Mosquitoes kill by transmitting to their victims one of several deadly biological pathogens including yellow fever and malaria…The central focus of this book is to explore another set of pathogens that are potentially as dangerous to the human condition: parasitic pathogens of the human mind…Once these mind viruses take hold, the afflicted victim loses the ability to use reason, logic, and science to navigate the world. One sinks into an abyss of infinite lunacy best defined by a dogged and proud departure from reality, common sense, and truth. – The Parasitic Mind
On one early morning in 2019, actor Jussie Smollett staged a hate crime hoax in Chicago, blaming two MAGA acolytes for his fictional assault, complete with bleach and a noose. This kind of behavior has become the norm when the necessary supply of racism doesn’t meet the demand, it must, therefore, be manufactured. And why not, in the age of Trump, oppression is a virtue-signaling achievement. Using exaggeration or outright lies, dozens of examples preceded and followed this event, whether by imaginary nooses on college campuses or in NASCAR garages, racial screeds on restaurant receipts or in emails, or burning crosses on lawns, none of which were found to be true.
In Gad Saad’s 2020 book, “The Parasitic Mind” Saad details the academia-induced mind viruses that are sweeping the West while cautioning us on how even a small, but powerful minority can have devastating success. Academia’s most radical mind viruses are reflected in the theories of postmodernism, radical feminism, cultural and moral relativism, and social constructivism. These anti-reality concepts are being taught to American youth, creating an intellectual vacuum of reason, logic, and science. To understand the virus, Saad shows where it started (academia), how it spread (conformity to political correctness), and what we can do to stop it.
Once a spring of academic excellence and intellectual development, American colleges and universities are now unapologetic dens of conformity to a progressive and anti-science ideology. In their once-hallowed halls, diversity is now encouraged only as it relates to victimhood and identity politics, where students are stripped of any individuality and segregated by their group identity. Merit and free thinking are discouraged as a remnant of white supremacy, to be rooted out at every opportunity, and replaced with anti-racist racism. The irony of academia is that while tasked with truth-seeking, they have also become the greatest purveyors of anti-truth and anti-reality.
To the disciples of the mind virus, the truth can no longer be considered objective, universal, or absolute as biological realities, innate human behaviors, and even instincts, are no longer recognized. Instead, behaviors are learned, sex and gender are fluid, and truth ebbs and flows based on culture, race, and gender. Science and scientific methods that were once neutral are now judged based on the same hierarchy of intersectionality. Yet, since most scientific realities didn’t come from a kaleidoscope of genders and ethnicities, a Science Must Fall movement has been created to tear down all that was previously learned.
While Saad, an evolutionary biologist, reveals how both thinking and feeling are part of the decision-making process, there are areas where the intellect must take priority over feelings. In such cases, one must first be informed before the emotion carries through to action. Instead, the mind virus believes ideology and feelings dominate over facts especially when feelings validate a culture of oppression. And no wonder, feelings are rife for manipulation, where the weakest minds can be crafted like putty to their master’s ways. Like viruses weaken the body and are fatal for those with compromised immunity, the mind virus works its best magic on those suppressed by their perceived oppression, whether real or imagined.
Many will remember how Joe Biden began his 2020 Presidential run on the Charlottesville lie that Trump called Nazis “very fine people”, the same lie repeated ad nauseam by The View’s Joy Behar. Even though a quick review of Trump’s remarks thoroughly debunks such nonsense, too many continue to reject obvious truths in front of their very eyes.
Truth is the foundation of society. To reverse the trend, we must reject their anti-truth, anti-science, and anti-reality contradictions with a return to logic, reason, and scientific analysis. We must never self-censor or fear participating in open debate over competing ideas. We must advance merit over intersectionality, returning competence to hiring practices and university admissions. Mostly, we must counter their mind viruses with open-mindedness and a diversity of ideas, using articulated arguments over their slick slogans.
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