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Guest Appearance: Thoughts on Record (Patreon)

Published:
2024-04-15 13:21:27
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

We appeared on a fun show from a Canadian psychologist! (No, not that one!)

Some of you may be interested... I'll add the relevant show notes below.

"The last decade has seen the ascendency of a number of "public intellectuals" who have come under increasing scrutiny around allegations of misinformation, conspiracy-mongering, grifting & intellectual inconsistency.  Importantly, many have achieved "guru" status with millions of followers and devotees on YouTube and other social media platforms.  Professors & podcasters, Drs. Matt Browne & Chris Kavanagh joins us for a conversation in which we cover their critical consideration of the "guru-sphere" in their podcast Decoding the Gurus.  In this conversation, we cover:    

why they started the Decoding the Gurus podcast and the ethos of the podcast

why they have chosen to focus on secular gurus 

a consideration of their "gurometer" with pertinent examples

guru "adjacent" individuals who frequently host discussions with the gurus

the guru mindset: Machiavellian bad actors or delusional self-belief (or both)?  

the natural history of the guru from anonymity to ascendency 

what gurus tell us about ourselves

why gurus curry command so much loyalty in their followers 

factors in the current landscape that may be contributing to the rise of the guru

why more gurus have not taken up the "right to reply" opportunity on Decoding The Gurus

Feedback or comments?  Email us at: oicbtpodcast@gmail.comAn Australian psychologist and numbers-guy, Dr. Matt Browne is a research professor in psychology at CQU where he does research on all manner of things, 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.Dr. Chris Kavanagh is 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. Chris is an Associate Professor in Psychology at Rikkyo University and a Researcher at the University of Oxford Centre for the Study of Social Cohesion."

Files

Drs. Matt Browne & Chris Kavanagh - Decoding the Gurus - Thoughts on Record: Podcast of the Ottawa Institute of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

The last decade has seen the ascendency of a number of "public intellectuals" who have come under increasing scrutiny around allegations of misinformation, conspiracy mongering, grifting & intellectual inconsistency. Importantly, many have achieved "guru" status with millions of followe...

Comments

peta austen

fantastic, entertaining, erudite

Chomagerider

There was an interesting little contradiction in the interview that alludes to something I've been wondering: Joe Rogan is called both the Khan/super guru and guru adjacent. I've always struggled with calling him a guru. I agree 90% with his gurometer score. But he still doesn't come across as a guru to me. Which brings me to my question: How much does the intention to "teach" / "enlighten" the world/your followers count? To me, this is kind of the essence of the word guru. And I feel that's where Joe Rogan falls off. He's more like a parrot who just regurgitates (often bastardizes) what other people say. The real gurus (the Petersons and Weinsteins of the world) all just court him because he happens to be the most influential guy out there interms of audience numbers.

Linda Sears

Listening to the part where you discussed how the gurus slide further into extremism and cult like behaviors reminded me of a documentary series my husband and I recently watched about the Heaven’s Gate cult. They became progressively more insular, rigid, and radical in the things they were willing to do for their beliefs, such as castration for the men, and it appeared that the leader was also being pulled in by the purist believers of his followers down the spiral that ended in their collective suicide. This is not to say that the gurus are the same but only to point out how the dynamics could be similar.

Decoding The Gurus

Yep, online guru fanbases are not so intense, but it's the same positive feedback loop you see reg. cultishness.

Roland Weber

Thanks, I enjoyed that conversation very much! I will also take your advice and stay away from the subreddit. 😉

Birgitta

I first stumbled upon Conspirituality a long time ago and through them your podcast. It really helped me stay sane as too many of my friends got further and further into some rather disturbing rabbit holes during COVID. And they won’t come out, just dig in further if you try to push back. So thank you for your work, for it is appreciated. I love your wittiness, rants, and rather peculiar English dialects and of course the professionalism. Looking forward to many more analysis of the influencers and galaxy brains out there. Still enjoy the most the Weinstein era. It was such epic bullshit.