Episode description

In this special quasi-crossover episode, we stare deeply into the abyss while enjoying a beverage with renowned psychologist and occasional podcast co-host, Mickey Inzlicht.

P.S. The Decoding of Naomi Klein is coming next week!

Two Psychologists, One Anthropologist, Three Beers

00:27 Introduction

05:57 Mickey's Sabbatical in Japan

12:13 Sensemaking 3.0

25:25 Francis Foster's Bizarre Podcast Roast

34:38 Sabine Hossenfelder thinks Academia is Communism

36:11 The Irony of YouTube Incentives

39:34 Proper Criticisms of Academia

43:28 Is Academia Centrally Planned?

46:24 Culture War Pandering

53:53 Entering the Matt-rix

55:00 In Bed with the Russians notices the Red Scare Wounded Bird Pose

01:00:03 On the etiquette of Replications

01:06:17 Academic Debates on the Effect of Culture on Visual Illusions: Joe Henrich vs. Amir & Firestone

01:11:18 The Legend of Captain Cook: Sahlins vs Obeyesekere

01:12:58 Ideas vs People: Sarah Haider, Colin Wright and an epidemic of hypocrisy

01:17:19 Admitting Mistakes and Research Integrity

01:24:38 Interpersonal Relationships vs. Adversarial Systems

01:33:24 Wastage in Academia

01:39:49 Elon Musk, Pregnancy, and Modern Cults

01:49:01 Signing Off

The full episode is available for Patreon subscribers (1hr 51 mins).

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

Sources

• Mickey's Substack: Speak Now, Regret Later
• Inzlicht, M., Cameron, C. D., D’Cruz, J., & Bloom, P. (2024). In praise of empathic AI. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 28(2), 89-91.Chicago. And a summary article by Mickey!
• Bad Boys Done Good vs Triggernometry host Francis Foster
• Sabine Hossenfelder - Should we defund academia?
• Alexander Beiner - From Rebel Wisdom to Kainos
• Joe Henrich's thread responding to the Dorsa and Chaz paper
• Chris' old blog on Captain Cook and the second part
• Amir, D., & Firestone, C. (2025, January 25). Is visual perception WEIRD? The Müller-Lyer illusion and the Cultural Byproduct Hypothesis. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/y7mtf
• In Bed with the Russians - Red Scared