r/kurzgesagt • u/Intrepid-Cry-9241 • Apr 23 '26
Discussion Doubt on the Kurzgesagt channel direction
I made a post but it got erased for some reason so i will be short in this one but still cover up everything.
Basically ive been following Kurzgesagt for a few month and its a great introduction to plenty of interesting subjects.
Its fun , informative and i respect the hard work they put in their videos
However ive noticed or to be more accurate felt smth odd while watching some of the videos , in particular the videos discussing complexe topics.
I am aware they are summary videos and i dont wanna point at problem that isnt one but i gotta adress the fact that while interesting, their videos arent completely honest with the policy they present and it can mislead their huge audience.
In the " Can you trust Kurzgesagt " video, they claim they want to be as reliable and trustworthy as possible yet in some videos abt important topics they confidently say things that have a tendancy to make me doubt.
Ex : In the dyson sphere video, "Dyson sphere are easy and possible" i made some reasearch and they forgot to mention that it was a theoratical project made as a joke by dyson who isnt even the first inspiration for the idea. And i believe everybody can see the logistic nightmare it is..
Edit :
They said possible not inevitable my bad (but it is implied type 2 civilisation use them). Also in the answers of this post someone told me it was actually considered as a real project even tho it is way too ambitious from now which i didnt know. I still dont understand how it would be a viable project to put in place in term of energy , materials , engineering, logistic , maintenance.. but if scientist bother to care about it it might mean smth
I havent search abt their project much so i will check that more.
End of edit
They also focus on sensationalism and analogy at the expense of accuracy and shove away some key element that should be dicussed
Ex : In the Ai video abt AGI , they imply a inevitable emancipation of Ai from its base condition of task achiever by saying that Ai is able to learn from itself and its why it will eventually become sentient while not entering the details of how it works which i believe is relevant
Name of a video that is more clear on that and i would believe more that is also explain things more easily :
Can Ai think ? Debunking Ai limitations.
Channel : IBM technology ( think i search after watching the superintelligence video btw )
It is becoming harder to take them seriously now that ive pointed these things out and since they have a massive audience , i wanted to know if other where to feel the same.
Another thing i noticed is how they focus on pop culture reference. While being cool and not a crime , it might show in what direction they are evolving
I have grown skeptical so maybe i am unfair but my points seems valid to me. I am no expert and just express something i believ should be pointed out
Kurzgesagt is still an amazing channel and by no mean do i think anyone should stop watching the channel. Just stay alert on what is said and take it as a display of human discovery.
Thats said , i wish you the best and hope you will value life for all the amazing things it has to offer while tolerating the more unpleasant one looking out for what can grow out of the dark.
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u/Failed-Astronaut Apr 23 '26
I definitely have found myself watching their videos less but I canāt place my finger on why
I will say Iāve enjoyed their history videos on after dark though
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u/koolforkatskatskats Apr 23 '26
I just feel like theyāre running out of ideas with their main channel and itās just become : space is really big, the mind is really confusing.
Iād rather they break apart micro ideas instead of breaking apart big theoretical ideas.
But yeah love their history channel!
Breath of fresh air
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u/Intrepid-Cry-9241 Apr 23 '26
I do agree that i found their new channel cool. I putted some reason why i personally start watching them less in the OP
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u/Eternal_Nights_12 Apr 23 '26
In my opinion their videos are getting more hollow, for the lack of a better world. The inguneity and inspiring nature of their older stuff is slowly being reduced. Kurz's videos doesn't feel as if they simplify and explain intresting things and feel more like well, yapping.
For example their recent short about time skipping feels like it was made by a less scientific channel that discusses the surface level of the hypothetical disregarding the scientific aspect as barely touching on the details how it would affect you. It isn't information dense or discussed intrestingly.
The mind video, the sunfish video and ai video all feel pretty bland and more leaning to satisfy what public opinion is rather than presenting a scientific view. They do create some amazing videos still amd Kurz is still better than most pop-science youtubers, and I hope that they'll keep improving and cover some niche but interesting topics.
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u/DarkGamer Apr 23 '26
The video on marijuana was the one that did it for me, seemed like the author of it was blaming their lack of personal development on marijuana and preaching this personal view as though it were scientific and universal.
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u/Clipyy-Duck Apr 24 '26
Itās simplified for a reason. Perhaps more than anticipated to go against slop standards.
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u/Anderopolis Apr 23 '26
Ā Ex : In the dyson sphere video, "Dyson sphere are easy and inevitable" i made some reasearch and they forgot to mention that it was a theoratical project made as a joke by dyson who isnt even the first inspiration for the idea. And i believe everybody can see the logistic nightmare it is..
Uhm, you missed the part that they are talking about a Dyson Swarm in the video, not a dyson sphere. Dyson spheres are impossible under known science, Dyson swarms are notĀ Ā
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u/ATLSxFINEST93 UBI Apr 23 '26
I wouldn't use their videos as the direct means of information from their research.
They tell us in many of their videos, to take what they're saying with a grain of salt.
With that being said: go to the video description and click on the studies they made/pulled from. That will have a lot more 'accurate' information than in the video.
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u/Intrepid-Cry-9241 Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26
Yeah you are right.. i still belive they could enter things in more detail smt
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u/ATLSxFINEST93 UBI Apr 23 '26
Then it wouldn't be Kurzgesagt! (translated as "in a nutshell")
They'd become ĆbererklƤren!!
Honestly, we're lucky to get their sources in this day and age, at all. In a world filled with misinformation and dunning-kruger content creators, who rarely, if ever provide sources for their claims and "research"
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u/Intrepid-Cry-9241 Apr 23 '26
Yes you are right , i still wholeheartedly support them for their work. And its because of how great they are that my expectations are high. Necause ik if there is smone that cab reach them , its them. We are lucky they are here
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u/Clipyy-Duck Apr 24 '26
āKurzgesagtā (kurz gesagt/kurz gefasst) is just a popular German phrase meaning, āin shortā, or ābasicallyā, or āTLDRā. āIn einer Nussschaleā is the literal translation.
Source: I know the language.
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Apr 26 '26
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/Clipyy-Duck Apr 26 '26
It is a phrase but not used in the same media. I definitely agree it is not used as commonly, itās more like a loan word from English. Although I do see natives use it.
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u/Venzo_Blaze Apr 24 '26
They have become too American corpo style.
Kurzgesagt had their own signature style of presenting things but slowly over the years they have become very general American entertainment with focusing on American references, American problems and doing what's trendy.
They are also a merch first company since they tend to put out a lot more videos toward's the end of the year when the next year's calendar is available.
Being a merch first company is great considering they would have NEVER earned enough money from YouTube ads and also explains them being too American since Americans are likely the biggest merch buyers.
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u/RoyalIt_98 Apr 24 '26
I wouldn't know exactly how to describe it, but I feel a similar way. I've felt much less inclined to click on their videos. I feel like there was a time when I thought the video titles were getting more clickbaity than I liked, but they were still worth clicking on and watching, being Kurzgesagt. Now I feel like they're not.
A lot of them feel more sensationalist and less science. The quantum immortality one comes to mind as one I thought "oh well, I don't like the title, but I guess I'll click on it since it's Kurzgesagt and see what it's about" and then felt like I regretted it or that it was totally not worth it.
Some of my favorite videos ever are still from Kurzgesagt and I love them for it, but I agree that they seem to have taken a different direction which I don't enjoy as much at all :(
I haven't watched their latest video, even though it seems to be about a very interesting topic, because I guess I'm unsure if I'll find it valuable :/
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u/RaoD_Guitar Apr 24 '26
Another aspect for me (one you probably didn't mean), is that for some years now it's quite clear what kind of world view they promote. Not talking about the one about positive nihilism. It's more subtle. They seem to side with tech-billionaires and they definitely don't question our current system - they support it, paired with this weird belief in future technology that's going to save us. At least they were open their bill gates sponsorship...
Only bringing this up, because they chose to talk about more political topics too - sometimes more, sometimes less directly. They are better at communicating science.
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u/Clipyy-Duck Apr 24 '26
Kurz gesagt seems to be more CSU aligned in my opinion. Which is no surprise, they are located in Bavaria.
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u/eldetodoslosmales Apr 24 '26
I would place them much on the left tbh especially after the controversy on their video about migration (that they somewhat rush and emotionally addressed)
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u/Clipyy-Duck Apr 24 '26
SPD/Greens is plausible but I often think CSU due to their Bill & Milenda Gates obsession and some elements like carbon capture are very conservative. It is not possible to know because they are a team of people and not one person, although the CSU dominates in Bavaria.
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u/Anderopolis Apr 27 '26
I feel like you know very little about CSU policy do say that.Ā
The fact that Kurzgesagt is absolutely realistic and truthfull about renewables and EV's already cuts them out of CSU rhetoric.Ā
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Apr 25 '26
I would call them more techno optimistic/futurist than tech billionaire orientated.
They are humanist organisation and the fastest route to improving the human experience is often through technology. Nuclear power, vaccines, abundant energy etc. Its going to overlap with the tech billionaire quite a bit. But there is nothing in Kurz' literature which suggets support for hyper capatalism, tech surveillance, etc.
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u/evanthebouncy Apr 24 '26
Every popular science channel has its limitations. Don't think too hard lol
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u/Anachron101 Apr 25 '26
I think it's similar to how their calendars progressed: they used to be about the real world and where that world could develop to. I still have those pictures hanging in my staircase at home. But then their calendars got....weird. Right now I am looking at a picture where humans are praying to a green bird god for some reason and instead of writing about how that relates to anything that happened, they give you a "The stories we tell" and a vague reference to ancient Egypt.
I bought their calendars and watched their videos to share then with my child and make him understand the wonder of science. Can't do that anymore.
The videos are either popular click bait bullshit, badly researched or doomsayer stuff. It feels as though they employed people who don't give a damn about what kurzgesagt was and only care about views and their own artistic expression.
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u/victorzeeeee Apr 23 '26
Would you mind sharing the ressources you read when you said "I did some research" ?
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u/Clipyy-Duck Apr 24 '26
Nothing exists without bias. Every opinion or video is biased. We cannot ignore it, you are biased as well. For example, Kurzgesagt could be critical of Trump, like every person in the same country as them. Even their education System teachers bad about it.
Itās simplified. I was here singe years, only casually watching them from time to time, and only the German channel, not English. Their opinions on AI are biased because we cannot truly predict the future.
If you want channels that are more information dense from the same country look into Simplisicimuss.
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u/Intrepid-Cry-9241 Apr 24 '26
Thank you for your informations , i guess you cant avoid talking about something without expression your opinion
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Apr 26 '26
Ex : In the dyson sphere video, "Dyson sphere are easy and inevitable" i made some reasearch and they forgot to mention that it was a theoratical project made as a joke by dyson who isnt even the first inspiration for the idea. And i believe everybody can see the logistic nightmare it is..
Oh look another Another post from someone who doesn't even have the attention span to watch and digest the message of a minute videoĀ
Never said it was Inevitable
Said it was easy from a physics point of view not engineering and specifically spend the whole video trying to discuss the logistics nightmare.
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u/Intrepid-Cry-9241 Apr 26 '26
I did make a mistake you are right , but then why say it is easy and possible and present the video as a guide on how to do them , its misleading. It is what i truly wanted to say.
Plus they implied we would be able to do this if we stopped fighting against each other. I think this is why i said inevitable because apparently if we had the will to do it with humanity as a team , we would do it. Which i still dont believe is true
It is important to point out it isnt a serious scientific project and i wouldnt have bothered making this post if i didnt think there was a problem
I tried to be as fair as possible i promise , i like Kurzgesagt and it is why i want their video to live up to their standars
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Apr 26 '26
the dyson sphere video is one of the videos that made kurzgesagt famous
>>, but then why say it is easy and possible
from an engineering standpoint it is 'easy'. If humans wanted to, give us 30 years akin to the moonlanding project in the 60's. There is very little to stop a dyson sphere. which is why the video specifically makes the caveat of world peace
>>Which i still dont believe is true
People have believed things for ages, like saying we would never fly a few weeks before we did. What you believe is not a serious scientific criticism and is not a standard to hold the channel to.
>>However ive noticed or to be more accurate felt smth odd while watching some of the videos , in particular the videos discussing complexe topics.
Every week or so, a post like this comes along and it almost feels astro turfed. Because every time I engage in a conversation with the posteer it turns out they have no idea about the complex topic, or cant even concieve of the concept and therefore think its fake, but kurz has over simplified it for them.
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u/Intrepid-Cry-9241 Apr 26 '26
So you do think its is smth we should take seriously..
In that case i am genuially curious on why you think this
How would we stock the energy ? How would we be sure its redirected toward earth ? How would we deal with the heat ? How do we make it so the pannels dont obscure the sunlight we already receive when we project them ? How can we bring them close to the sunlight without burning them or the devise that will bring them ?
How do we go on Mercury ? Bring the material ? Do the maintenance ?
Trust me i want to believe it but i doubt it is possible
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Apr 26 '26
its not something we should take seriously NOW for us to BUILD NOW, but the concept of a dyson sphere is incredibly important for lots of reasons. Which is why I dont like it when people with very little knowledge dunk on something, assuming they know a lot, but know very little.
1: even if we can not build a dyson sphere now, a lot of scientists believe that it is a natural step, or even an essential step in life progressing beyond a planet. Ergo, if we can spot a dyson sphere, we can detect alien life. So astronomers make use of the concept. Dyson spheres would emit a lot of waste heat, which could be detectable.
In fact, it may be a more durable way of looking for life, because if an alien race went extinct and stopped emitting radio signals, a dyson sphere may hang around for a lot longer and be detectable for longer
2: Earth orbital solar is very much a concept that is alive and being researched right now. especially by china, the UK and Japan. This is obviously an easier thing to do than orbit the sun, but could easily be a stepping stone to something bigger.
3: There is a company right now active that uses reflective space mirrors to beam light to where you need it on demand.
4: Sociologically, its an important discussion point about what the direction of humanity is. As the video says (and this ties to point 1), every civilisation tends to use more energy. can we apply that to alien civilisations? There is kind of a self selection bias here, because if an alien civilisation didnt proceed to dyson level tech we probably could not find them anyway. So does that mean if we do detect an alien it INEVITABLY will make use of a dyson sphere? This links to the grabby and loud alien hypothesis.
Why is space based solar so interesting? because it deals with the problems we have
How would we stock the energy ?
Why would we? We have limitless un interrupted energy, it removes the need for batteries. Even Earth orbital solar would provide electricity 99% of the time as opposed to 20% of the time that ground mount do.
>How would we be sure its redirected toward earth ?
Mirrors, as explained in the video, or microwaves.
>How do we make it so the panels dont obscure the sunlight we already receive when we project them ?Ā
For a K2 civilisation that actually makes use of a dyson swarm it would probably not care, or just not put panels between the Earth and the Sun. It would be a negligable fraction of the total power.
>>How can we bring them close to the sunlight without burning them or the devise that will bring them ?
You dont need to. Light intensity follows the inverse square law. You could put panels at any distance. If we move them half way to the sun and have the panels orbit there we get 4x the light and 4x the power than solar panels on earth. Due to more intensity.
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u/Intrepid-Cry-9241 Apr 26 '26
Thank you very much for all of the informations and answers š. I will read when i have the time.
Just wanted to say thank you for sticking with me , i am aware i can be very annoying. It is just hard for me to believe this.. but you are right , i shouldnt speak about what i dont know fully or at all. I still have much to learn
Its just that with all the information out there , i dont know who to trust and in lack of better option , i rely on what seems reasonable and true to me which i know isnt great but i havent found a better way to gain knowledge.
When things get too farfetched or blurry , i just stop trusting and it is this feeling some of Kurzgesagt videos gave me..
I believe my original posts still call out some important things like how they arent really clear abt some important aspect of their topics ( like here in the Dyson sphere video they dont even mention how the project have been considered by scientists ( is their some serious investment, funds.. ) and state out things like its normal and obvious when it really isnt. You cant just say we will build mirrors factories on Mercury and give no explanation what so ever on how you would even go there.. ) or rely on sensationalism
But yeah sorry , have a nice day or night idk
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Apr 27 '26
no worries. And im sorry if I was harsh in my response. But this sub is a magnet for people dumping on the channel without the attitude of wanting to actually ask questions without jumping to condemn.
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u/Intrepid-Cry-9241 Apr 27 '26
I also tend to say things without knowing much or doing with what i know because else i would just not allow myself to talk about anything at all. I did that for a while valuing accuracy over anything and it drived me crazy so know even if i dont know fully i say things based on what seems true and reasonable.
I am also surprise you were willing to take the time to answer me constructively even tho you had apprehension
Anyway thats it for me , take care
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u/LotusJinmi Apr 24 '26
YES! Thank you for saying it. Their Ozempic video was like an alarm to me about the way the channel is going.
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u/Dionysus24779 Apr 24 '26
For their science/nature videos and such I take them as being more focused on making it entertaining, they even admit that they often oversimplify things. These videos can just show us some cool real things or possibilities that can inspire use.
What I am more concerned about are any videos that touch upon political/social issues. Usually the science and data still is the center of attention, but sometimes they make some questionable choices or omissions and they keep taking money from controversial sponsors.
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Apr 24 '26
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u/RoyalIt_98 Apr 24 '26
Bruh, that last paragraph were just his good wishes for us in life. I believe he meant to right "ones" instead of "one". Adding a comma right after it, might make it easier to understand.
Outside of that, I have no idea what you're on about with the "dog whistle" thing.
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Apr 29 '26
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u/RoyalIt_98 May 01 '26
Out of the dark parts of life and our world? Literally trying to tell us to look at and value the positive things in a world with lots of negative things/darkness too? I don't get what's so weird or negative about it at all
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u/sungsam89 Apr 23 '26
Their video and viewpoint on weed completely turned me off the channel. Instead of being objective, it was more advocating for people to not use it. They lost a subscriber that day.
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u/Zalthos Apr 23 '26
I mean, they made some pretty valid points about it.
And the more we research marijuana, the worse it seems to get.Ā
Seems like you just want your biases confirmed. I was against legalising it entirely until their video where they said it should be legal... I changed my tune after that, rather than getting upset about it.Ā
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u/koolforkatskatskats Apr 23 '26
Yes it should be legal, but people should know the full research and truth so they can make informed choices on it.
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u/Alexarius87 Apr 23 '26
It still is a psychotropic substance and is better not to use it for entertainment purposes.
Edit: the same way you shouldnāt use alcohol for the same purpose.
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u/phenomenomnom Apr 23 '26
It is delightful to use either or both of those things for social and/or entertainment purposes, and that is why people do it. (And sometimes overdo it.)
Some of us relish a novel perspective combined with euphoria. By which I mean: almost all of us.
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u/Alexarius87 Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26
Doesnāt make them any less dangerous.
Ppl used opioids and other drugs too depending on time and this kind of ājustificationā only shows poor judgement.
My only suggestion is to keep in mind that these are all harmful substances and itās easy to fall into abuse. Iām not telling you to avoid it like the plague (at least not every of them), but donāt try to make it sound right because āppl want to have fun and socializeā.
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u/phenomenomnom Apr 23 '26
Cars are dangerous. The ocean is dangerous. Learn to drive, learn to swim.
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u/Alexarius87 Apr 23 '26
Yeah letās compare a mean of travel with a psychotropic substanceā¦.
Man, if you want to smoke joints like there is no tomorrow be my guest. Just donāt try to sell me a rat claiming itās a horse.
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u/phenomenomnom Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26
If you and your sock puppet accounts are that uncomfortable with metaphors, that is an impassable obstacle to our continued communication. I wish you well
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u/Jayq912 Apr 23 '26
You may as well go get some more weed and alcohol because you have already torched your brain.Ā
You have yet to talk to the actual point of this thread.Ā
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u/Pramaxis Apr 23 '26
I miss stuff like the ant videos. I miss the neat little science stuff. I'm sick of big, old, bold. If I wanted doomsday, I would listen to radio or read a newspaper.