June 15, 2021
Dear Friends and Family,
This is Segment 18 of the Nihilism series titled, “Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity (DIE). All of the excerpts are from The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas are Killing Common Sense by Dr. Gad Saad. Dr. Saad is a Lebanese Jew who barely escaped the Lebanese Civil War in 1975. At age 11 he emigrated to Montreal Canada where he became an evolutionary psychologist and professor at Concordia University.
My Takeaways:
Next:
Next week’s segment covers three cultural topics: Cancel Culture – which has become a powerful force in our society; the impact of Tech, how Big Tech is affecting our culture; and the tactic of gaslighting to gain power and perpetrate propaganda and deception.
Happy Learning,
Harley
Dear Friends and Family,
This is Segment 18 of the Nihilism series titled, “Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity (DIE). All of the excerpts are from The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas are Killing Common Sense by Dr. Gad Saad. Dr. Saad is a Lebanese Jew who barely escaped the Lebanese Civil War in 1975. At age 11 he emigrated to Montreal Canada where he became an evolutionary psychologist and professor at Concordia University.
My Takeaways:
- People in general are afraid to espouse any opinion that might ostracize them from the “political correct club.”
- Those trepidations are weakening our culture because it stifles discourse and is pushing us into a tribal society.
- The pursuit of truth – a historical hallmark of our university system – is being eroded by a movement to protect people fro m experiencing hurt feelings.
- This cultural climate is challenging our first amendment rights of free speech as well as fostering beliefs against scientific truths and objective reasoning.
- As a result of the above, the official quasi-religion of Western universities is now Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity.
- This quasi-religion is now seeping into corporate America.
Next:
Next week’s segment covers three cultural topics: Cancel Culture – which has become a powerful force in our society; the impact of Tech, how Big Tech is affecting our culture; and the tactic of gaslighting to gain power and perpetrate propaganda and deception.
Happy Learning,
Harley
NIHILISM: GOOD OR BAD? – SEGMENT 18
DIVERSITY, INCLUSION, EQUITY (DIE) – EXCERPTS
All excerpts in this segment are from The Parasitic Mind by Gad Saad (2020).
DEATH OF THE WEST BY A THOUSAND CUTS: The greatness of the West stems in part from its protection of fundamental freedoms and its commitment to reason and the scientific method. Over the past few decades through, several nefarious forces have slowly eroded the West’s commitment to reason, science, and the values of the Enlightenment. Such forces include:
THINKING versus FEELING, TRUTH versus HURT FEELINGS: Institutions of higher learning were not founded on an ethos of feelings but on the dogged pursuit of truth. And yet, across all our institutions – from universities to the media to the judicial system to the political arena – truth is increasingly taking a back seat to feelings. Any human endeavor rooted in the pursuit of truth must rely on facts and not feelings. Science is based on evidence, not politics. But today in academia, progressive ideology trumps scientific facts. But people who have fallen prey to idea pathogens have lost control of their minds and their emotions – and those pathogens are spreading rapidly and threatening our freedom.
NON-NEGOTIABLE ELEMENTS OF A FREE AND MODERN SOCIETY: It seems obvious that these online companies (Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter) must be regulated as utilities. Just as your electricity or phone is not shut off if the electric or phone company doesn’t like what you say, social media platforms should not be in the business of monitoring and punishing speech.
Free Speech: The idea that any kind of free society can be constructed in which people will never be offended or insulted or in which they have the right to call on the law to defend them against being offended or insulted is absurd. There is simply no better alternative than to allow those with unpopular views to express them and to allow those wishing to hear them to do so. The “I believe in free speech but” crowd violates the foundational ethos of what it means to have free speech. Usually, what comes after the “but” is an appeal to refrain from hurting people’s sensibilities and feelings. The general idea is that we must weight our freedom of speech against the rights of others to not be offended. No! Freedom of speech is precisely meant to protect the most obnoxious, offensive, and disgusting speech.
Identity Politics are Antithetical to Science: By definition, science is, or should be an apolitical process. Scientific truths and natural laws exist independent of researchers’ identities. The scientific method is the universal epistemological framework for understanding the world around us. Science does not care about the privileged position of “ancestral wisdom,” “tribal knowledge,” and “the ways of the elders.” All claims about the natural world must pass through the evidentiary prism of the scientific method. Current social justice warriors engage in similar ideological thinking. “I disagree with you” is replaced with disparaging labels: climate change denier, white nationalist, New Atheist, white supremacy, Alt-Right, and so on, demonizing dissenters from progressive orthodoxy as nefarious and evil.
The Ideological Conformity of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity: The official quasi-religion of Western universities is Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity (or DIE for short). An ever-growing number of academic administrators are hired to ensure that the DIE cult reigns supreme. Bloated administrative payrolls are already a disastrous financial reality at most universities; adding endless DIE bureaucrats is only making it worse. A sizable number of faculty members admitted that they would discriminate against conservative colleagues when reviewing their papers or grant applications, when deciding whether to invite them to a symposium, and when making hiring decisions. The more “liberal” a faculty member was, the more likely he was to endorse this sort of brazen discrimination. Given the rampant discriminatory bias against them, is it any surprise that conservative students and professors feel unwelcome in the academy and that most conservative graduate students and faculty members are likely to hide their political leanings?
ANTI-SCIENCE, ANTI-REASON, AND ILLIBERAL MOVEMENTS: The idea pathogens on university campuses fall into several large categories, Postmodernism posits that all knowledge is relative (no objective truths). This anti-science buffoonery generates positions such as the “Science Must Fall” movement that demands that people “decolonize” their minds from “racist” Western science. Social Construction proposes that the great majority of human behaviors, desires, and preferences are formed not by human nature or our biological heritage but by society, which means among other things, that there are no biologically determined sex differences, but only culturally imposed “gender roles.” Radical feminism asserts that these gender roles are due to the nebulous and nefarious forces of the patriarchy. Transgender activism purports that biological sex and “gender” are non-binary fluid constructs. Scientifically speaking, postmodernism, social constructivism, radical feminism, and transgender activism are all based on demonstrable falsehoods. But when one’s ideological commitments are paramount, the rejection of scientific facts becomes the necessary collateral damage.
CAMPUS LUNACY: THE RISE OF THE SOCIAL JUSTICE WARRIOR: Student activist social justice warriors (SJWs) might be outnumbered on campuses, yet they rule via the tyranny of the minority, backed by “progressive professors and campus administrators.” Together, they enforce a stifling climate of political correctness that we associate with things like “trigger warnings,” “safe spaces,” microaggressions,” and campus speech codes, all of which empower the perpetually indignant and outraged. To progressives, feelings trump truth; empirical statements are no longer judged by their veracity but by whether they are potentially “bigoted” – in which case they must be suppressed in the name of inclusiveness. Given that feelings are the engine by which one’s existence is validated, a culture of offence has taken shape where it pays to be a member of the perpetually aggrieved. This creates the competitive urge to be positioned advantageously in a victim hierarchy. The Oppression Olympics is the area wherein this competition of victimhood takes place, using identity politics and intersectionality to establish the “winner” of this grotesque theater of the absurd.
There is a growing trend on university campuses to identify white supremacy everywhere. The Campus Reform website maintains an excellent repository of campus lunacy. In searching their site using the term “white supremacy,” I found that pumpkins, milk, university mascots, Halloween costumes, Disney, MAGA hats, statues of Thomas Jefferson, the GOP, Donald Trump, voting for Donald Trump, taking exams, saying “all lives matter” instead of “black lives matter,” diversity of thought, meritocracy, capitalism, the United States Constitution, freedom of speech, Western literature, scientific objectivity, Medieval studies, science, and mathematics are among the many things that have been “linked” to white supremacy by progressive professors. Incidentally, if you are a non-racist white person, you undoubtedly suffer from white fragility (according to author Robin DiAngelo, that is).
Self-Flagellating at the Altar of Progressivism: Social Justice warriors and various assorted progressive brethren are typically privileged white Westerners. In their warped sense of the world, this is akin to being born with original sin as postulated in Christian doctrine. They must atone for the sin of not having been born poor persons of color in the third world; thus, they might seek penance in a form of ideological self-flagellation. Rather than using a whip or chain to self-harm, they adopt a progressive mindset that is ultimately harmful to them and society.
DEPARTURES FROM REASON: OSTRICH PARASITIC SYNDROME (OPS): The father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, noted the human capacity to suppress unpleasant information and referred to it as “this ostrich policy.” This human ostrich effect – based on the comic image of an ostrich burying its head in the sand to avoid unwelcome realities (a behavior the ostrich doesn’t actually exhibit in nature) – has been documented in many contests. When I realized that idea pathogens were causing more and more people to reject reality, I coined the term Ostrich Parasitic Syndrome (OPS). Here is how I defined this dreadful attack on reason:
DIVERSITY, INCLUSION, EQUITY (DIE) – EXCERPTS
All excerpts in this segment are from The Parasitic Mind by Gad Saad (2020).
DEATH OF THE WEST BY A THOUSAND CUTS: The greatness of the West stems in part from its protection of fundamental freedoms and its commitment to reason and the scientific method. Over the past few decades through, several nefarious forces have slowly eroded the West’s commitment to reason, science, and the values of the Enlightenment. Such forces include:
- Political Correctness (enforced by the thought police and social justice warriors)
- Postmodernism
- Radical Feminism
- Social Constructivism
- Cultural and Moral Relativism
- Culture of Perpetual Victimhood (microaggression, trigger warnings, campus safe spaces)
- Echo Chambers Void of Intellectual Diversity
- Identity Politics coupled with “Progressive Flagellation.
THINKING versus FEELING, TRUTH versus HURT FEELINGS: Institutions of higher learning were not founded on an ethos of feelings but on the dogged pursuit of truth. And yet, across all our institutions – from universities to the media to the judicial system to the political arena – truth is increasingly taking a back seat to feelings. Any human endeavor rooted in the pursuit of truth must rely on facts and not feelings. Science is based on evidence, not politics. But today in academia, progressive ideology trumps scientific facts. But people who have fallen prey to idea pathogens have lost control of their minds and their emotions – and those pathogens are spreading rapidly and threatening our freedom.
NON-NEGOTIABLE ELEMENTS OF A FREE AND MODERN SOCIETY: It seems obvious that these online companies (Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter) must be regulated as utilities. Just as your electricity or phone is not shut off if the electric or phone company doesn’t like what you say, social media platforms should not be in the business of monitoring and punishing speech.
Free Speech: The idea that any kind of free society can be constructed in which people will never be offended or insulted or in which they have the right to call on the law to defend them against being offended or insulted is absurd. There is simply no better alternative than to allow those with unpopular views to express them and to allow those wishing to hear them to do so. The “I believe in free speech but” crowd violates the foundational ethos of what it means to have free speech. Usually, what comes after the “but” is an appeal to refrain from hurting people’s sensibilities and feelings. The general idea is that we must weight our freedom of speech against the rights of others to not be offended. No! Freedom of speech is precisely meant to protect the most obnoxious, offensive, and disgusting speech.
Identity Politics are Antithetical to Science: By definition, science is, or should be an apolitical process. Scientific truths and natural laws exist independent of researchers’ identities. The scientific method is the universal epistemological framework for understanding the world around us. Science does not care about the privileged position of “ancestral wisdom,” “tribal knowledge,” and “the ways of the elders.” All claims about the natural world must pass through the evidentiary prism of the scientific method. Current social justice warriors engage in similar ideological thinking. “I disagree with you” is replaced with disparaging labels: climate change denier, white nationalist, New Atheist, white supremacy, Alt-Right, and so on, demonizing dissenters from progressive orthodoxy as nefarious and evil.
The Ideological Conformity of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity: The official quasi-religion of Western universities is Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity (or DIE for short). An ever-growing number of academic administrators are hired to ensure that the DIE cult reigns supreme. Bloated administrative payrolls are already a disastrous financial reality at most universities; adding endless DIE bureaucrats is only making it worse. A sizable number of faculty members admitted that they would discriminate against conservative colleagues when reviewing their papers or grant applications, when deciding whether to invite them to a symposium, and when making hiring decisions. The more “liberal” a faculty member was, the more likely he was to endorse this sort of brazen discrimination. Given the rampant discriminatory bias against them, is it any surprise that conservative students and professors feel unwelcome in the academy and that most conservative graduate students and faculty members are likely to hide their political leanings?
ANTI-SCIENCE, ANTI-REASON, AND ILLIBERAL MOVEMENTS: The idea pathogens on university campuses fall into several large categories, Postmodernism posits that all knowledge is relative (no objective truths). This anti-science buffoonery generates positions such as the “Science Must Fall” movement that demands that people “decolonize” their minds from “racist” Western science. Social Construction proposes that the great majority of human behaviors, desires, and preferences are formed not by human nature or our biological heritage but by society, which means among other things, that there are no biologically determined sex differences, but only culturally imposed “gender roles.” Radical feminism asserts that these gender roles are due to the nebulous and nefarious forces of the patriarchy. Transgender activism purports that biological sex and “gender” are non-binary fluid constructs. Scientifically speaking, postmodernism, social constructivism, radical feminism, and transgender activism are all based on demonstrable falsehoods. But when one’s ideological commitments are paramount, the rejection of scientific facts becomes the necessary collateral damage.
CAMPUS LUNACY: THE RISE OF THE SOCIAL JUSTICE WARRIOR: Student activist social justice warriors (SJWs) might be outnumbered on campuses, yet they rule via the tyranny of the minority, backed by “progressive professors and campus administrators.” Together, they enforce a stifling climate of political correctness that we associate with things like “trigger warnings,” “safe spaces,” microaggressions,” and campus speech codes, all of which empower the perpetually indignant and outraged. To progressives, feelings trump truth; empirical statements are no longer judged by their veracity but by whether they are potentially “bigoted” – in which case they must be suppressed in the name of inclusiveness. Given that feelings are the engine by which one’s existence is validated, a culture of offence has taken shape where it pays to be a member of the perpetually aggrieved. This creates the competitive urge to be positioned advantageously in a victim hierarchy. The Oppression Olympics is the area wherein this competition of victimhood takes place, using identity politics and intersectionality to establish the “winner” of this grotesque theater of the absurd.
There is a growing trend on university campuses to identify white supremacy everywhere. The Campus Reform website maintains an excellent repository of campus lunacy. In searching their site using the term “white supremacy,” I found that pumpkins, milk, university mascots, Halloween costumes, Disney, MAGA hats, statues of Thomas Jefferson, the GOP, Donald Trump, voting for Donald Trump, taking exams, saying “all lives matter” instead of “black lives matter,” diversity of thought, meritocracy, capitalism, the United States Constitution, freedom of speech, Western literature, scientific objectivity, Medieval studies, science, and mathematics are among the many things that have been “linked” to white supremacy by progressive professors. Incidentally, if you are a non-racist white person, you undoubtedly suffer from white fragility (according to author Robin DiAngelo, that is).
Self-Flagellating at the Altar of Progressivism: Social Justice warriors and various assorted progressive brethren are typically privileged white Westerners. In their warped sense of the world, this is akin to being born with original sin as postulated in Christian doctrine. They must atone for the sin of not having been born poor persons of color in the third world; thus, they might seek penance in a form of ideological self-flagellation. Rather than using a whip or chain to self-harm, they adopt a progressive mindset that is ultimately harmful to them and society.
DEPARTURES FROM REASON: OSTRICH PARASITIC SYNDROME (OPS): The father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, noted the human capacity to suppress unpleasant information and referred to it as “this ostrich policy.” This human ostrich effect – based on the comic image of an ostrich burying its head in the sand to avoid unwelcome realities (a behavior the ostrich doesn’t actually exhibit in nature) – has been documented in many contests. When I realized that idea pathogens were causing more and more people to reject reality, I coined the term Ostrich Parasitic Syndrome (OPS). Here is how I defined this dreadful attack on reason:
This disorder causes a person to reject realities that are otherwise as clear as the existence of gravity. In such a world, science, reason, rules of causality, evidentiary thresholds, a near-infinite amount of data, data analytic procedures, inferential statistics, the epistemological rules inherent to the scientific method, rules of logic, historical patterns, daily patterns, and common sense are all rejected. Instead, the delusional ramblings of an OPS sufferer are rooted in illusory correlations, non-existent causal links, and feel-good progressive platitudes. Ostrich Logic is always delivered via an air of haughty moral superiority.
Those infected with OPS succumb to a broad range of cognitive biases as a means of protecting them from reality. If you are a climate activist, all calamities are due to man-made climate change. If you are a radical feminist, the patriarchy along with toxic masculinity are to blame. If you are a member of the Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity cult, then naturally all ills stem from a lack of diversity, inclusion, and equity.
IS SHARIA LAW CONSISTENT WITH WESTERN LEGAL STANDARDS? If I had to identify the legal system most antithetical to the American one, sharia law fits that bill, and yet many OPS sufferers will argue otherwise. Many Westerners might be repulsed by sharia’s extraordinarily harsh corporeal punishments for theft (cutting off the hand) and adultery (stoning). And you might think that the lower status of women when it comes to the validity of their legal testimony, or their bequeathing rights (half that of men) might be grotesque to Western sensibilities. Surely most Westerners would find it astoundingly cruel and unjust, if not insane, that under sharia law a female rape victim needs the eyewitness testimony of four men to be believed.
But sharia law is even more fundamentally opposed to Western legal standards because Islam rejects the Western idea of impartial justice applied fairly regardless of an individual’s identity. Under sharia, punishments are applied as a function of the identity of the victim and perpetrator. A Jewish man who kills a Muslim man is judged very differently than a Muslim man who kills a Jewish man. Sharia law specifically states that no retaliation can take place when a Muslim kills a non-Muslim and that indemnities depend on the identities of the parties in question.
This is what identity politics does to a legal system – and this is precisely the standard adhered to by progressives. Men can be sexist, but women can’t be. Whites can be racist, but blacks can’t be. Permissible speech is governed by identity and political allegiance. A straight white Christian conservative man should shut his mouth and cede the floor to the progressive Muslim indigenous trans women of color. Know you place, white guy. Don’t speak out of turn. Hence, it is true that both sharia law and progressive identity politics adhere to the exact same principle. The repercussions of this fundamental attack on individual rights manifest themselves differently across the two ecosystems, but the mindset is nearly identical. The only difference is that progressives uphold the idea of equality, which sharia does not.
HOW TO FIX OUR UNIVERSITIES: Our universities should recommit themselves to the pursuit of academic excellence and kick identity politics (and the cult of “diversity, inclusion, and equity”) into the dustbin of history. No one should have to apologize for being white, male, Christian, or heterosexual – of feel “pride” in their sexual orientation. Immutable characteristics should not be the subject of either pride or shame, and we should neither inculcate or placate an ethos of perpetual victimhood and indignant offence. We should stop coddling students and provide no allowances for trigger warning or safe spaces, no indulgence for the foolishness of “cultural appropriation” or “microaggressions.” These are nonsensical concepts that promotes intellectual and emotional strength. In the words of John Ellison, dean of students in the College at the University of Chicago, in his welcoming letter to the class of 2010.
IS SHARIA LAW CONSISTENT WITH WESTERN LEGAL STANDARDS? If I had to identify the legal system most antithetical to the American one, sharia law fits that bill, and yet many OPS sufferers will argue otherwise. Many Westerners might be repulsed by sharia’s extraordinarily harsh corporeal punishments for theft (cutting off the hand) and adultery (stoning). And you might think that the lower status of women when it comes to the validity of their legal testimony, or their bequeathing rights (half that of men) might be grotesque to Western sensibilities. Surely most Westerners would find it astoundingly cruel and unjust, if not insane, that under sharia law a female rape victim needs the eyewitness testimony of four men to be believed.
But sharia law is even more fundamentally opposed to Western legal standards because Islam rejects the Western idea of impartial justice applied fairly regardless of an individual’s identity. Under sharia, punishments are applied as a function of the identity of the victim and perpetrator. A Jewish man who kills a Muslim man is judged very differently than a Muslim man who kills a Jewish man. Sharia law specifically states that no retaliation can take place when a Muslim kills a non-Muslim and that indemnities depend on the identities of the parties in question.
This is what identity politics does to a legal system – and this is precisely the standard adhered to by progressives. Men can be sexist, but women can’t be. Whites can be racist, but blacks can’t be. Permissible speech is governed by identity and political allegiance. A straight white Christian conservative man should shut his mouth and cede the floor to the progressive Muslim indigenous trans women of color. Know you place, white guy. Don’t speak out of turn. Hence, it is true that both sharia law and progressive identity politics adhere to the exact same principle. The repercussions of this fundamental attack on individual rights manifest themselves differently across the two ecosystems, but the mindset is nearly identical. The only difference is that progressives uphold the idea of equality, which sharia does not.
HOW TO FIX OUR UNIVERSITIES: Our universities should recommit themselves to the pursuit of academic excellence and kick identity politics (and the cult of “diversity, inclusion, and equity”) into the dustbin of history. No one should have to apologize for being white, male, Christian, or heterosexual – of feel “pride” in their sexual orientation. Immutable characteristics should not be the subject of either pride or shame, and we should neither inculcate or placate an ethos of perpetual victimhood and indignant offence. We should stop coddling students and provide no allowances for trigger warning or safe spaces, no indulgence for the foolishness of “cultural appropriation” or “microaggressions.” These are nonsensical concepts that promotes intellectual and emotional strength. In the words of John Ellison, dean of students in the College at the University of Chicago, in his welcoming letter to the class of 2010.
Members of our community are encouraged to speak, write, listen, challenge, and learn, without fear of censorship. Civility and mutual respect are vital to all of us, and freedom of expression does not mean the freedom to harass or threaten others. You will find that we expect members of our community to be engaged in rigorous debate, discussion, and even disagreement. At times this may challenge you and even cause discomfort.
Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so-called “trigger warnings,” we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual “safe spaces” where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own.
Fostering the free exchange of ideas reinforces a related University priority – building a campus that welcomes people of all backgrounds. Diversity of opinion and background is a fundamental strength of our community. The members of our community must have the freedom to espouse and explore a wide range of ideas.
PARTING WORDS: For decades now, a set of idea pathogens, largely stemming from universities, has relentlessly assaulted science, reason, logic, freedom of thought, freedom of speech, individual liberty, and individual dignity. If we want our children and grandchildren to grow up in free societies as we have done, then we have to be assured in our principles and stand ready to defend them.
Source: The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas are Killing Common Sense by Gad Saad.
The unabbreviated version of the above can be found in the pdf document below.
Source: The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas are Killing Common Sense by Gad Saad.
The unabbreviated version of the above can be found in the pdf document below.
| 18_nihilism_long_diversity_inclusion_equity_--_segment_18.pdf |