Decoding the Gurus

Ian McGilchrist, Part 1: Right-Brain Thinking

In this episode, we take a journey into the mind, traversing both the left and right hemispheres, but mostly the left, as we engage with the truly mind-bending insights of British psychiatrist-philosopher-neuroscientist-theologian-author Ian McGilchrist. Best known for his 2009 book "The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World" but also a much lauded academic and sensemaker. We outline McGilchrist’s extremely complicated thesis that the two hemispheres of the brain reflect fundamentally different “ways of being” and that this is reflected in individuals and civilisations that rely more on one side than the other. This is, of course, not merely a crude binary. As McGilchrist repeatedly emphasises, it would be quite wrong to suggest he is simply valorising everything he likes (religion, poetry, classic literature, wood-panelled interiors, sense-making chats) and attributing them to the products of a profound and integrative right hemisphere. Similarly, he does not simply want to denigrate materialists as reductive left-brain thinkers who cannot appreciate art, beauty, or love because they are too busy thinking about atoms. There is definitely none of that in his chat with Alex O'Connor (AKA CosmicSkeptic). Expect neuroanatomy, metaphysics, and extended reflections on the nature of love. In other words, a completely standard Decoding the Gurus episode. Links * Alex O' Connor: Why Evolution Gave You Two Brains - Iain McGilchrist [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q16ARIpxlPQ] * Iain McGilchrist's website. [https://channelmcgilchrist.com/] * Spezio, M. (2019). McGilchrist and hemisphere lateralization: a neuroscientific and metaanalytic assessment. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 9(4), 387–399. https://doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2019.1604416 [https://doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2019.1604416] * Lamm, C., Decety, J., & Singer, T. (2011). Meta-analytic evidence for common and distinct neural networks associated with directly experienced pain and empathy for pain. [https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/images/uploads/Neural.pdf] Neuroimage, 54(3), 2492-2502. * Stavrova, O., & Ehlebracht, D. (2019). The cynical genius illusion: Exploring and debunking lay beliefs about cynicism and competence. [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0146167218783195]Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45(2), 254-269. * Lindquist, K. A., Wager, T. D., Kober, H., Bliss-Moreau, E., & Barrett, L. F. (2012). The brain basis of emotion: a meta-analytic review. [https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/80F95F093305C76BA2C66BBA48D4BC8A/S0140525X11000446a.pdf/the-brain-basis-of-emotion-a-meta-analytic-review.pdf]Behavioral and brain sciences, 35(3), 121-143.

Mentalism and Meta-Deception with Stevie Baskin

On this episode, we’re joined by Stevie Baskin, a skeptic and YouTuber who released a five-hour detailed critique of the “meta-deception” of Oz Pearlman. He argues that mentalism differs from traditional magic by introducing an additional meta-deception because, unlike magicians, mentalists often leave their audiences with inaccurate beliefs about body language reading, subliminal influence, NLP, and general psychology. In Stevie’s framework, this places mentalists closer to psychics and mediums than to magicians, because the deceptive element is not clearly acknowledged. We examine this position, unpack common mentalist techniques, consider the role of strategic disclaimers and TED-style “epistemic theatre,” and explore possible parallels with contemporary secular gurus. Sources * Metadeception: the truth about Oz Pearlman [https://youtu.be/FnwcU-XDyJ4?si=lC6fIX0KPLZri-v2] * The Disagreement: Debating a mentalist professor of psychology (Scott Barry Kaufman) about Oz Pearlman [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkUAfDe_ZwY] * Chris' old blog covering the ethics of Derren Brown's claims in 2009 [https://godknowswhat.wordpress.com/2009/09/26/is-derren-brown-a-skeptic/] * The Power Of Subliminal Messages | Trick Of The Mind | Derren Brown [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZbSctDyG24]

Supplementary Material 47: The DTG Conspiracy UNMASKED, Quantum Idiots, and Triggernometry Prophecies

Our cover is blown. Our secret funders unmasked. Code Red: Abort! Abort! This is not a drill. Supplementary Material 47: The DTG Conspiracy UNMASKED, Quantum Idiots, and Triggernometry Prophecies 00:00 Glowing Introduction 03:14 The Secret Conspiracy at the Heart of the Podcast 08:17 The Israel Connection 19:09 Cenk Uygur's Pickleball Conspiracy 23:25 Comment Section Conspiracies 30:20 Pizzagate Conspiracies Revisited 37:55 The Value of debating with ChadBigCum 42:26 AI discourse reflections 43:43 Ben Burgis's hyperbolic reaction to AI use 44:53 The AI revolution and its potential impacts 47:53 Social and Economic Disruption and Job Replacement 51:33 The Dangers of Slopified Work and AI economies 55:47 Statistical Analysis Software and the value of Friction 57:36 The Perils of AI Usage outside of your Skillset 58:59 The Solution is within yourself! 01:04:22 The Hundred Schools of AI discourse 01:05:58 Double Slit and Quantum Physics Insights from Warren Smith 01:12:39 Schrodinger's poor, misinterpreted cat 01:13:48 The Wonderful Benjamin Boyce 01:14:41 Quantum Woo and Arrogant Sensemakers 01:18:29 Young Matt and Aged Chris 01:20:13 The Triggernometry Prophecy 01:23:54 Quid Pro Quo in the Discourse Circuit 01:28:25 The Anti-Institutional Horseshoe Theory of MEHDI HASAN 01:37:18 So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! The full episode is available to Patreon subscribers (1 hour, 40 minutes). Join us at: https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurus [https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurus] Links * Reddit post unmasking our Israeli backers [https://www.reddit.com/r/DecodingTheGurus/comments/1s1smp0/comment/ocs6q11/] * Mother Jones article on whether 'pizza' is a codeword in the Epstein files (Spoiler: No it is not) [https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/03/epstein-files-pizzagate-conspiracy-investigation-bannon-clinton/] * Mickey's Opinion Piece in The Canadian Jewish News about "quiet anti-semitism" [https://thecjn.ca/opinion/perspectives/michael-inzlicht/] * Ben Burgis is suggesting a journalist should be fired for using AI [https://x.com/BenBurgis/status/2037737365356310961] * Cenk Uygur’s Pickleball Conspiracy [https://x.com/cenkuygur/status/2036134135262224640?s=20] * Vigeland & Citarella on Epstein: The One Conspiracy to Rule Them All (YouTube) [https://youtu.be/NP8CmOxOmWw?si=3FVLI5_EaB1NCLpp] * Benjamin Boyce and Warren Smith discuss Quantum Physics [https://x.com/thebadstats/status/2034849726156423569?s=20] * Triggernometry: Mehdi Hasan Debate on the Iran War, Immigration and the Israel Lobby [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrmKRV-UnMs] * Creator of Horseshoe Theory Dies aged 100 [https://departo.com.ng/jean-pierre-faye-death/]

The Moral Dilemmas of AI with Michael Inzlicht

Mickey is BACK with two new papers he has co-authored, a bunch of opinions, and a very unwelcome idea: maybe the problem with AI isn't that it doesn't work but that it works too well! The first paper, Against Frictionless AI, argues that AI assistance and its ability to take away the effort from thinking, writing, and smooth out social(like) interactions could be robbing those activities of the very thing that makes them worthwhile. The second paper is a more empirical investigation that presents a bunch of studies examining the topic of the (alleged) moralisation of AI. Some findings suggest that opposition to AI among some people isn't really about risks or trade-offs but rather about non-negotiable sacred moral values. Who knew? We also discuss effort justification, reproducible research, robosexual allyship, and just how much humanity remains within the cyborg Matthew Browne. And remember... It's just like our opinion, man! LINKS * Decoding Academia 34: Empathetic AIs? (Patreon Series) [https://decoding-the-gurus.captivate.fm/episode/decoding-academia-34-empathetic-ais-patreon-series] * Ovsyannikova, D., Oldemburgo de Mello, V., & Inzlicht, M. (2025). [https://static1.squarespace.com/static/550b09eae4b0147d03eda40d/t/67815fc964565b123394799f/1736531972775/Third-party-evaluators-perceive-AI-as-more-compassionate-than-expert-humans.pdf]Third-party evaluators perceive AI as more compassionate than expert humans [https://static1.squarespace.com/static/550b09eae4b0147d03eda40d/t/67815fc964565b123394799f/1736531972775/Third-party-evaluators-perceive-AI-as-more-compassionate-than-expert-humans.pdf]. Communications Psychology, 3, Article 4. [https://static1.squarespace.com/static/550b09eae4b0147d03eda40d/t/67815fc964565b123394799f/1736531972775/Third-party-evaluators-perceive-AI-as-more-compassionate-than-expert-humans.pdf] * Zohar, E., Bloom, P., & Inzlicht, M. (2026). [https://static1.squarespace.com/static/550b09eae4b0147d03eda40d/t/699e22286d287a6d39bf6f74/1771971127880/Against-frictionless-AI.pdf]Against frictionless AI [https://static1.squarespace.com/static/550b09eae4b0147d03eda40d/t/699e22286d287a6d39bf6f74/1771971127880/Against-frictionless-AI.pdf]. Communications Psychology, 4, Article 39. [https://static1.squarespace.com/static/550b09eae4b0147d03eda40d/t/699e22286d287a6d39bf6f74/1771971127880/Against-frictionless-AI.pdf] * Oldemburgo de Mello, V., Côté, É., Ayad, R., Inbar, Y., Plaks, J., & Inzlicht, M. (2026). [https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/5mwre_v10]The moralization of artificial intelligence [https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/5mwre_v10] (Manuscript under review). [https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/5mwre_v10] * Paul Bloom's Small Potatoes Substack * - My friend thinks it's a good idea for us to spend most of our time with AI companions [https://smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net/p/my-friend-thinks-its-a-good-idea?utm_source=publication-search] * - Is it irresponsible for academics to refuse to use AI? [https://smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net/p/is-it-irresponsible-for-academics?utm_source=publication-search] * Mickey's Speak Now Regret Later Substack * - AI Alarmism Trades on Fear, Not Facts [https://www.speakandregret.michaelinzlicht.com/p/ai-alarmists-trade-on-fear-not-facts?utm_source=publication-search] * Mickey's provocative tweet on his recent paper [https://x.com/minzlicht/status/2031165209352569172?s=20] * DTG Previous Interview with Mickey on the Replication Crisis, Mindfulness, and Responsible Heterodoxy [https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/interview-with-michael-inzlicht-on-the-replication/id1531266667?i=1000562943883] * Andy Masley Substack debunking the AI water usage claims [https://blog.andymasley.com/p/empire-of-ai-is-wildly-misleading] * Andy Masley Substack: Using ChatGPT is not bad for the environment - a cheat sheet [https://blog.andymasley.com/p/a-cheat-sheet-for-conversations-about?open=false#%C2%A7data-centers-use-too-much-energy] * Pataranutaporn, P., Karny, S., Archiwaranguprok, C., Albrecht, C., Liu, A. R., & Maes, P. (2025). [https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.11391]“My Boyfriend is AI”: A computational analysis of human–AI companionship in Reddit’s AI community [https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.11391]. arXiv. [https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.11391] * Critical response to Mickey's paper from Roy Schulam on Substack [https://substack.com/@royschulman/note/c-226167593]

Ken Wilber: Spiralling Upwards through a Technicolor Cosmos

Ken Wilber, the grand architect of Integral Theory, enters the Decoding chamber (wearing a striking but slightly unconvincing wig) as we explore a worldview that confidently absorbs every religion, philosophy, and half-remembered psychology paper into one majestic, Borg-like synthesis. Resistance, as it turns out, is not just futile... it is probably “first-tier thinking". This is a world of elaborate, baroque cosmologies. Layers within layers, quadrants within stages, spirals within states, with each offering a map of reality that grows more intricate the closer it gets to its own centre. Traditions are not debated so much as absorbed, their distinctiveness dissolved into a higher synthesis that always leads to the ultimate insight: integral theory. Get ready to experience high-level political analysis where Kamala Harris becomes a “fractured green" and Donald Trump the embodiment of a "rational orange". You will also learn how Ken is working with AI companies to help them incorporate integral thinking into their algorithms. The implications this has for human evolution are hard to fathom. Finally, in true Columbo fashion, we circle back to Matt's core philosophical system … panpsychism. Just a small detail, and also take some time to conduct a brief spiritual inquisition into Matt’s alleged Christian upbringing. Fortunately, nothing is rejected. Everything is integrated, including all possible critiques. Sources * Suma Gowda: Ken Wilber on Future of Consciousness, AI, Trump's Election: A Deep Dive into Spiral Dynamics [https://youtu.be/JvXblpyEswk?si=aTYwm2JlqhlxLtn6] * The Rise and Fall of Ken Wilber – Mark Manson [https://markmanson.net/ken-wilber] * Rebel Wisdom: Interview with Ken Wilber- What Happened to Jordan Peterson [https://youtu.be/-asnBMz4VvU?si=ltxvqA9bEV9JkBWp] * DS Wilson finds wisdom in Ken's approach [https://www.prosocial.world/posts/steering-toward-the-omega-point-a-roundtable-discussion-of-altruism-evolution-and-spirituality] * Ken Wilber's website [https://kenwilber.com/]