The Immorality of DEI | Peter Boghossian & Dorian Abbot

In 2021, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) canceled a high-profile lecture by Dr. Dorian Abbot, a renowned geophysicist from the University of Chicago. The topic of the lecture was not the issue. Rather, Dorian was targeted by Social Justice activists because of his critique of DEI ideology. MIT buckled to the demands of a handful of ideologues, inadvertently contributing to discussions about academic censorship.

MIT did not expect the blowback it received for hobbling scientific inquiry in favor of ideological conformity. MIT alumni formed the Free Speech Alliance and its faculty overwhelmingly voted to adopt a university statement regarding freedom of expression. Since then, Dorian has become a leading figure in the fight for academic freedom of thought, speech, and inquiry.

In this conversation, Peter Boghossian and Dorian discuss the MIT fiasco, the proper aim of academia, the immorality of DEI, speech as “violence,” University of Chicago’s commitment to academic freedom, finding meaning through religion and naturalism, Dorian’s rejection of tyrannical “equality” mandates, and much more.

Dorian Abbot is associate professor in the Department of the Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago. He has written more than 90 scientific papers on the climates of Earth and other planets. He is a member of the Council of the Faculty Senate, a co-founder of the faculty group U-Chicago Free, a founding member of the Academic Freedom Alliance, and a co-founder and moderator of the Heterodox Academy STEM Community. Dorian won the 2021 “Hero of Intellectual Freedom Award” from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni and the 2022 “Courage Award” from the Heterodox Academy.

MIT Free Speech Alliance https://www.mitfreespeech.org/
MIT Freedom of Expression & Academic Freedom https://facultygovernance.mit.edu/sites/default/files/reports/2022-09_Proposed_MIT_Statement_on_Freedom_of_Expression_and_Academic_Freedom.pdf
U-Chicago Free http://geosci.uchicago.edu/~abbot/members.html
Academic Freedom Alliance https://academicfreedom.org/about/
Heterodox Stem Community—Substack https://hxstem.substack.com/
Dorian Abbot on Twitter https://twitter.com/DorianAbbot

Chapters
0:00 Intro
2:15 Dorian’s cancellation
3:05 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
10:15 DEI & free speech
11:30 Disparities between groups
13:45 Finding rational meaning
15:45 Speech and violence
18:05 Ibram X Kendi & race
23:28 Equity, equality, and representation
30:05 Free speech at the University of Chicago
37:08 Can academia be reformed?

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