Academia Quote by Ken Wilber
““Originated by the green leading-edge in academia, this aperspectival madness of “no truth” leapt out of the universities, and morphed into an enormous variety of different forms—from direct “no-truth” claims, to rabid egalitarianism, to excessive censoring of free speech and unhampered knowledge acquisition, to extreme political correctness (that forced the best comedians to refuse to perform at colleges any more, since the audiences “lacked all sense of humor”: you’re allowed to laugh at nothing in a “no value is better” world—even though that value itself is held to be better), to far-left political agendas that in effect “equalized poverty,” to egalitarian “no judgment” attitudes that refused to see any “higher” or “better” views at all (even though its own view was judged “higher” and “better” than any other), to modes of entertainment that everywhere eulogized egalitarian atland, to a denial of all growth hierarchies by confusing them with dominator hierarchies (which effectively crushed all routes to actual growth in any systems anywhere), to the media’s sense of egalitarian “fairness” that ended up trying to give equal time to every possible, no matter how factually idiotic, alternative viewpoint (such as Holocaust deniers), to echo chambered social media where “pleasant lies” and “reassuring falsehoods” were the standard currency.””
About This Quote
Source Book: A Theory of Everything by Ken Wilber, 2000
The quote critiques how postmodern relativism and extreme egalitarianism have eroded standards of truth, leading to censorship, political correctness, and the spread of harmful ideas.
In simple terms: Relativism can undermine truth and enable harmful extremes.
Guard critical thinking and uphold standards of evidence.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- university discourse
- political debate
- media regulation
- online platforms
- education policy
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- What standards should guide truth in a pluralistic society?
- How can we balance free speech with preventing harmful misinformation?
Overemphasis on equality can suppress necessary hierarchies and truth.