Can the ‘Woke Mind Virus’ Be Destroyed?

A woman stomps on a free speech sign at the University of California–Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., on Sept. 24, 2017. (Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images)

Commentary

Elon Musk recently made an appearance on HBO’s “Real Time.” The enigmatic billionaire and the host, Bill Maher, discussed a number of issues, including the rise of artificial intelligence and the very real threat of population collapse. The two also discussed what Musk refers to as the “woke mind virus,” a highly contagious, infective agent that’s pushing America toward the brink.

Some have mocked the idea of the virus, arguing, rather weakly, that Musk is simply overreacting. He’s not. If anything, Twitter’s chief twit is underreacting. The virus is real. More worryingly, it appears to be becoming more virulent in nature.

First of all, it’s important to get our definitions in order. What, exactly, is the woke mind virus? Musk told Maher that the virus can be defined by two key features: (a) the suppression of free speech and (b) the promotion of anti-meritocratic values.

Unlike another virus that appears to have escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China, this particular virus was made in America. To be more specific, it’s a product of the American education system. To be even more specific, it’s a product of the country’s higher education system, a place where the ideas of meritocracy and free speech are both dying the most brutal of deaths. So far, I’ve said nothing controversial. However, the next line may trigger some readers. When it comes to the promotion of woke ideologies, women appear to be considerably worse offenders than men. This is a controversial point to make. Nevertheless, it’s backed by actual data.

As the number of women entering higher education continues to rise, according to a recent report by researchers at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), levels of free speech on college campuses continue to decline. When it comes to the delicate matter of balancing free speech and hate speech, clear demographic differences emerge.

For example, significantly more female than male faculty now favor protections against hate speech, “even if this restricts speech not intended to be hateful (19 percent of females, 8 percent of males), as well as restricting speech only where words are intended to be hateful (38 percent of females, 29 percent of males),” according to the FIRE report. Interestingly, significantly more male than female faculty support restricting speech “only where words are certain to incite violence (62 percent of males, 42 percent of females).”

The findings of the FIRE report may shock some readers. In truth, however, they really shouldn’t. Prominent psychologists have shown that women, particularly younger women, tend to be more censorious than men. They’re also more likely to support censoring content that they perceive to be hateful or offensive.

Going forward, we should expect levels of intolerance on college campuses to grow. Today, two-thirds of all college administrators and 60 percent of all college students are female.

This brings us to the second component of the virus: the fostering of anti-meritocratic values.

As researchers at the nonprofit Knight Foundation have noted (pdf), 59 percent of women say the promotion of a more inclusive society is more important than the protection of free speech. On the other hand, 71 percent of men think the opposite is true.

As the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda becomes more prevalent, we should expect to see the effects of the woke mind virus become more apparent. That’s because DEI is incompatible with both free speech and meritocracy.

In a recent op-ed for the Washington Times, Hung Cao, a retired Navy captain who dedicated 25 years of his life to serving the United States, noted that the country’s obsession with diversity and the destructive idea of equity “undermines the fundamental principles of fairness, equality, and opportunity that have made America the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

Moreover, meritocracy, he said, is an essential ingredient for “fostering innovation, creativity, and economic growth, as it rewards individuals with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed.”

To truly excel, the country must once again evaluate people by the content of their character, not their skin color and/or sexual proclivities. Sadly, with the Biden administration continuing to push its nefarious DEI agenda and an increasing number of colleges actually offering DEI-oriented degrees, meritocracy no longer appears to have a place in hyper-progressive America.

All hope, however, is not lost.

At Harvard, more than 70 professors recently formed the Council on Academic Freedom. This initiative, co-led by the peerless Steven Pinker, is designed to defend the sacred ideals of free speech and inquiry. To truly defeat the woke mind virus, we need more academics to take a stand, to teach students the importance of tolerance and respect for differing views.

Musk is right. The virus is real, and it poses a genuine threat to all of us. To inoculate future generations, more educators must be willing to push back, to be brave, and to do what needs to be done. Pinker is leading the way; let’s hope more academics follow suit.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.