Chris and Matt have their models exploded, the maps ripped up, and their minds blown as the Gurusphere expands into exciting new territory.

Supplementary Material 23

02:47 Chris Williamson blows our minds!

08:57 Content Predator psychology and motivational posting

12:28 Balancing the Scales

14:07 Eric Weinstein the master of Rorschach Tweets

20:26 Modern Sages Reunited: Bret Weinstein and Joe Rogan

24:29 Open-Minded Joe Rogan

34:26 Maybe prescriptions are actually bad!

37:38 Andrew Gold expands into Race & IQ

46:47 4 Warning Signs of Radicalism

56:45 Monomaniacal Fixation vs. Pluralism

01:05:26 Rejoinder: What if it is a diagnostic?

01:09:43 Lex wants to join DOGE

01:10:31 Lex's next world leader interview: Modi

01:14:57 Matt's Final Thought: People contain multitudes

01:16:57 Outro

The full episode is available for Patreon subscribers (1hrs 19 mins).

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

Sources

• Eric Weinstein's profound tweet on history as we know it
• The Joe Rogan Experience#2269- Bret Weinstein
• Andrew Gold Heretics: CONTROVERSIAL: Are Some Races DUMBER? - Nathan Cofnas (4K)
• Lex wistfully imagines joining DOGE and thinks deeply about his upcoming interview with Modi
• Recent investigation of 'Race Realist' networks and outlets
• Kruglanski, A. W., & Moskalenko, S. (2025). Psychology of the Extreme. Taylor & Francis.

In this episode, Matt finally gets his revenge on Chris by dragging him deep into the eccentric world of Chris Langan—the self-proclaimed possessor of a 200 IQ and creator of The Cognitive Theoretic Model of the Universe, yet another grand unifying theory of everything. Langan presents himself as an intellectual titan, offering mathematical, social, religious, and philosophical insights so profound that mere mortals can barely grasp them.

Prepare to have the mysteries of the universe, God, anti-God, angels, and demons unveiled. Consciousness, determinism, and free will? All finally explained. But that’s not all—somehow, it all connects to globalist plots, election conspiracies, vaccines, UFOs, and, of course, the devil pulling the strings.

Join us for conservative pundit Michael Knowles’ therapy session with one of his idols-a man who reassures him that he is a very smart boy and that his fundamentalist Christian beliefs are, in fact, completely correct.

If you thought Eric Weinstein was something, imagine him cranked up to 12. That’s Chris Langan...

Also... get ready for Matt's double down on his Aussie food takes.

Links

• CTMU Radio: Chris Langan - The Interview THEY Didn't Want You To See
• Malcolm Gladwell interview discussing Chris Langan
• Good Reddit post on the problems of the MEGA IQ test

In this episode, Matt and Chris take a look at a recent developmental psychology paper on the social evaluation of young babies. Do they display a preference for agents who are nice to others or could they care less at the babbling age? This is a large-scale, multi-lab, preregistered replication effort of a rather influential paper so it ticks all of Chris' Open Science boxes, but how does Matt react? Is he stuck in his pre-replication crisis paradigms? Join us to find out and along the way find out about baby Matt's psychotic tendencies, how cats feel about cucumbers, and how Matt narrowly escaped being eaten by a big ol' crocodile.

Paper Reference: Lucca, K., Yuen, F., Wang, Y., Alessandroni, N., Allison, O., Alvarez, M., ... & Hamlin, J. K. (2025). Infants’ Social Evaluation of Helpers and Hinderers: A Large‐Scale, Multi‐Lab, Coordinated Replication Study. Developmental Science, 28(1), e13581.

Original Study: Hamlin, J. K., Wynn, K., & Bloom, P. (2007). Social evaluation by preverbal infants. Nature, 450(7169), 557-559.

Decoding Academia 32

00:00 Introduction

00:59 Matt's Close Shave with a Crocodile

03:15 Discussion on Crocodile Behavior

05:13 Introduction to the Academic Paper

06:18 Understanding Registered Reports

07:49 Details of the Replication Study

12:07 The Many Babies Study

18:23 Challenges in Developmental Psychology

20:35 Original Study and Replication Efforts

26:27 HARKing and the QRP problem in psychology

34:24 Discussing the Results

36:58 Exploring the Red Ball Experiment

39:38 Forest Plot Analysis

41:19 Infant Preferences and Social Evaluation

43:24 Failure to Replicate the Original Study

47:06 Exploratory Analysis and Moderators

50:03 Interpretations and Implications

54:21 Evolutionary Perspectives on Social Behavior

58:34 Prosocial Evolutionary Speculation

01:05:10 Psychopathic Baby Matt

01:06:28 Concluding Thoughts and Reflections

01:11:20 Comparative Psychology on Snake Hatred!

The full episode is available for Patreon subscribers (1hrs 15 mins).

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

We immerse ourselves in the Dark Side of the Gurusphere and come out forever altered by what we've seen and praying for an escape from this demon-haunted world.

00:00 Introduction

01:38 Reverse Culture Shock in Australia

11:01 Tim Tams and Food Progress

12:14 Russia Today endorses Lex's statements on Zelensky

19:20 Elon Musk's Controversial Gesture

38:31 Destiny's (Most Recent) Controversy

01:02:12 Bryan Johnson vs. Andrew Huberman: Civility Insights

01:14:21 Sacriligeous Sycophancy: Bill Ackman and Sam Altman

01:15:55 Jonathan Pageau's Stargate Theories

01:26:52 Escaping the Demon-Haunted World

The full episode is available for Patreon subscribers (1hrs 30 mins).

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

Sources

• Russia Today tweeting about Lex and announcing his upcoming interview with Putin
• Joe Rogan Experience #2260 - Lex Fridman
• Video comparing Musk's gesture with other politicians' gestures
• Pxie's statement about the lawsuit on her substack and Destiny's response on his subreddit
• Bryan Johnson and Huberman's Twitter Exchange
• Bill Ackman suggesting Trump's achievements are greater than God's
• Jonathan Pageau's thread on Stargates

'Tis a New Year (sort of), and amidst all the chaos in the world, we thought we'd offer a small glimmer of light by making this Patreon episode available to everyone! If you enjoy it, consider joining us on Patreon—or not, it's your call!

In this episode, Matt and Chris scry through the portents and ponder the apocalyptic insights of the tech and finance titan Peter Thiel. We all know that Thiel is an urbane gentleman of great refinement with a collection of revolutionary ideas but does he make the Gurometer sing? Tune in to find out—and, as a bonus, learn more than you ever wanted to know about the intricacies of academic grading systems.

In this episode, Matt and Chris tackle the big ideas—or at least the ones rattling around in Peter Thiel’s mind. Tech billionaire, venture capitalist, and political kingmaker, Thiel has long been a looming figure in Silicon Valley, known for his deep pockets, contrarian takes, and peculiar philosophical musings. But beneath the surface-level libertarian posturing, what does Thiel actually believe? And does it hold up to scrutiny?

The decoders dig into Thiel’s recent interview on Uncommon Knowledge, where he waxes biblical about end times, interprets the katechon with all the confidence of a medieval theologian, and seamlessly blends venture capitalism with prophecies of the Antichrist.

Along the way, they explore Thiel’s method of connecting historical dots with pure vibes, and his Jetsons Fallacy, the deep disappointment that the world looks more like The Office than a 1960s vision of the future. They dissect the Sensemaker Aristocracy surrounding him—with its reverent back-patting and strange mix of deference and obfuscation that turns tech moguls into prophets. They also highlight Thiel’s bizarre leaps in logic, from citing biblical prophecies to warning about one-world free-trade Communist government conspiracies and his confusing stance on technological progress—simultaneously lamenting stagnation while fearing we’re racing too fast toward Armageddon.

Of course, no billionaire worldview would be complete without some COVID conspiracies, and Thiel delivers, crafting an elaborate Fauci Bioweapon Paradox in which the pandemic response was simultaneously overblown and also secretly justified because the virus was (obviously) engineered.

So is Peter Thiel a visionary? A libertarian Cassandra? Or just a very wealthy man with a lot of half-formed ideas and a habit of mumbling them into microphones? Matt and Chris wade through the mess so you don’t have to. Stay till the end for the Revolutionary Leprechaun Theory of Western Civilization… if you dare.

Links

• Hoover Institute: Apocalypse Now? Peter Thiel on Ancient Prophecies and Modern Tech (Part 1)
• Hoover Institute: Apocalypse Now? Peter Thiel on Ancient Prophecies and Modern Tech (Part 2)
• WIRED article on the Thiel, Hogan, & Gawker business

In this episode, we look at a recently released segment by Lex Fridman, where he reflects on his interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

We examine Lex’s self-presentation as a Christ-like figure—someone who is willing to suffer, feign naivety and ignorance, and even risk his life in the name of world peace—all while maintaining an eight-hour daily study regimen and enduring relentless, unfair attacks from Ukrainian bot farms and war-loving critics.

Like true sensemakers, we also entertain an outlandish alternative hypothesis: what if Lex is, in fact, an arrogant and biased podcaster—dismissive of criticism, oblivious to his political leanings, and adopting a “wounded bird” persona to elicit sympathy from his audience?

Join us as we sift through the Zelensky's (supposed) failures, the bot farms, and the wounded bird theatrics to determine whether Lex is a hero for peace—or just another podcaster lost in his own narrative.

Sources

• Lex Fridman reflects on Volodymyr Zelenskyy interview
• Supplementary Material 21: The emergency snake, thought = secularised prayer, and Love and War
• Chris' thread on Lex and his wounded bird pose
• Lex Fridman Podcast- Volodymyr Zelenskyy: Ukraine, War, Peace, Putin, Trump, NATO, and Freedom | Lex Fridman Podcast #456

It's 2025, and the Gurusphere shows no signs of slowing down—so here we are, diving into some grim crossovers. This time, the bro-optimiser Andrew Huberman has teamed up with the chaos dragon himself, Jordan Peterson. Meanwhile, the ever-affectionate Lex Fridman finally scored an interview with Zelensky. Bret, however, remains preoccupied with Goliath's ongoing PsyOps.

P.S. Matt broke his dongle so he's on the AirPods, we will be back to proper audio setup next episode.

Supplementary Material 21

00:00 Introduction and Farewell to America

01:43 Memorable Encounters and Experiences

03:48 Oldering & the Destruction of the Self

08:35 The American Understander Issues his Verdict

12:07 The Pageau Brothers, Jesus' Laugh & The Emergency Snake

19:01 Bryan Johnson has concerns about Vaccines

21:48 The High IQ Crowd and Trump's Greenland Plans

27:44 The PsyOps Cyclops Strikes Again

37:15 Huberman X Peterson: Optimising Christianity

39:22 Secret Prayers and Bible Conversations

43:34 Thougt = Secularised Prayer

48:56 Huberman's Intelligent Design Argument for God

55:49 Christian Optimising Stack

01:07:56 Marc Andreessen on Vigor, Pride and Achievement

01:13:30 Faux Heterodoxy

01:19:24 Plain Steaks are the best!

01:24:47 Jordan Peterson's Diet Struggles

01:32:25 Lex Fridman's Interview with Zelensky

01:37:52 Lex plugs Rogan's comedy club

01:41:09 Elon Musk and Trump are anti-corruption!

01:44:27 Critique of Lex Fridman's Interview Style

01:46:07 Lex's dream and Russia's security guarantees

01:53:25 Lex's Strategic Naivety

02:05:12 Lex reads A LOT

02:11:40 Lex and Putin predictions

02:12:39 Lex will endure the attacks against him

02:14:56 Wrapping Up & Patreon Love Bomb

The full episode is available for Patreon subscribers (2hrs 16 mins).

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

Sources

• Chris' thread on Lex and his wounded bird pose
• Huberman Podcast- Dr.Jordan Peterson: How to Best Guide Your Life Decisions & Path
• Lex Fridman Podcast- Volodymyr Zelenskyy: Ukraine, War, Peace, Putin, Trump, NATO, and Freedom | Lex Fridman Podcast #456
• The Free Press: Bryan Johnson: How Not to Die in 2025
• Matthieu Pageau's thread on the Emergency Snake

Back once again with the dark art of Gurometry, we turn our sights to the bad boy of Silicon Valley—the mulleted maestro, the edgy eejit, Curtis Yarvin. A legend in his own mind, but how does he rank on the Gurosity scale? Join us as we dissect his essence across 11 factors, from his revolutionarily mundane and incoherent ideas to his dazzling absence of charisma. Tune in as we feed this 'dark enlightenment' thinker into the Gurometer and reveal his true colours.

The full episode is available for Patreon subscribers (34 mins).

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

Curtis Yarvin: Gurometer

00:00 Introduction to Gurometry

02:27 Curtis Yarvin: The Man, The Myth, The Eejit

04:43 Galaxy Brainlessness

05:48 Cultishness

08:32 Anti-Establishmentarianism

09:55 Grievance Mongering

12:43 Self-Aggrandizement and Narcissism

13:30 Cassandra Complex

16:21 Revolutionary Theories

17:59 Pseudo-Profound Bullshit

19:43 Conspiracy Theories Galore

23:55 Moral Grandstanding

25:50 Gurometer Scores and Analysis

27:56 Bonus Point Attribution

34:03 Final Thoughts on Curtis Yarvin

In this end-of-year supplementary material, we unleash the hounds of war, battle through the discourse, and emerge alive but bloody and battered on the other side. Enlist now and join the fight.

Supplementary Material 20

00:00 Introduction and Ethnographic Insights

01:38 Matt's Observations from Washington DC

05:50 Smithsonian Museums and Star Wars Memorabilia

07:48 Lego Creations and Gacha Collectibles

12:13 Social Media and Blue Sky 'Culture'

13:29 Matt's Contribution: Eric Weinstein's UFO Speculations

21:21 Graham Linehan, Andrew Doyle, Jordan Peterson & Recognising Past Errors

23:18 Jordan Peterson's Reflections on Vaccination

28:59 Huberman's Upcoming Vaccine Series

30:52 Taylor Lorenz and Stochastic Terrorism

32:31 The Hypocrisy of Glorifying Violence

36:29 The Problem with Political Violence

43:48 Tim Kennedy's Exaggerated Military Stories

55:09 Tim Kennedy's Response to Criticism

01:07:37 Prebunking Criticisms

01:17:20 Shane Smith at Vice is NOT A CONSPIRACY GUY

01:21:27 Final Thoughts on Populism and Vibes-Based Reasoning

01:25:18 Outro

The full episode is available for Patreon subscribers (1hr 26 mins).

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

Sources 

• Jordan Peterson: Europe Imploding | Andrew Doyle & Graham Linehan | EP 506
• Tim Kennedy: Setting the Record Straight
• Piers Morgan Uncensored: “Why The F*CK Are You Laughing?!” CEO Murder Arrest & Daniel Penny NOT GUILTY
• The AntiHero Podcast: Ep 101: Tim Kennedy: The Book Of Lies
• Valhalla VFT: Green Berets, Delta Force & Navy SEAL DENOUNCE Tim Kennedy Stolen Valor LIES