Decoding The Gurus

The Hero Bret Weinstein and the Martyr Jordan Peterson

Andy our editor made a video version of the previous episode on Bret and Jordan. Some of you might enjoy it for the visuals. In any case, here it is before we release it publicly.

Mini-Decoding: Indulgent Monologuing

Sometimes we like to focus on a specific rhetorical technique or recurrent feature that we observe in the Gurusphere. Here, Matt and Chris examine a portion of the philosopher John Gray's recent appearance on Sam Harris' Making Sense podcast. Gray was invited to outline his critique of New Atheism, and his response is a remarkable monologue encompassing a vast range of topics and historical periods, from ancient religion to medieval peasants and contemporary philosophers. It is a veritable to...

Interview with Kevin Mitchell on Agency, Evolution, and Freewill

Here is the video version of the interview we recorded with the neuroscientist Kevin Mitchell. We are still doing final checks so if you notice any issues please let us know and we will try to resolve before we release

Zoom Link for Lecture Today

Some people mentioned not receiving a link so for those thinking of virtually attending today (7pm Japan time).

Here is the info…

Good afternoon

Below is the link (and URL/meeting ID and password) for tonight's lecture.

“From Charisma to Conspiracy: Traits of Modern Secular Gurus,"

A few points about tonight:

-The lecture will begin at 7PM. The Zoom room will probably be open a bit before then, and, if you join us after ...

On Agency and Evolution an interview with Kevin Mitchell

In this episode, Matt and Chris converse with Kevin Mitchell, an Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin, and author of 'Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will'. 

We regret to inform you that the discussion does indeed involve discussion of philosophy-adjacent topics such as free will, determinism, consciousness, the nature of self, and agency. But do not let that put you off!  Kevin is a scientist and approaches them all through a sens...

Sam Harris: Debating the Lab Leak, Gaza, the Self and Extremism

Here is the video version of the interview. If you want to see facial expressions and hear better-quality audio this is the version to see.

Also, we are doing final quality checks so if you notice any technical issues, please let us know so we can fix them before releasing the video to the public.

Thanks

Upcoming Lecture by Chris

Hey guys,

Thought some of you might find this interesting and it will be accessible online, however it will cover a lot of material you will be familiar with if you listen to the podcast.

“From Charisma to Conspiracy: Traits of Modern Secular Gurus", presented by Christopher Kavanagh

Please refer to the attached poster for details.

This lecture will be held in-person on the 6th floor of Lakeland's Ryogoku Campus and will be streamed via Zoom.

--I...

Sam Harris: Right to Reply

Sam Harris is someone who needs no introduction, certainly if you are a member of our audience since we recently released a full-length decoding episode! Sam generously agreed to come on to address some of the points we raised on the Decoding and a few other topics. As you will hear we get into the lab leak, the nature of self, motivations for extremism, the Israel/Palestine war and ongoing humanitarian crisis, and selective application of standards.

This is an advanced Patreon-only ver...

The Passion of Jordan and the Wisdom of Bret

Sometimes you need to check in on old friends, just to make sure they are keeping ok. Hence, today's episode. We thought it was necessary to make an unannounced house call on our old buddies Bret Weinstein and Jordan Peterson. We had heard on the grapevine that Jordan was facing some trouble with his clinical license with the College of Psychologists of Ontario and that Bret had developed some important new theories that were not getting the attention they deserved. 

With Jordan we...

February Live Hang Out

For anyone available, we are going to have our February live hang out tomorrow in just under 24 hrs. 15:00 JST but if you want to know how that translates to your neck of the woods, just click on the link above.

These events are reserved for the brightest Galaxy Brains in our audience... and those who are still awake at the time. 

If you want ask us how the Sam Harris recording went, this will be a good time!

Hopefully see some of you tomorrow!

Decoding Material: Jordan Peterson persecution extravaganza

We have a new episode coming out (on Patreon at least) tomorrow.

It is a catch-up on the recent going ons with our old friends Bret Weinstein and Jordan Peterson. Most of the content relates to the episode above. 

I wonder if you will notice the same things we did!

Yuval Harari and the Angry Philosophers (video)

Yuval Harari had a clip go viral that made a lot of different people angry for different reasons. We talked about that AND here is the video version of that discussion.

Also.... exciting NEW content coming tomorrow!

Yuval and the Philosophers

A little mini decoding to get us back into the swing of things as we look at a viral clip that had religious reactionaries, sensemakers, and academic philosophers in a bit of a tizzy. Specifically, a clip from a talk by the well-known author and academic Yuval Noah Harari in which he discussed how human rights (and really all human culture) is a kind of fiction.

Get ready for a thrilling ride as your intrepid duo plunges into a beguiling world of symbolism, cultural evolution, and outra...

Sam Harris Questions

We will have a second episode with Sam soon. He probably will have some objections to things we said on our decoding episode and we have various points we want to raise with him (Chris a lot more than Matt).

We really can’t promise anything, as it’s likely we won’t get through our own questions but just wondering if any of you have any burning questions you would *like* us to ask.

Again, given how it went last time ***it’s very unlikely we are going to get to listeners’...

Next episode update!

After a long journey with plenty of skiing, onsen enjoying, whiskey drinking, and good food eating, tragedy has struck our beloved elderly host Matt. He got a bug and is currently recuperating... so afraid there was no recording this week. Hopefully the negative ion generator Chris sent to him will help to restore his chakra levels so he is fit to record again next week but until then we ask that you all channel your positive energies to restore his frail constitution.

In other words......

Patreon Q&As at the snowy ryokan

Here is the last piece of content we recorded on the DTG snowy mountain retreat. Do not anticipate insights... but do expect a lot of random waffle about Japanese food. Consider this *bonus* behind-the-scenes content with a special guest decoder- Matt's daughter Lana (who was probably most coherent throughout). Regular broadcasting will resume soon but until then enjoy one last trip to the onsen.

Answering Q&As at the snowy ryokan

Here is the last piece of content we recorded on the DTG snowy mountain retreat. Do not anticipate insights... but do expect a lot of random waffle about Japanese food. Our editor Andy has tried to make things slightly more cohesive but he was working with difficult material. 

In any case, consider this *bonus* behind the scenes content with a special guest decoder, Matt's daughter Lana (who was probably most coherent throughout).

Regular broadcasting will resume soon but unt...

Forthcoming Content

After a well-earned rest at a snowy mountain onsen, Matt and Chris are returning to the galaxy mines to bring you FRESH CONTENT.

Here is some of what you can expect in the relatively near future, subject to revision of order...

1. The last ryokan video: Answering Patreon Qs with our As

2. Sean Carroll Decoding

3. Sam Harris Round 2 (Right to Reply/Other Discussions)

4. Hasan Piker Decoding

5. Naomi Klein Decoding

6. Destiny Decoding

7. Yuval Noa...

Decoding Academia 25: Academic Plagiarism

Normally locked away and reserved solely for Revolutionary Thinkers and Galaxy Brain Gurus we decided to release this Decoding Academia episode to EVERYONE. In part because this was recorded while we were together at the ryokan and feels like part of the holiday episodes and secondly because it deals with a topic we have been asked to weigh in on by various listeners: Academic Plagiarism!

For those who want some more context/opinions see:

Vox Article on the controversy: 2024-01-18 07:05:41 +0000 UTC View Post

Decoding Academia 25: A (chilled) discussion of Academic Plagiarism

The topic of plagiarism and how much of a sin it is in an academic context has been in the news recently. And with Matt and I being academics we thought we could provide some relevant perspectives on the topic. Our positions are probably in the minority amongst academics but this just confirms our renegade status.

As the whispered tones at the beginning (and random background noises) indicate this was a discussion recorded late at night in a ryokan lobby. We are not trying to expand int...