<description>In this October 2019 lecture at the conference 'Speaking Truth to Social Justice' in London, James Lindsay presented a compelling critique of critical social justice and its ideological foundation in critical theory. He argued that this worldview fundamentally rejects objective truth, reason, and evidence-based methods, which are essential for genuine progress. According to Lindsay, critical theorists prioritize “strategic” theories over true or false ones, seeking to advance political agendas rather than to understand reality.

Drawing on examples from feminist and social justice literature, Lindsay illustrated how critical theory undermines fields like engineering, climate science, and education by prioritizing social power over truth. He contended that while these disciplines traditionally rely on rigorous methods to solve problems, critical theory disregards such rigor, treating knowledge as a mere tool for enforcing power dynamics. For Lindsay, this ideological shift threatens progress, as it ignores that “reality is the thing you run into when your beliefs are false.”

Ultimately, Lindsay called for a return to evidence-based inquiry and the liberal systems that have historically driven human advancement. By defending reason, scientific method, and open discourse, he argued, society can continue to make meaningful progress rather than regress into a cynicism that treats truth as a mere strategy for political ends.

Viewers will find this talk interesting not just for its contents but also for the glimpse back in time by five years, which allows them to see how the views expressed have matured and developed over the intervening time.

New book! The Queering of the American Child: https://queeringbook.com/

Support New Discourses: https://newdiscourses.com/support

Follow New Discourses on other platforms: https://newdiscourses.com/subscribe

Follow James Lindsay: https://linktr.ee/conceptualjames

© 2024 New Discourses. All rights reserved. #NewDiscourses #JamesLindsay #Truth</description>

In this October 2019 lecture at the conference 'S…

In this October 2019 lecture at the conference 'Speaking Truth to Social Justice' in London, James Lindsay presented a compelling critique of critical social justice and its ideological foundation in critical theory. He argued that this worldview fundamentally rejects objective truth, reason, and evidence-based methods, which are essential for genuine progress. According to Lindsay, critical theorists prioritize “strategic” theories over true or false ones, seeking to advance political agendas rather than to understand reality.

Drawing on examples from feminist and social justice literature, Lindsay illustrated how critical theory undermines fields like engineering, climate science, and education by prioritizing social power over truth. He contended that while these disciplines traditionally rely on rigorous methods to solve problems, critical theory disregards such rigor, treating knowledge as a mere tool for enforcing power dynamics. For Lindsay, this ideological shift threatens progress, as it ignores that “reality is the thing you run into when your beliefs are false.”

Ultimately, Lindsay called for a return to evidence-based inquiry and the liberal systems that have historically driven human advancement. By defending reason, scientific method, and open discourse, he argued, society can continue to make meaningful progress rather than regress into a cynicism that treats truth as a mere strategy for political ends.

Viewers will find this talk interesting not just for its contents but also for the glimpse back in time by five years, which allows them to see how the views expressed have matured and developed over the intervening time.

New book! The Queering of the American Child: https://queeringbook.com/

Support New Discourses: https://newdiscourses.com/support

Follow New Discourses on other platforms: https://newdiscourses.com/subscribe

Follow James Lindsay: https://linktr.ee/conceptualjames

© 2024 New Discourses. All rights reserved. #NewDiscourses #JamesLindsay #Truth

The Thing You Run Into When Your Beliefs Are False | James Lindsay

<description>This episode of the OnlySubs Podcast with James Lindsay is available for FREE! To get access to all past and future episodes, consider becoming a contributor. Learn more: https://newdiscourses.com/2020/12/announcing-new-subscribers-only-podcast-james-lindsay/

What is the "Woke Right"? Does it really exist? Is it really Woke? If so, how? These are increasingly important questions in our present circumstances as a visibly radicalized Rightism is emerging from within the broader conservative coalition and aiming to distort its aims and values along some new (or new-old) path. In this special long episode of James Lindsay OnlySubs, my subscribers' only podcast, I take you through an essay (https://americanreformer.org/2024/05/is-there-a-woke-right/) about the Woke Right written by someone ostensibly on the Woke Right, C. Jay Engel, published in late May 2024 in American Reformer. Join me to explore the idea that the Woke Right really is Woke (and the Right hand of the Left) through an analysis of one of its members' own words.

New book! The Queering of the American Child: https://queeringbook.com/

Support New Discourses: https://newdiscourses.com/support

Follow New Discourses on other platforms: https://newdiscourses.com/subscribe

Follow James Lindsay: https://linktr.ee/conceptualjames

© 2024 New Discourses. All rights reserved. #NewDiscourses #JamesLindsay #Woke</description>

This episode of the OnlySubs Podcast with James L…

This episode of the OnlySubs Podcast with James Lindsay is available for FREE! To get access to all past and future episodes, consider becoming a contributor. Learn more: https://newdiscourses.com/2020/12/announcing-new-subscribers-only-podcast-james-lindsay/

What is the "Woke Right"? Does it really exist? Is it really Woke? If so, how? These are increasingly important questions in our present circumstances as a visibly radicalized Rightism is emerging from within the broader conservative coalition and aiming to distort its aims and values along some new (or new-old) path. In this special long episode of James Lindsay OnlySubs, my subscribers' only podcast, I take you through an essay (https://americanreformer.org/2024/05/is-there-a-woke-right/) about the Woke Right written by someone ostensibly on the Woke Right, C. Jay Engel, published in late May 2024 in American Reformer. Join me to explore the idea that the Woke Right really is Woke (and the Right hand of the Left) through an analysis of one of its members' own words.

New book! The Queering of the American Child: https://queeringbook.com/

Support New Discourses: https://newdiscourses.com/support

Follow New Discourses on other platforms: https://newdiscourses.com/subscribe

Follow James Lindsay: https://linktr.ee/conceptualjames

© 2024 New Discourses. All rights reserved. #NewDiscourses #JamesLindsay #Woke

Is the "Woke Right" Really Woke? | OnlySubs with James Lindsay, Ep. 142

<description>The EVILution of Communism Workshop, Session 3

Communism is a religious view that has evolved and adapted over the last two centuries, including right up to the present day. Understanding the developments and threats in our present world requires understanding what Communism really is, especially in its Marxist variants, and how it has developed and changed over the years. In response to this need, James Lindsay of New Discourses held a four-lecture workshop series on the EVILution of Communism in Dallas, Texas, at the start of August 2024.

In this third lecture in the series, Lindsay continues discussing the development of twentieth-century Communism along its second track: Western Marxism. The Western Marxist tradition contains many threads, virtually all of which start with either the Fabian Socialist Society in the UK or, more infamously, with Cultural Marxism elsewhere throughout the Western world. Cultural Marxism itself gives way to Critical Marxism (that is, Critical Theory) through the middle of the twentieth century, particularly in America, and informs other movements such as feminism, radical racial movements, critical education theories, and eventually the development of an intersectional "Woke" Marxism we're dealing with today. Understanding this requires understanding the influences of many Marxist thinkers including Mao Zedong, whose most culturally destructive ideas were imported by the Critical Marxists and Critical Pedagogues. This in-depth lecture describes the development of a whole new "Social" Communism that sought to find ways to penetrate Western Civilization to make it soft to socialism and Communism.

Notes (PDF): https://newdiscourses.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/DallasWorkshop24-Evilution-of-Communism.pdf

The other three lectures in this series can be found here: 
Lecture 1: Communism 1.0: Theoretical Communism: https://newdiscourses.com/2024/10/communism-1-0-theoretical-communism/
Lecture 2: Communism 2.0: Industrial Communism: https://newdiscourses.com/2024/11/communism-2-0-industrial-communism-james-lindsay/
Lecture 4: Communism 3.0: Corporate Communism: (Coming soon!)

New book! The Queering of the American Child: https://queeringbook.com/

Support New Discourses: https://newdiscourses.com/support

Follow New Discourses on other platforms: https://newdiscourses.com/subscribe

Follow James Lindsay: https://linktr.ee/conceptualjames

© 2024 New Discourses. All rights reserved. #NewDiscourses #JamesLindsay #communism</description>

The EVILution of Communism Workshop, Session 3

C…

The EVILution of Communism Workshop, Session 3

Communism is a religious view that has evolved and adapted over the last two centuries, including right up to the present day. Understanding the developments and threats in our present world requires understanding what Communism really is, especially in its Marxist variants, and how it has developed and changed over the years. In response to this need, James Lindsay of New Discourses held a four-lecture workshop series on the EVILution of Communism in Dallas, Texas, at the start of August 2024.

In this third lecture in the series, Lindsay continues discussing the development of twentieth-century Communism along its second track: Western Marxism. The Western Marxist tradition contains many threads, virtually all of which start with either the Fabian Socialist Society in the UK or, more infamously, with Cultural Marxism elsewhere throughout the Western world. Cultural Marxism itself gives way to Critical Marxism (that is, Critical Theory) through the middle of the twentieth century, particularly in America, and informs other movements such as feminism, radical racial movements, critical education theories, and eventually the development of an intersectional "Woke" Marxism we're dealing with today. Understanding this requires understanding the influences of many Marxist thinkers including Mao Zedong, whose most culturally destructive ideas were imported by the Critical Marxists and Critical Pedagogues. This in-depth lecture describes the development of a whole new "Social" Communism that sought to find ways to penetrate Western Civilization to make it soft to socialism and Communism.

Notes (PDF): https://newdiscourses.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/DallasWorkshop24-Evilution-of-Communism.pdf

The other three lectures in this series can be found here: 
Lecture 1: Communism 1.0: Theoretical Communism: https://newdiscourses.com/2024/10/communism-1-0-theoretical-communism/
Lecture 2: Communism 2.0: Industrial Communism: https://newdiscourses.com/2024/11/communism-2-0-industrial-communism-james-lindsay/
Lecture 4: Communism 3.0: Corporate Communism: (Coming soon!)

New book! The Queering of the American Child: https://queeringbook.com/

Support New Discourses: https://newdiscourses.com/support

Follow New Discourses on other platforms: https://newdiscourses.com/subscribe

Follow James Lindsay: https://linktr.ee/conceptualjames

© 2024 New Discourses. All rights reserved. #NewDiscourses #JamesLindsay #communism

Communism 2.5: Social Communism | James Lindsay

<description>In October 2019, James Lindsay, Peter Boghossian, Helen Pluckrose, and filmmaker Mike Nayna gathered in London for a panel moderated by Michael O’Fallon to reflect on the infamous "Grievance Studies" project (https://grievanceproject.com/), often called "Sokal Squared." This provocative project involved writing and submitting intentionally absurd papers filled with ideological jargon to academic journals. Their aim was to demonstrate how deeply critical social justice ideologies had compromised academic rigor, making it possible for nonsensical submissions to be accepted as legitimate scholarship.

During the panel, Lindsay traced the project’s origins to a simple yet unsettling question about whether fields like gender studies had become akin to a secular dogma. This led to a series of papers, including the now-notorious "dog park" paper, which absurdly linked canine behavior to human rape culture. Mike Nayna, who documented the process, admitted his initial skepticism but explained how his own research into these academic fields revealed the seriousness of the problem.

The panel highlighted the broader societal implications of their work. Lindsay and his co-authors warned that when ideology replaces the pursuit of truth, it threatens not only the integrity of scholarship but the foundations of public discourse itself. For them, the "Grievance Studies" project was a stark reminder of the dangers of allowing political agendas to override intellectual honesty and critical thinking.

Viewers will find this look back five years in time interesting and informative not just in the content as presented but also in how the panelists' insights have developed and matured over the intervening years.

New book! The Queering of the American Child: https://queeringbook.com/

Support New Discourses: https://newdiscourses.com/support

Follow New Discourses on other platforms: https://newdiscourses.com/subscribe

Follow James Lindsay: https://linktr.ee/conceptualjames

© 2024 New Discourses. All rights reserved. #NewDiscourses #JamesLindsay #grievance</description>

In October 2019, James Lindsay, Peter Boghossian,…

In October 2019, James Lindsay, Peter Boghossian, Helen Pluckrose, and filmmaker Mike Nayna gathered in London for a panel moderated by Michael O’Fallon to reflect on the infamous "Grievance Studies" project (https://grievanceproject.com/), often called "Sokal Squared." This provocative project involved writing and submitting intentionally absurd papers filled with ideological jargon to academic journals. Their aim was to demonstrate how deeply critical social justice ideologies had compromised academic rigor, making it possible for nonsensical submissions to be accepted as legitimate scholarship.

During the panel, Lindsay traced the project’s origins to a simple yet unsettling question about whether fields like gender studies had become akin to a secular dogma. This led to a series of papers, including the now-notorious "dog park" paper, which absurdly linked canine behavior to human rape culture. Mike Nayna, who documented the process, admitted his initial skepticism but explained how his own research into these academic fields revealed the seriousness of the problem.

The panel highlighted the broader societal implications of their work. Lindsay and his co-authors warned that when ideology replaces the pursuit of truth, it threatens not only the integrity of scholarship but the foundations of public discourse itself. For them, the "Grievance Studies" project was a stark reminder of the dangers of allowing political agendas to override intellectual honesty and critical thinking.

Viewers will find this look back five years in time interesting and informative not just in the content as presented but also in how the panelists' insights have developed and matured over the intervening years.

New book! The Queering of the American Child: https://queeringbook.com/

Support New Discourses: https://newdiscourses.com/support

Follow New Discourses on other platforms: https://newdiscourses.com/subscribe

Follow James Lindsay: https://linktr.ee/conceptualjames

© 2024 New Discourses. All rights reserved. #NewDiscourses #JamesLindsay #grievance

Panel: Grievance Studies | Boghossian, Lindsay, Nayna, O'Fallon, Pluckrose

<description>The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Ep. 151

What is "Woke"? What is its relationship to "Social Justice"? Why did so many people explain Woke as "Critical Social Justice" for several years? In this episode of the New Discourses Podcast, host James Lindsay takes you into the book that first opened his eyes to what "Woke" really is: Ozlem Sensoy and Robin DiAngelo's Is Everyone Really Equal? (first edition) (https://amzn.to/4eHH5Ed). This book could truly serve as an eye-opening "Woke for Dummies" guide to where Woke comes from, what it really means by "Social Justice," and how it thinks about the world. It, like all Woke books, is also a Woke grimoire, drawing the reader in and putting a Woke "spell" on her as she reads it and considers its contents. Join James for his introduction of this book to you, so you can better grasp the basics of Woke Marxism.

New book! The Queering of the American Child: https://queeringbook.com/

Support New Discourses: https://newdiscourses.com/support

Follow New Discourses on other platforms: https://newdiscourses.com/subscribe

Follow James Lindsay: https://linktr.ee/conceptualjames

© 2024 New Discourses. All rights reserved. #NewDiscourses #JamesLindsay #Woke</description>

The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Ep…

The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Ep. 151

What is "Woke"? What is its relationship to "Social Justice"? Why did so many people explain Woke as "Critical Social Justice" for several years? In this episode of the New Discourses Podcast, host James Lindsay takes you into the book that first opened his eyes to what "Woke" really is: Ozlem Sensoy and Robin DiAngelo's Is Everyone Really Equal? (first edition) (https://amzn.to/4eHH5Ed). This book could truly serve as an eye-opening "Woke for Dummies" guide to where Woke comes from, what it really means by "Social Justice," and how it thinks about the world. It, like all Woke books, is also a Woke grimoire, drawing the reader in and putting a Woke "spell" on her as she reads it and considers its contents. Join James for his introduction of this book to you, so you can better grasp the basics of Woke Marxism.

New book! The Queering of the American Child: https://queeringbook.com/

Support New Discourses: https://newdiscourses.com/support

Follow New Discourses on other platforms: https://newdiscourses.com/subscribe

Follow James Lindsay: https://linktr.ee/conceptualjames

© 2024 New Discourses. All rights reserved. #NewDiscourses #JamesLindsay #Woke

Woke for Dummies

Pursuing the light of objective truth in subjective darkness.

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