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Published on:

20th Aug 2025

Supplementary Material 35: Cult Leaders, Gurus, and Evil Economists

We face a disciplinary crisis as the twin pillars of Game Theory and Gurometry are called into question.

The full episode is available to Patreon subscribers (1 hour, 35 minutes).

Join us at: https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurus

Supplementary Material 35

00:05 Introduction  

01:52 Matt's Apology

06:55 Just Life...

12:34 Matt's Foodie Corner 

14:01 Dedunking Dan Richards finds Sabine

16:37 Sabine cultivates parasocial defenders

18:16 Ana Kasparian gets deeper into ZOG conspiracies

24:44 Gary vs Game Theory

40:26 Support the Channel to Save the World

47:10 Bryan Johnson and Methylene blue

51:52 Scientific Cosplay Online

53:51 Keith Rainiere and Sensemaking Parallels

54:57 High IQ YoungHoon Kim tweets about proof of God

56:19 Guru and Cult Leader Parallels

01:01:13 The Validity of the Gurometer in Question?!?

01:03:03 Hacking Social Heuristics

01:07:38 Cult Leaders vs Secular Gurus

01:12:33 Anti-Democratic moves by Trump

01:15:03 Dan Carlin on Trump

01:18:30 Streamers Talking Nonsense: Hasan on ISIS

01:21:24 Ideological Fixation and Motivated Conspiracism

01:27:22 Outro

Sources

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About the Podcast

Decoding the Gurus
A psychologist and an anthropologist try to make sense of the world's greatest self-declared Gurus.
An exiled Northern Irish anthropologist and a hitchhiking Australian psychologist take a close look at the contemporary crop of 'secular gurus', iconoclasts, and other exiles from the mainstream, offering their own brands of unique takes and special insights.

Leveraging two of the most diverse accents in modern podcasting, Chris and Matt dig deep into the claims, peek behind the psychological curtains, and try to figure out once and for all... What's it all About?

Join us, as we try to puzzle our way through and talk some smart-sounding smack about the intellectual giants of our age, from Jordan Peterson to Robin DiAngelo. Are they revolutionary thinkers or just grifters with delusions of grandeur?

Join us and let's find out!
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About your hosts

Christopher Kavanagh

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A Northern Irish cognitive anthropologist who occasionally moonlights as a social psychologist. Chris has long standing interests in the psychology of conspiracy theorists and pseudoscience. His academic research focuses on the Cognitive Science of Religion and ritual psychology. He lives happily in Japan with his family.

Matthew Browne

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An Australian psychologist and numbers-guy. He does research on all kinds of stuff, but particularly enjoys looking into why people believe the things they do: religion, conspiracy theories, alternative medicine and stuff. He's into social media in the same way people slow down for car accidents.