The New Abnormal
Cancel Culture and the Eroding of America’s Institutions
Jan 5, 2025
Adrian Daub, a Stanford professor and author of The Cancel Culture Panic, delves into the complexities of cancel culture and moral panic. He traces its origins from celebrity disinvestment to its political implications. Daub discusses how online spaces shaped this phenomenon and questions the evolving definitions of accountability. He highlights the role of elite universities and social media in amplifying these moral panics while addressing the paradoxes between free speech and existing power hierarchies. This insightful conversation is a deep dive into our modern societal fears.
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Quick takeaways
- Moral panic, fueled by verified concerns but distorted in perception, leads to exaggerated fears that misunderstand actual societal issues.
- Cancel culture has evolved from a celebrity-focused phenomenon into a broader societal discourse about accountability affecting institutions and academia.
Deep dives
Understanding Moral Panic
Moral panic emerges from real events, yet it distorts perceptions by exaggerating their frequency and implications. Adrian Daub explains that a typical moral panic, unlike sheer mass hysteria, stems from a basis of verified concerns before spiraling into broader, often apocalyptic fears. These fears can manifest as beliefs that the issue is more rampant than it is or will escalate significantly in the future. This process can lead society to interpret isolated incidents as symptomatic of deeper societal problems, ultimately disconnecting the panic from the actual frequency of occurrences.
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