The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense

by Gad Saad

Confucius was correct: “To know what you know and what you do not know, that is true knowledge.”

always felt that a scientist owes the world only one thing, and that is the truth as he sees it. If the truth contradicts deeply held beliefs, that is too bad. Tact and diplomacy are fine in international relations, in politics, perhaps even in business; in science only one thing matters, and that is the facts.” —Hans J. Eysenck

In other words, we do not need to construe thinking and feeling as antithetical to one another. They are both fundamental components of decision-making.

The problem arises when domains that should be reserved for the intellect are hijacked by feelings. This is precisely what plagues our universities: what were once centers of intellectual development have become retreats for the emotionally fragile. The driving motto of the university is no longer the pursuit of truth but the coddling of hurt feelings.

Thomas Sowell and the late Christopher Hitchens are two of the leading public intellectuals of the past four decades