Tesla CEO Elon Musk explained to HBO host Bill Maher Friday night why he believes the “woke mind virus” poses an existential threat to civilization, citing threats to merit and free speech.
“You have talked about this woke mind virus in really apocalyptic terms,” Maher said to Musk. “I don’t — you should explain why you don’t think it’s hyperbole to say things like it’s pushing civilization towards suicide. First of all, what is the woke mind virus?”
“I think we need to be very cautious about anything that is anti-meritocratic and anything that results in the suppression of free speech,” Musk responded. “So, those are two of the aspects of the woke mind virus that I think are very dangerous, is that it’s often very anti-meritocratic, and you can’t question things. Even the questioning is bad.”
Maher asked Musk where the “woke mind virus” that Musk viewed with concern originated.
“I was trying to figure out where it’s coming from. I think it’s actually been a long time brewing, in that it’s — I think it’s been going on for a while, and the amount of indoctrination that’s happening in schools and universities is I think far beyond what parents realize,” Musk said.
Musk closed the deal to purchase Twitter for $44 billion on Oct. 27, seeking to create a “common digital town square” on the site, according to the Wall Street Journal. Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon later claimed the suspension of the satirical site over a March 15 tweet linking to a satirical post calling Rachel Levine, a transgender woman who serves as assistant secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, “Man of the Year,” was one of the reasons Tesla CEO Elon Musk chose to buy the site.
The contents of school curricula became a hot-button political issue in 2021 as parents protested the use of critical race theory, which holds that America is fundamentally racist, and teaches people to view every social interaction and person in terms of race.