This chapter explores the speakers' beliefs about human nature and the existence of a supernatural being. They discuss atheism, reject the Marxist idea of the blank slate, and emphasize the role of entropy in society. They argue that poverty is the result of inaction and wealth is the result of taking action.
Caylan Ford is a documentary filmmaker, charter school founder, and a former political candidate. She holds a Bachelor’s degree (Hons.) in Chinese history from the University of Calgary, a Master’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a Master’s in International Human Rights Law from the University of Oxford.
She spent many years in the international human rights field, including by increasing access to anti-surveillance and censorship tools in Iran, China, and Myanmar; working with civil rights lawyers representing political dissidents; supporting refugee and asylum claimants; and conducting and publishing original research on the repression of religious minorities in China.
She has written and co-produced two feature documentary films on the themes of religious and political persecution, censorship, forced labor, scapegoating, and mass persuasion under totalitarian regimes.
Her new documentary film, When the Mob Came, focuses on her experience of cancel culture following a catastrophic bid for political office.
Shermer and Ford discuss: • education reform • public vs. private vs. charter schools • the blank slate • Thomas Sowell’s Constrained Vision vs. Unconstrained Vision • French Revolution vs. American Revolution • truth, justice, and reality • what promotes humanity and what degrades it • transhumanism • political correctness • identity politics • cancel culture • totalitarianism • preference falsification • free speech • hate speech • how to stand up to cancel culture.