Canceled MIT guest lecturer speaks out after activist outrage

QUESTIONS DEPENDING WHO IT SELLS TO. MEANTIME M.I.T. CANCELED A SCIENCE LECTURE BY A GEO PHYSICS PROFESSOR AFTER ACTIVISTS LAUNCHED A CAMPAIGN ABOUT HIM WITH HIS VIEWS OF DIVERSITY FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO HE JOINS US NOW WITH MORE. WE'LL GET TO THE CANCEL CULTURE PART IN A SECOND. I WANT TO TALK ABOUT YOUR VIEWS ON DIVERSITY. YOU THINK IT'S TREATING PEOPLE AS MEMBERS OF A GROUP INSTEAD OF INDIVIDUALS WHICH YOU SAY IS REPEATING A MISTAKE MADE 20th CENTURY ATROCITIES POSSIBLE. EXPLAIN THAT FOR US, SIR. >> THAT'S CORRECT. FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF MORAL PHILOSOPHY WE HAVE TO TREAT EACH PERSON A AS AN INDIVIDUAL WITH INHERENT DIGNITY. IF WE VIOLATE THAT WE RISK REPEATING THE ATROCITIES OF THE 20th CENTURY. >> Trace: THE ACTIVITIES SHOULD NOT BE BLAMED BECAUSE THEY'RE FISH SWIMMING IN A SEA OF CONFUSION. YOU GO ON TO WRITE TODAY QUOTING THE FACT THAT'S SUCH STORIES HAVE BECOME AN EVERYDAY FEATURE OF AMERICAN LIFE SHOULD DO NOTHING TO DIMINISH HOW SHOCKING AND DAMAGING THEY ARE TO A FREE SOCIETY. THE FACT THAT M.I.T., ONE OF THE GREATEST UNIVERSITIES IN THE WORLD CAVED IN SO QUICKLY WILL ONLY ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO DEPLOY THIS SAME TACTIC. YOU BELIEVE THIS IS A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT. >> YES, I DO. MY WIFE WAS BORN IN UKRAINE AND SHE HAD TO BE BAPTIZED IN SECRET BECAUSE IF THE GOVERNMENT FOUND OUT HER MOTHER WOULD HAVE LOST HER JOB. AND WHEN SHE HEARD ABOUT WHAT WAS HAPPENING ON CAMPUS WHEN I FIRST TOLD HER IT SOUNDS LIKE WHAT MY MOTHER TOLD ME ABOUT SOVIET TIMES. >> Trace: I'M CURIOUS. YOUR SPEECH WAS BASED ON CLIMATE, RIGHT? SO HOW WAS DIVERSITY AND EQUITY INCLUSION BEING BROUGHT INTO THIS? >> IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SPEECH. IT WAS A CRITICISM OF MY POLITICAL POSITIONS AND CANCEL MY TALK BECAUSE I DIDN'T AGREE POLITICALLY WITH THE ACTIVISTS. >> Trace: YOU WRITE THIS IS NOT A PARTISAN ISSUE. ANYONE WANTS THE INTEREST OF TRUTH AND HAS A STAKE IN THE DEBATE. SPEAKING OUT MY SEEM RISKY. THE COST OF REMAINING SILENT IS FAR DEEPER. SCIENCE SHOULDN'T BE ABOUT POLITICS. SCIENCE THESE DAYS IS RIDDLED WITH POLITICS ESPECIALLY IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS PANDEMIC. >> THAT'S TRUE. AND WE NEED TO ALL STRIVE TO GET THE POLITICS OUT OF SCIENCE AND FOCUS ON DOING OUR RESEARCH AND MOVE FORWARD TOGETHER. >> Trace: WE TALK A LOT ABOUT THIS AND IT USED TO BE YOU LEARNED IN COLLEGE THAT CONFORMITY WAS THE ENEMY OF SCIENCE AND THAT IT WAS ALL ABOUT ROBUST DEBATE. IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE WE'RE HOLDING TO THAT VALUE ANYMORE. IS THAT A FAIR ASSESSMENT IN YOUR POINT, PROFESSOR? FINAL QUESTION. >> I THINK IT DEPENDS ON THE SUB FIELD. WE CAN ALL TRY TO DO BETTER TO PUSH THE BOUNDARIES AND NOT CONFORM TO IDEOLOGIES THAT COULD BE DAMAGING. >> Trace: LASTLY I WOULD ASK YOU, WE TALK ABOUT THIS, THERE IS A WOMAN ON CAPITOL HILL TODAY TALKING ABOUT FACEBOOK AND THE INFLUENCE IT HAS ON YOUNG PEOPLE AND TALKED A LOT ABOUT THE BIG TECH KIND OF SHUTTING DOWN SOME OF THESE SCIENTIFIC STORIES. IF YOU DISAGREE WITH THE CORONAVIRUS, IF YOU DISAGREE WITH THE WUHAN LAB LEAK THEORY YOU ARE SIMPLY SHUT DOWN. IS THAT ALSO A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT? >> I THINK CENSORSHIP WHEREVER IT EXISTS SHOULD BE

Channel: Fox News

Views: 87,921

Rating: 4.9361377 out of 5

Keywords: us, americas newsroom, trace gallagher, education, college, college controversy, mit, mit geophysicist, mit guest lecturer, mit cancels guest lecture, canceled mit guest lecturer, dorian abbot, dorian abbot uchicago, dorian abbot mit, dorian abbot free speech, university of chicago professor, mit cancels lecture, diversity and inclusion, free speech, cancel culture, fox, fox news, fox news channel, fnc

Id: cSc3NwyaJBo

Length: 3min 44sec (224 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 05 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/zhobelle]

You can say whatever you like as long as I agree with it.

~Democrats

[u/Melissalcb]

This is gonna be a lex fridman redpill.

[u/SgtFraggleRock]

Democrats hate both science and free speech.

[u/Motionmahic]

Speech is violence.