Andrew Huberman, and the Gurus of Fake Science

The New York Magazine article on neuroscientist and popular podcaster Andrew Huberman focuses mainly on how he appears to be such an awful person with a long history of lying and manipulating women. However, while it does look like he may have sociopathic tendencies, what interests me is why do so many people take his pseudo-scientific advice?

One thing that is clear is that gives his audience a sense that they can control their lives better and be happier if they just learn how their neurochemistry works. What matters is mostly that you understand what causes the release of dopamine, and then you can train yourself to control this powerful chemical of pleasure and reward. But the question remains how do humans experience pleasure and rewards, and does tracing our feelings to a chemical in the brain actually tell us anything?

My fear is that when people use the word dopamine to explain human thought, feelings, and behavior, they are simply saying unclear things, but they then add the power of science to make us trust and believe what they are saying. Since we have been told that genes produce neurotransmitters, and these genes are derived from evolution, any explanation referring to neurotransmitters must be true and real. However, many theories from neuroscience and evolutionary psychology have never been proven, and just because a human activity results in a change in brain chemistry that does not mean that the correlation is a causation.

Like so many popular neuroscientists, Huberman is mostly a used car salesman selling questionable supplements and fake science through a combination of education and information. He has made himself very wealthy by simply lying about his past and his research as he peddles a pseudo-scientific solutions to complex human problems.

Since people are hungry for a quick fix that does not require deep introspection, they fall for the lies promoted by sociopathic gurus and cult leaders. Moreover, in a society that increasingly confuses science with entertainment, people are getting rich by telling others techniques to quickly improve their lives. Just like the empty supplements that Huberman peddles on his shows, his combination of neuroscience and body manipulation is based on a desire to treat others as objects to be used for his own personal gain and pleasure—and of course a shot of dopamine.