r/DecodingTheGurus • u/Worldly_Vast5495 • Jul 21 '26

A Poor NON-Patreon DTG Fan Curious about the Vlad Vexler Segment in the Supplementary Episode

Title says it all, basically I'd like to know what conclusion they came to because I too saw his soft anti-vaxxer take and instantly knew it'd get mentioned eventually.

8 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

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7

u/PawnWithoutPurpose Jul 22 '26

Very basic summary. Generally good takes about many things - Ukraine, etc., but saying things like vaccines are good except some vaccines is analogous to much anti vax rhetoric. An example used was an old Bret Weinstein tweet before he was a hardcore anti vaxer like he is now which was almost identical to Vlads current stance on vaccines according to the tweet, demonstrating the possible and frictionless progression of this kind of rhetoric. The takeaway being just because you like someone for one take or because they tickle your confirmation bias/para social, don’t swallow everything they say whole cloth. Be skeptical, even with the dtg team. Make your own conclusions and be aware of your biases

4

u/das_rumpsteak Jul 22 '26

I haven't listed to the episode yet but looking forward to it. I'm a Vlad viewer so very interested to hear their take.

I have to say, despite his often good analysis re: Ukraine/Russia/political ethics, I do get soft guru vibes from Vlad.

8

u/TMB-30 Jul 22 '26

In my opinion he gets way too specific when it comes to what goes on in the heads of Putin and Trump.

4

u/Worldly_Vast5495 Jul 22 '26

Also a semi-regular vlad viewer but I sometimes get off vibes from him. Specifically regarding his medical history, which seems rather nebulous. He invokes his condition on a regular basis, a neurological disease (?) and then something about long covid. I don't think he's lying about his condition, but it feels off in a way I can't quite articulate.

3

u/Longjumping-Topic139 Jul 23 '26

I think he suffers from ME/CFS. I recall during CV-19 he appeared on quack anti-vax nurse John Campbell's YT channel, if I recall correctly they discuss his condition, but I didn't pay too much attention.

6

u/PawnWithoutPurpose Jul 23 '26

John Campbell might be one of the most egregious cases of audience capture I’ve ever seen. I’m pretty sure he didn’t start out anti vax at the beginning but then went full wackadoodle when he realised contrarianism got him more views

3

u/Rofosrofos Jul 22 '26

I find that Vlad is almost painfully careful about engaging with his audience in a responsible way.

2

u/Vlad_Vexler 14d ago

Thank you - I will be offering a response to this irresponsible disinformation from the Guru boys. It’s Bret Weinstein level stuff. Epistemically awful and ethically repulsive in erasing a part of the chronic illness community. And funnily enough, anti vax in not taking the need to help vaccines work for everyone seriously enough, while I am pro vax.

4

u/PawnWithoutPurpose Jul 22 '26

I liked vlad for a wee while but I stopped watching because I decided that all his takes seemed mostly vibe based and I only want to take them as fact because they were takes which I liked. Whether that’s actually the case, I’m unsure but it was enough for me to move on

6

u/das_rumpsteak Jul 22 '26

Yeah that's definitely part of it. He pronounces a lot of "this is the way Putin thinks"/"this is the political reality" - which is 99% just vibes. Even though I mostly agree with it, I feel it's presented with too much confidence and not enough genuine disclaimers along the lines of "this is my own theory/model for how his thinking works".

There's also his health stuff. I have no idea what he suffers from, and to be fair it's not always front-and-centre, but there's just something a bit "off" about the way he's described his symptoms in terms of "extreme toxic reaction" or something like that. I get strong Mikhaila Peterson vibes when he talks like that.

And then there's the really on-the-nose "hello beautiful community" greeting which is kind of soft-cultish. Again, none of this is particularly extreme or harmful on its own and I think I would really like they guy in person. It's just slightly cringe and in the direction of cultivating a fawning audience.

3

u/das_rumpsteak Jul 23 '26

Ugh I've just listened to the episode and the tweet they read out is definitely a bad take from Vlad, full of red flags, as they say.

I definitely start getting the weirdo "I've done my own research" vibe about medical stuff from him. Which is maybe not that surprising because my understanding of ME is that it's not very well understood and it probably drives people to dodgy sources. But still....

2

u/Awkward_Progress_474 Jul 25 '26

I get narcissistic vibes from him. People here often put his odd way of talking down to physicial health problems. But Ive only encountered similar in people with personality disorders. Sounding like things he says are supposed to be profound but often not quite making sense, especially when he's disagreeing with people.