About this episode
Newt discusses the concept of 'suicidal empathy' with Dr. Gad Saad, exploring its implications on policy and decision-making.
Newt talks with Dr. Gad Saad, a scholar at the Declaration of Independence Center for the Study of American Freedom at the University of Mississippi and professor of marketing at Concordia University. His new book, “Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind,” is a number one New York Times nonfiction bestseller. Dr. Saad argues that empathy is vital but must be properly calibrated; too little empathy risks psychopathy, while “hyperactive empathy” misdirected toward the wrong targets becomes “suicidal empathy,” which he believes underlies many domestic and foreign policy failures. Dr. Saad links “Suicidal Empathy” to his earlier book “The Parasitic Mind,” arguing that human decision-making is shaped by both cognitive and affective systems. He claims that just as minds can be infected by ideological brainworms, they can also be captured by dysregulated empathy, allowing activists and policymakers to hijack emotional responses and override critical thinking. Dr. Saad dates the roots of today’s academic and cultural crises to “parasitic ideas” incubated in universities 50–100 years ago, including cultural…
People in this episode
Host: Newt Gingrich
Guest: Gad Saad
Topics covered
- empathy
- policy failures
- cognitive systems
- cultural crises
- ideological brainworms
Keywords
- empathy
- policy
- Gad Saad
- cognitive systems
- cultural relativism
- postmodernism
- ideological brainworms
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Declaration of Independence Center for the Study of American Freedom, University of Mississippi, Concordia University
Books & works: Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind, The Parasitic Mind
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