The seductiveness of secular gurus (with Christopher Kavanagh)

About this episode

The episode explores the appeal of secular gurus and the psychological factors behind their influence in a time of institutional distrust.

Read the full transcript here. What makes broad, all-encompassing worldviews so attractive in periods of institutional distrust? Why do charismatic figures become especially persuasive when they present themselves as suppressed truth tellers? How much of a guru’s appeal comes from insight, and how much from theater? Why do people so often prefer a guide with certainty over an institution with caveats? What happens when specialist expertise is mistaken for authority about everything? Are we living in the best age for learning or the easiest age for self-deception? What is the difference between being informed and merely feeling informed? Why does the performance of education so often outcompete the practice of education? How much false confidence is created by consuming hours of polished commentary without doing any of the underlying work? Why are people so vulnerable to sources that make complexity feel effortless? How should we think about the gap between exposure to ideas and mastery of them? Christopher Kavanagh is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Rikkyo University and a Researcher at the Centre for Studies of Social Cohesion at Oxford University. His research focuses…

People in this episode

Host: Spencer Greenberg

Guest: Christopher Kavanagh

Topics covered

• worldviews
• charismatic figures
• authority
• education
• self-deception
• skepticism

Keywords

• secular gurus
• charisma
• psychology
• education
• self-deception
• authority
• skepticism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Rikkyo University, Centre for Studies of Social Cohesion, Decoding The Gurus

Places: Oxford University

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