Conversations with Tom | Dr. Gad Saad on How Parasitic Ideas are Entering and Ruining Your Mind

Tom Bilyeu's Impact Theory

Impact Theory

Business, News Commentary, News

4.7 • 5.2K Ratings

🗓️ 15 October 2020

⏱️ 112 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A single idea can be a parasite to the mind. It can enter our thoughts without us even knowing, bury itself deep within our psyche, and transform our entire reality and outlook on the world. Do you have the mental strength, prowess, and awareness needed to identify when this may be happening? On this episode of Conversations with Tom, professor and author of ‘The Parasitic Mind,’ Dr. Gad Saad, joins Tom Bilyeu to discuss such important matters and more as they explore how ideas can act as parasites to the mind and what you should be mindful of in this age of identity politics. They discuss the dangers of post-modernism, the changing culture in the western world, the void of common sense, nature versus nurture, why people latch onto ideas that separate them from true reality, how America is closer to a civil war than one might think, and how identity politics is a slippery slope that leads to dangerous consequences. Purchase Gad’s book, “The Parasitic Mind”: https://www.amazon.com/Parasitic-Mind-Infectious-Killing-Common/dp/162157959X This episode is brought to you by: Indeed: Go to Indeed.com/IMPACT for a FREE $75 credit to boost your job post. Grammarly: Get 20% off Grammarly Premium when you sign up using your desktop or laptop computer by visiting grammarly.com/TOM PATLive: Get 10% off your first year of service after a 14-day free trial. Visit patlive.com/impact SHOW NOTES: Nature vs Nurture | Gad discusses the moving forces that define who we are. [0:15] Hierarchy of Needs | Gad discusses the universal drivers all humans share. [3:58] Idea Pathogens | Gad reveals the dangers of idea pathogens to humans. [13:04] Reality | Gad discusses why people latch onto ideas that separate them from reality. [17:30] Prestige | Gad discusses the difference prestige has for a man and a woman. [24:28] Biological | Gad discusses why humans are ego-defensive and escape reality. [27:06] Self-Delusion | Gad discusses how self-delusion has healthy-practical benefits. [33:23] Self-Deception | Gad discusses why we’re so good at bullshitting ourselves. [40:09] Value System | Gad reveals how the daily pursuit of our ideals brings purpose. [42:56] Costly Signaling | Gad discusses why sexual signals must ultimately be costly. [48:57] Threats | Gad shares a story of receiving death threats and dealing with anxiety. [01:01:03] Rituals | Gad shares his story of living through Lebanon’s violence and civil war. [01:04:52] Civil War | Gad discusses the inevitable civil war in the western world. [01:08:12] Gender Pronouns | Gad shares his story as a challenger of gender-pronoun policing. [01:17:57] The Left | Gad reveals the reality of why it appears he only criticizes the political left. [01:24:06] Ethics | Gad shares differences between deontological and consequentialist ethics. [01:35:57] Humility | Gad and Tom discuss humility and the mindset needed to see one’s self. [01:40:08] Guided | Gad discusses humans need for a packaged guide to living. [01:44:58] Self-Help | Tom shares his journey to identifying ‘self-help’ as his purpose. [01:46:25] QUOTES: “And so, by studying certain behaviors, phenomena, or morphological features in other species, it can say something about us.” [15:18] “In the pursuit of noble causes, you can’t murder truth.” [32:34] “Identity politics is a cancer to human-dignity. It is grotesque.” [01:13:03] “I’m always playing. I’m playing in the landscape of cerebral pursuit. What can be more beautiful?” [01:49:56] FOLLOW GAD: Website: gadsaad.com YouTube: youtube.com/c/GadSaad Twitter: twitter.com/GadSaad Facebook: facebook.com/Dr.Gad.Saad

Transcript

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0:00.0	Everybody, welcome to another episode of Conversations with Tom.
0:07.1	I'm here with Gadsad, Gads, welcome to the show, man.
0:12.4	So good to be with you, Tom.
0:13.6	Thank you for inviting me.
0:14.6	Absolutely.
0:15.6	So, I love your area of expertise.
0:17.4	This is something that as, certainly as a business person and as somebody who now creates
0:22.3	content for a living, I think a lot about, which is psychology through the lens of evolution.
0:29.1	And I would love to dive into what I call the physics of being human.
0:32.0	So there are just sort of basic things that have somehow become somewhat controversial,
0:36.7	that I would say are baked into us.
0:38.6	Now I used to really want to believe is probably the right way of like we are a total blank
0:44.7	slate that there's nothing hardwired.
0:47.7	And then I read the blank slate by Stephen Pinker and realized, okay, this isn't quite accurate.
0:54.3	And so I sort of come down to just repeating what I hear science say, which is we're about
0:58.8	50% hardwired and 50% malleable.
1:02.6	And one, I'd love to know if you agree with that.
1:04.6	And if you do, what are the parts that are hardwired?
1:08.3	Right.
1:09.3	So this is the old nature, nurture debate.
1:13.6	And in a sense, it's a false dichotomy.
1:16.7	And the analogy I like to use here, Tom, is if I took a bunch of ingredients that constitute
	...

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