The Parasitic Mind

Gad Saad

The Parasitic Mind

18min

18min

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The Parasitic Mind is a provocative read on the proper use of reason. Written by Gad Saad, Professor of Marketing at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University, it reviews different schools of thought – from postmodernism to feminism – and demonstrates how incorrect answers are often the result of incorrect assumptions. Saad lays particular blame on academic environments, especially on the universities, because instead of guiding students towards intellectual autonomy, they end up sucking their minds and souls dry. If we are right in assuming that everyone has the freedom to express their personal opinion on any issue, it is also true that too much freedom results in pluralism, which provides fertile ground for confusion to reign, and consequently, can reach a point at which we are no longer able to see reason.

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Analysis and key concepts

01.

Two ways in which humans express themselves - by thinking and feeling - are now being threatened by ideas that are claimed to be absolute

02.

When infectious ideas form, they destroy common sense and our understanding of reality

03.

Saad's critique begins with universities

04.

Saad's guiding ideals are freedom and truth

05.

Saad's advice for living in the world (not hiding) on the side of truth

06.

Quotes

07.

Take-home message

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Many useful tips to:

  • Learn about Gad Saad’s life, including having fled a war-stricken Lebanon, and moving to Canada at 11 years of age.
  • Reflect on the concepts of freedom and tolerance, in order to open your mind to other perspectives.
  • Understand how unhealthy ideas are formed and perpetuated, ultimately leading people astray.

Gad Saad is an intellectual, known mostly for his battle against political correctness. He is a Professor of Marketing at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, and was among the first people to promote the application of evolutionary psychology to consumer behaviour. Born into a Jewish family in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1964, Saad was the only one of his siblings to attend non-Jewish schools, and this has had a lasting influence on his life, since he experienced first-hand the hatred towards Jews displayed through the other school children. When civil war broke out in Lebanon, Saad was forced to leave the country with his parents, who headed to Canada, never to return again. He was 11 years old when he arrived in Canada, and spoke very little English. Living in a foreign country, he experienced what it meant to be excluded, and this led to the formation of the two guiding ideals by which he now lives: freedom and truth.

Publishing house:

Regnery Publishing

Year:

2021

Pages:

256

ISBN:

978-1684512294