...

Interview with Matt Johnson on Christopher Hitchens

Here is a recently recorded UNEDITED interview with Matt Johnson, author of "How Hitchens Can Save the Left: Rediscovering Fearless Liberalism in an Age of Counter-Enlightenment".

We discuss a bunch of stuff including:

- Where Hitchens fits in terms of modern gurus

- Would he have been in the IDW?

- Was he an extremophile?

- How far did was he over reliant on rhetoric?

- To what extent he can be considered a neocon in his later career

Audio version wi...

Matt on 'Embrace the Void' discussing AI with Aaron

Hey everyone,

While we are busy catching up on things you might enjoy Matt's recent appearance with friend of the pod, Aaron Rabinowitz on his philosophy themed podcast 'Embrace the Void'.

I've embedded it above or you can go to the website: https://voidpod.com/podcasts/2023/4/27/gpt-4-with-matt-browne

Or subscribe if that tickles your fancy.

It's a discussion about ch...

General Update

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the recent radio silence.

We had a bit of a confluence of events that have delayed our normal fortnightly schedule. Matt and his family got properly sick after a trip and remember just how old he is. There's also been a recent unfortunate family bereavement. While over in Japan, I had a sick kid and then the main holiday week 'Golden Week' arrived immediately after some work deadlines...

So, all of that is to say sorry and thanks for your patience! 2023-05-05 02:01:19 +0000 UTC View Post

Decoding Academia 18: AI Edition (Audio)

*WARNING*

This is a severely waffley episode. Matt and I talk about the paper but we end up getting into the weeds in some fairly obscure and likely rather idiosyncratic debates.

This might sound like what we normally do but I am providing this warning for a reason. This is a loooong episode with a looooong discussion. Matt is very interested in AI and I have various opinions some of which are well thought out and others... less so.

If you are interested in the topic this mi...

Oprah Gurometer (Audio)

A little later than usual due to some work/family commitments...

Here is the Oprah Gurometer episode.

How well does she fit our template? Is she really a 'secular' guru? And were we too soft?

Join us and find out.

Audio version attached.

Oprah Gurometer (Video)

A little later than usual due to some work/family commitments...

Here is the Oprah Gurometer episode.

How well does she fit our template? Is she really a 'secular' guru? And where we too soft?

Join us and find out.

Audio version to follow.

Early release of Oprah episode (pre-edited version)

Hi everyone,

Heading into the weekend thought you might enjoy early access to the Oprah episode. We have not finished editing, only made minor edits for clarity so if you notice any artefacts, insanely long tangents, or intrusive background noises then let me know.

We will edit down a bit more before general release.

DtG April Live Hang Out for Galaxy Brain Gurus

Hey everyone,

Start of the month so you know what that means... a live hang out for those in the Galaxy Brain Guru tier.

We have some time on Friday morning (Japan and Australia time). If you want to know what that means for you, just click on the link above.

Questions, comments, general chat all welcome.

We *might* have the new episode out by then but let's see.

And remember folks this is a perk for the Galaxy Brain Guru tier.

UPDATE: Had to push the time ...

Some forthcoming stuff

Hey everyone,

Thought you might appreciate an update on forthcoming content/plans.

Consider this all provisional but we likely will get to it all.

1. The Oprah episode (coming next week!)

2. The Paul Bloom interview (with intro/outro): I know you probably mostly heard this but Paul is very good!

3. Weinstein World UFO special: Eric & Bret have both been talking about UFOs and it's time to catch up with the brothers and see if their takes have improved.

...

Decoding Academia 17: Browne et al. (2023) *Audio*

Sorry it took so long!

Here is the audio of the video version of Decoding Matt's paper!

Our Next Guru: Oprah Winfrey

That's right! The next decoding episode will be on Oprah Winfrey.

She's been long requested and we agree it is overdue even if she is something a bit closer to the traditional alternative health guru archetype.

In any case, she was a guru figure long before the new crop appeared and she remains something of a king/queen-maker and still influential.

Finding content that isn't primarily focused on other people is hard but this interview despite being from 8 years seems to give...

Paul Bloom Interview Audio (Unedited)

The audio version of the video. See the video for description.

Enjoy!

Interview with Paul Bloom (Unedited) *Video*

We finally cornered the psychologist Paul Bloom.

Unedited We cover a bunch of stuff including his new book and podcast, his old MOOC, guru psychology, why people like pain, how come he has never been cancelled and random methodological questions.

So just a standard DtG interview.

Enjoy!

Debate on Wisdom and Criticism w/ John Vervaeke and Chris Mastropietro

For anyone who was interested but missed the livestream the video is now up for all to see on YouTube.

I think it went quite well and Matt & I enjoyed ourselves.

But you can judge for yourself.

As always comments and feedback are welcome.

Debate with John Vervaeke and Chris Mastropietro Tomorrow

Hi guys,

For anyone interested we are due to have a debate/discussion tomorrow live at Peter Limberg's The Stoa channel. It is a member-only event but he kindly let us share the link with our Patrons so that's what you can see above.

As for the details and exact time here you go: 

Wisdom Signalling & the Wisdom of Criticism w/ John Veraveke, Chris Mastropietro, Chris Kavanagh, & Matt Browne. March 13th @ 8:00 PM ET. 2023-03-13 09:39:10 +0000 UTC View Post

The Lab Leak Episode (Advance Release)

We are still making edits and adjustments to the episode but it is in its near-final form so we thought you guys might enjoy an advance preview.

If you notice any glaring errors let us know and we will fix them before releasing on the main feed.

We think this one is an important episode so we've toned down our usual shenanigans. Nevertheless, there is a long intro but we thought it was relevant and necessary for the topic at hand.

Enjoy and feedback (as always) is welcome! 2023-03-10 22:46:20 +0000 UTC View Post

Special Lab Leak Roundtable (Audio)

Hey everyone,

This is a bit of a special release that we want to keep behind the Guru curtain until it is edited up with the intro and outro.

But we can trust you guys, right?

So in response to all the discussion around lab leaks we arranged an interview with three leading experts on the topic.

You have:

Kristian Andersen: a professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at Scripps Research, with joint appointments in the Department o...

Interview with Travis View on QAnon (Audio)

The unedited audio interview with QAnon Anonymous host Travis View.

More content than you can shake a stick at. Unedited.

Enjoy!

Interview with Travis View on QAnon (Video)

The endless deluge of content continues with an interview with QAnon Anonymous host Travis View on all things QAnon.

A very good podcast for anyone who has not yet checked it out.

Audio to follow!

(Boy do we have a lot of editing ahead)

Special Lab Leak Roundtable Discussion

Hey everyone,

This is a bit of a special release that we want to keep behind the Guru curtain until it is edited up with the intro and outro.

But we can trust you guys, right?

So in response to all the discussion around lab leaks we arranged an interview with three leading experts on the topic.

You have:

Kristian Andersen: a professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at Scripps Research, with joint appointments in the Department o...

Dave Rubin Gurometer (Audio)

You wanted the audio version of the video! You got it!

Again, I can only apologise for inflicting more about this man on all of you.

'Enjoy'

Dave Rubin Gurometer (Video)

How to quantify Dave Rubin...

Join us as we try to weight insubstantial fluff and see if the Gurometer is fit for purposes when dealing with partisan pundits.

Video version... with audio to follow.

Advance Release of the Dave Rubin Episode

We will likely release this tomorrow as we have some minor editing still to do but I thought you guys might appreciate an advance copy and it is basically ready so here you go... Dave Rubin.

The episode I think nobody was looking forward to.

Feedback always welcome!

March Live Hang Out

For Galaxy Brain tier patrons,

Please enjoy an *unprecedented* (almost) 4 days of advance notice about the March hangout!

If you want to see the time translated to your timezone, click the link above, and it should show you.

In Japan time it is Friday morning at 10 am.

Hope to see some of you there!

Some Forthcoming CONTENT

Hey everyone,

Just a little update...

So very shortly the Rubin episode will be released (it is complete and being edited). It is kind of a follow-up to the Bill Maher one. We are sorry in advance for inflicting him on everyone. Missing the real gurus a bit.

Then we have a rather special episode that will address the never-ending topic of the lab leak with some special guests. I don't want to spoil the surprise but hopefully, it will be useful and interesting for people, let...

Bill Maher episode released (Discussion/Feedback Thread)

Well, we promised you Rubin and Maher and delivered 50% of that. Rubin will be following shortly (probably next week) as we are prepped to go but felt we had too many clips for a single episode and that they each deserved some time on their own.

 I do not think Matt or I came away big fans of Maher... but we also did not really think he fit the secular guru template very well. He is what he appears to be, a rather shallow talk show host with strong convictions in his opinions be th...

Bill Maher Gurometer *Audio* (UNEDITED)

Much like the video but without visuals. This is the raw audio for the Bill Maher (& Richard Dawkins) Gurometer episode.

It might be spoiling the surprise to learn they don't score too highly but they aren't really good fits for the secular guru template.

In any case, this is the unprocessed audio, if it is too bad let me know and I'll try to improve the quality this evening and re-upload.

Decoding Academia 16: Corporate Bullshit (McCarthy et al., 2020) *AUDIO*

You have heard of pseudo-profound bullshit, now time for an exploration of corporate bullshit by examining two papers that explore the topic. Featuring more extensive discussion on factor analysis than you ever wanted outside of an academic setting! See the previous post for the attached articles.

This is the RAW audio version. Hopefully, the levels are not too terrible. If they are I'll process and update later.

In keeping with the video, open to all levels for a sample of the in...

Decoding Academia 16: Corporate Bullshit (McCarthy et al., 2020)

You have heard of pseudo-profound bullshit, now time for an exploration of corporate bullshit by looking at two papers. More extension on factor analysis than you ever wanted outside of an academic setting! See the previous post for the attached articles! Audio to follow.

Also, forgot to set the tier restrictions so consider this a free preview for the Revolutionary Genius tier!