The Scott Adams School - 05/21/26 GAD SAAD! Suicidal Empathy #1 on the NY Times Best Seller list

Dr. Gad Sad, author of the newly released #1 New York Times bestseller *Suicidal Empathy*, joins Scott Adams School for a fiery, unfiltered conversation about the cultural collapse of rationality and the dangerous rise of pathological empathy. Sad argues that empathy—while evolutionarily valuable—has become dysregulated in Western societies, leading to 'civilizational seppuku': self-destructive policies driven by an irrational desire to avoid offending anyone. Drawing on evolutionary psychology, he uses vivid real-world examples—from a Norwegian man who felt guilt over being deported after being raped by a Somali immigrant to a white liberal woman who blamed white supremacy for her rape in Haiti—to illustrate how empathy has been hijacked by 'neuroparasites' that distort reality. He attributes this epidemic to a 'one-two punch' of parasitic ideas (like cultural relativism) and the feminization of institutions, which have replaced truth-seeking with 'care ethics.' The solution? Activate your inner honey badger: stand tall, defend truth, and reject emotional coercion. The episode ends with a call to arms—truth and freedom must be defended, even when it's unpopular.