The Parasitic Mind
The Parasitic Mind
How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense
by Gad Saad
There's a war against truth... and if we don't win it, intellectual freedom will be a casualty.
The West’s commitment to freedom, reason, and true liberalism has never been more seriously threatened than it is today by the stifling forces of political correctness.
Dr. Gad Saad, the host of the enormously popular YouTube show THE SAAD TRUTH, exposes the bad ideas—what he calls “idea pathogens”—that are killing common sense and rational debate. Incubated in our universities and spread through the tyranny of political correctness, these ideas are endangering our most basic freedoms—including freedom of thought and speech.
The danger is grave, but as Dr. Saad shows, politically correct dogma is riddled with logical fallacies. We have powerful weapons to fight back with—if we have the courage to use them.
A provocative guide to defending reason and intellectual freedom and a battle cry for the preservation of our fundamental rights, The Parasitic Mind will be the most controversial and talked-about book of the year.
Compass Reviewed
This is a recently written book that addresses the current cultural mindset that individual feelings trump objective truths. The sub-title of the book How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense is an apt summary of the primary issue that the authour, Gad Saad, addresses in the book. Mr Saad is a professor of marketing at Concordia University with his research focusing on behavioural analysis. He is a contributor to Psychology Today and has made numerous guest appearances on well-known podcasts such as Joe Rogan and David Rubin.
Jeff Tiefenbach
The book is highly readable and is mostly told through narrative anecdotes that develop Mr Saad’s main argument. He starts with his upbringing as a minority Jew in Lebanon and then moves to his experience being a university professor in the United States and Montreal.
The book addresses topics such as Truth vs Feelings, Free Speech, and Anti-Science/Anti-Reason. It then moves into the current environment of Social Justice Warriors, particularly on University campuses, but increasingly broadening beyond. He also addresses what he calls ‘Ostrich Parasitic Syndrome’ which is the ability to deny reality in order for it to fit with ‘your truth’. He then concludes with methodological ways to assess truth claims and a call to action.
For anyone who thinks the world has gone a bit berzerk by calling up down, red green and is not really sure what a woman is, the book helps illuminate the logical flaws that are perpetuated by our government, media and other institutions that hold power in our country and the ‘free’ world. He makes strong arguments in areas that most mainstream authours or public figures would not make - tackling diversity initiatives, tran-activism, victimology and Islamic terrorism. His arguments are sound and reading the book felt like a breath of fresh air versus the mildew of speech codes and divisive rhetoric that is perpetuated with increasing constancy in our everyday lives.
While the book does an excellent job of exposing the current level of discourse and flaws in reasoning and it does give the reader some methodologies to help discern truth. Given the trajectory and influence of these “idea pathogens”, building out more tool sets to help the reader discern the truth from the partial truth would have been more helpful. Since the lie is most often hidden in a partial truth much discernment and wisdom is needed.
He concludes the book to a wise ‘Call to Action’. While the reader might feel complacent about what one person can do, it takes many voices and much courage (yes, there will be a cost, which he highlights personally) to enable change.
Book is rated 5 out of 5. It is an important read.