Gad Saad on empathy vs. survival

A society dies when it cares more about exhibiting infinite tolerance and empathy than invoking its survival instinct.

~ Gad Saad

Gad Saad on racism and progressivism

Most people are not rabid racists, haters, and miscreants.  Today's racists espouse critical race theory cloaked in the robe of "progressivism."  Don't buy into it.  Treat people as individuals.

~ Gad Saad, tweet, April 24, 2021

Gad Saad on free speech

There is no greater goal than to defend the rights of those with whom you disagree.  That's the definition of a truly moral, virtuous person.

~ Gad Saad, "My Thoughts on the Derek Chauvin Verdict," YouTube, 13:30 mark, April 20, 2021

Gad Saad on the Derek Chauvin verdict

Here you have one year of violent rioting susequent to the horrifying and tragic killing of George Floyd and you have countless mobs saying, "if the correct verdict is not reached, cities will burn." So do you think, on a scale of zero to 100, where 100 they were maximally intimidated, zero they weren't at all, what's the number that you're going to ascribe to how afraid those poor jury members were when they were deliberating? Certainly no intellectually honest decent human being would say it's at zero. We can debate if it's at 100 or 95 or 90 or 80, but is this the type of society you want to live in?

~ Gad Saad, "My Thoughts on the Derek Chauvin Verdict," YouTube, 6:55 mark

Gad Saad on the Left vs. Right attacks on truth

I would argue that the types of nonsense that the Right and Life espouse - the attacks on truth - are not equivalent in how poisonous they are.  Let me explain why.  The Right might reject a particular theory, whereas that we know is true.  A scientific theory. Say we reject evolution because... whatever, our Christian beliefs.  But on the other hand, the Left has completely rejected the possibility that truth even exists.  So one of the idea pathogens that I discuss in the book - the grand-daddy of all idea pathogens - is false modernism.  False modernism is the "philosophical movement" that argues that there are no objective truths.  Right?  Everything is shackled by subjectivity.  Everything is shackled by your own personal biases.  There is no such thing as truth. 

Well, as you might imagine that's very disconcerting to a scientist because we do wake up every morning thinking that there are truths to be uncovered.  We do use the scientific method thinking that we're going to make some contribution to some greater truth.  Now, of course, truth can change.  Right?  What was truth in science 300 years ago may need updating.   That's why we talk about provisional truths in science.   But the epistemological attack on truth - the fact that Left or some Leftists negate even the possibility that truth exists - that strikes me as profoundly more nefarious as an idea pathogen than anything coming from the Right.

~ Gad Saad, "How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense," Stansberry Investor Hour, October 8, 2020

Gad Saad on joining the battle of ideas

There are many crosses that we bear in speaking out and we all have to do our part.  All I'm saying is get engaged.  Sure, modulate the amount of risk that you're willing to bear, but simply don't subcontract your voice to the few courageous folks who are willing to put everything on the line.  You have a say in it.  Get engaged.  If we all speak out - the silent majority hates these idea pathogens [postmodernism/political correctness].  If we all speak out, we will get rid of this nonsense by next Tuesday.  If we don't speak out, it'll be a long train ride to hell.

~ Gad Saad, "How Bad Ideas Are Killing Common Sense and Rational Debate," The Tom Woods Show, November 10, 2020

Gad Saad on joining the battle of ideas

That's a concern that I often receive from people. They write to me, "Hey, professor. I really want to get engaged. But... I'm not some fancy professor. I don't have a large audience." And I tell them, "Look. It's trench warfare. Right? It's house-to-house. It's trench-to-trench. Some of us have big platforms. Great, we use that. But you don't have to have a big platform to contribute to the battle of ideas. Your professor says something that is insane, challenge them politely. Someone says something on Facebook that you disagree with, engage them politely. You hear something happening at the pub that you think you might weigh in on? Don't refrain from doing so.  And usually there's a couple of reasons why people refrain from doing so.

"Well, if I weigh in, I might lose their friendship." Well, guess what? If their friendship is not sufficiently anti-fragile - to use my friend's Nassim Taleb's point... if our friendship is not sufficiently anti-fragile that it could withstand the stressors of us disagreeing about some important point, then you know what? Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.  I don't need friends like that.  I prefer to have two really good friends that I can have deep meaningly conversations with than a bunch of cowardly castrated morons who are going to be completely triggered because I say something that is contrary to them.

~ Gad Saad, "How Infectious Ideas are Killing Common Sense," 41:15 mark, Stansberry Investor Hour, October 8, 2020

Gad Saad on the anomaly of the West

What made the West the anomalous, wonderful experiment that it was - and I am almost speaking in the past tense - is that it had a set of values, a set of approaches to adjudicating the truth to glorifying individual dignity, to rejecting identity politics, to supporting freedom of speech. It had a set of values that served as a protective belt that rendered the West to be the truly anomalous and unique human... and the reason I say anomalous is because throughout human history, the freedoms that are enshrined in the West - the enlightenment that is enshrined in the West - is not something that is a common feature in human history. It's truly an anomalous reality. 

And as someone who comes from the Middle East, as someone who has escaped identity politics when taken to the extreme, who has escaped superstition, who has escaped vile hatred of the other - in this case, I was the other - it breaks my heart to see that we are regressing. Ideas that we defeated through the scientific revolution and through the enlightenment are now the ideas that one of the two parties in the US - and certainly in Canada - is the central feature of their platforms...

Most people are intellectually lazy...  So take your time.  Get to know the positions.  Arm yourself with knowledge and then hopefully make the right decisions to hopefully protect the West for your children and theirs.

~ Gad Saad, "How Infectious Ideas are Killing Common Sense," 52:30 mark, Stansberry Investor Hour, October 8, 2020

Gad Saad on higher education and feelings

When you attend a university, it is not for the coddling of your feelings.  It's for the growth of your intellectual landscape.  And so once you pit these two systems against one another, only bad things can come of it. 

~ Dr. Gad Saad, "How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense," 19:28 mark, Stansberry Investor Hour, October 8, 2020