Glenn Diesen - Greater Eurasia Podcast Gad Saad: The Parasitic Mind - How Bad Ideas Are Destroying the West
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Nov 1, 2025 
Gad Saad, a Scholar at the Declaration of Independence Center, dives into the dangers of 'suicidal empathy' and how empathy can be misdirected by ideology. He explains how progressive ideals can harm in-groups and explores the staggering impact of bad ideas on society. Saad draws parallels between parasitic thinking in academia and real-world consequences, such as the prioritization of reputations over child protection in scandals. He argues that these ideological infections threaten the very fabric of Western civilization.
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When Empathy Becomes Self-Destructive
- Empathy is adaptive when properly modulated for social interaction and theory of mind.
- Suicidal empathy is a dysregulated form that sacrifices adaptive function and harms the individual and group.
Empathy Turned Into Costly Signaling
- Progressive ideology often reframes empathy as pure virtue and then escalates costly signaling.
- That escalation can lead to sacrificing in-group interests to prove moral purity to out-groups.
British Grooming Scandal Example
- Gad Saad cites the British grooming cases where officials prioritized reputational concerns over protecting children.
- He uses this to illustrate 'civilizational seppuku' as sacrificing children to avoid offending perpetrators' groups.
