The Saad Truth with Dr. Saad The Curse of Human Irrationality - Is the West Doomed? (The Saad Truth with Dr. Saad_916)
Nov 13, 2025
This discussion features Gad Saad, an evolutionary behavioral scientist and author known for his work on ideology and cultural issues. He delves into how viral advertising influences elections and critiques ideological parasites damaging public logic. Saad explores the complexities of immigrant perspectives, the indoctrination of children in conflict zones, and the challenges of reforming rigid ideologies. Additionally, he highlights the paradox of 'suicidal empathy' in policy making, offering insights into the dynamics of identity signaling and crime-related policies.
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Peripheral Cues Drive Big Decisions
- Voters often use peripheral cues like youth, energy, and a smile to decide in consequential elections.
- Gad Saad explains the elaboration likelihood model to show why people choose low-effort signals over deep analysis.
Ideologies Can Hijack Minds
- Ideologies can hijack human cognition like parasites, causing people to act against their interests.
- Saad uses the wood-cricket/hair-worm analogy to explain how beliefs can zombify behavior.
Prioritize Persuadable Minds
- Try to distinguish people who can be 'dewormed' from those who will refuse corrective evidence.
- Prioritize spending effort on persuadable people and accept some are unreachable.
