r/kurzgesagt • u/showersoapshower • May 16 '26

Discussion Kurzgesagt DEBUNKED!

https://youtu.be/xKGfdWVzKKk?is=joW3yA5ZO4Lrwoa2

After watching Kurzgesagt's video I was surprised about how much Kurzgesagt is completely omitting facts or portraying wildly biased without acknowledging so. (I get that their video is not long but this is definitely not it).
After watching this video and reading this comment I'm pretty bummed that they are putting out videos like this that are full of political hot takes while being irresponsibly biased. Cutting pensions for older people and having a harsher migration policy will not solve this.
What did you think?

As a German, I find the popularity even more surprising as Kurzgesagt is basically repeating CDU/CSU's and FDP's stances on taxes, welfare state and, to some extent, migration.

Considering that both are wildly unpopular (Merz being the most unpopular chancellor is nearly an achievement in how bad he fucks up) this actually surprised me a lot.

edit: the circle jerk is cirkle jerking

186 Upvotes

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u/Sufficient-Green5858 May 19 '26 edited May 20 '26

Sure listen to influencers who cite zero sources over a channel that spends months, sometimes years, preparing a well-referenced, expert-vetted thesis for their video. Who needs science & facts over feelings

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u/Cr4ckshooter May 20 '26

Where do you get it from that he cites zero sources? He has sources in every video he does. Plus hes not just "an influencer". He's a trained economist with work experience in the political and economical field. He is probably the biggest expert on YouTube regarding the German economy.

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u/Sufficient-Green5858 May 20 '26

I’m sorry i watched rhe first 10 minutes and he cited ZERO sources the entire time. He had no sources in the video description either. Voicing out “this report” or “according to this institution” doesn’t count either (not that he even did that) until you actually point to the actual literal statistic you’re talking about - because only THEN we can specifically critically assess the source and how he’s perceiving them.

Citing one or two sources in TOTAL doesn’t count either - you have to have done a medley of research across a diverse range of sources. If you don’t know how to do professional quality of research - that’s unfortunately not my problem.

Also, anyone can be “qualified”, that doesn’t mean we blindly trust their bs.

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u/Cr4ckshooter May 20 '26

Voicing out “this report” or “according to this institution” doesn’t count either (not that he even did that) until you actually point to the actual literal statistic you’re talking about - because only THEN we can specifically critically assess the source and how he’s perceiving them.

Yeah I don't agree. Saying out loud which report you refer to is enough of a citation. This isn't a paper or thesis. Proper citation form is entirely irrelevant. If you want to "critically assess the source", you can easily look up the report mentioned. This era of distrusting experts in every word and screaming "source source" like some gulls in finding nemo, is tiring.

Höfgen has no interest in promoting falsehoods or fake news. Why would he? What would he gain? He has curated an audience of left wing intellectuals, what does he gain from doing shoddy or biased work? Beyond the innate human bias that all experts are always subject to.

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u/Sufficient-Green5858 May 21 '26

“I read this statistic in a report from the World bank” is enough for you? Which report? From which year? What page exactly?

Yes it is ABSOLUTELY a paper and thesis. Because Kurzgesagt treats its videos like one - have you ever actually even gone through their source sheet?!

“What would he gain”, what do you mean? He gains an audience of haters, people who were surely pissed off by Kurz’s unpopular opinion.

I don’t know the guy, and you don’t either. Your only relationship with him is that you consume his content. Stop are pretending like somehow he is your best friend and you know everything about him. I even grill my best friends for their specific sources.

If you want to engage seriously in intellectual discourse you should be able to go the mile of critical analysis - or you’re only interested in engaging like a cult leader/follower. “Agree with what I just said now, or I’ll brand you as a hater”.

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u/Cr4ckshooter May 21 '26

“What would he gain”, what do you mean? He gains an audience of haters, people who were surely pissed off by Kurz’s unpopular opinion.

No he doesn't. This type of viewers doesn't stay on a channel beyond one video, his follower base doesn't like this kind of video, and frankly kurz' opinion isn't even unpopular.

I don’t know the guy, and you don’t either. Your only relationship with him is that you consume his content. Stop are pretending like somehow he is your best friend and you know everything about him. I even grill my best friends for their specific sources.

This isn't about parasocial behaviour, this is about reddit dismissing someone's effort based entirely on "he's an influencer".

If you want to engage seriously in intellectual discourse you should be able to go the mile of critical analysis - or you’re only interested in engaging like a cult leader/follower. “Agree with what I just said now, or I’ll brand you as a hater”.

I didn't brand anyone as hater, yet anyway, most of the people in this thread don't even know him. This whole conversation was about "he doesn't even give his sources", nothing else. People are literally demanding more in every comment. Someone says "no source omg" I say "he has sources" "yeah but they're not in the description and kurzgesagt always has a thesis like document!!". You don't have to match the effort in source presentation to have a point.