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Intellectual Dark Web

Members of The Intellectual Dark Web are a accumulation of iconoclastic thinkers, academic renegades and media personalities whose opinions differ from the mainstream. Worldwide audiences digest there content through newer media platforms such as Twitter, Youtube, Podcasts and Live auditoriums. The members of the intellectual dark web differ in their political opinions and have a wide array of educational backgrounds. Eric Weinstein created a term to unite thinkers across unique platforms that challenge the status quo and engage with ideas that are otherwise ignored from the mainstream discourse. The members differ intellectually and politically across the spectrum. Heather Heying, Eric weinstein and Bret Weinstein were Bernie Sanders supporters in the 2016 presidential election. Christina Hoff Summers was a life long progressive and self proclaimed feminist, who consistently challenges third wave feminism. Sam Harris has been hypercritical of Donald Trump through his election and his current presidency and was an outspoken Hillary Clinton supporter. Ben Shapiro is a life long conservative and Dave Rubin was a former liberal who's personal views on issues of Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Expression have shifted his political aligning towards a Libertarian . As their personal opinions differ on policy and candidates, what unites these thinkers is their drive to look at issues objectively, honestly and without censorship.Members:

• Sam Harris, a neuro-scientist, philosopher, outspoken atheist and host of the Waking Up podcast.
• Jordan Peterson, a clinical psychologist, professor that has taught at UofT and Harvard, and author of Maps of Meaning and 12 Rules For Life: An Anecdote to Chaos.
• Maajid Nawaz, a former Islamist turned anti-extremism campaigner and Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate who founded the London-based Quilliam think tank.
• Jonathan Haidt, is an Psychologist and Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University's Stern School of Business. Haidt is the author of several books,The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding modern truth in Ancient Wisdom (2006), The Righteous mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion (2012), Can't we all disagree more constructively? The Coddling of the American Mind: How good intentions and bad ideas are setting up a generation for failure (2018), and Why Do They Vote That Way?
• Joe Rogan, a comedian, UFC commentator, and the host of the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast.
• Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein are both evolutionary biologists who previously taught at Evergreen State College. Bret Weinstein was fired from Evergreen State for standing up to protesters, in which white students were expected to stay off campus for the next 24 hours.
• Eric Weinstein, a mathematician, and economist who coined the term Intellectual Dark Web to describe thinkers outside of the mainstream.
• Ben Shapiro, Alumni of Harvard Law School is a current political commentator, author and lawyer. He's editor-in-chief for The Daily Wire, and the host of the The Ben Shapiro Show.
• Christina Hoff Sommers is an author and philosopher and a former professor. She is the author of the following books: Vice and Virtue in the Everyday Life, Right and Wrong: Basic Reading in Ethics, Who Stole Feminism?: How women betrayed women, The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men, One Nation Under Therapy, The Science on Women and Science , Freedom Feminism: Its Surprising History and Why It Matters Today.
• Claire Lehmann is an Australian writer that founded Quillette, an online magazine that intends to give scientists and scholars a platform for their ideas.
• Dave Rubin is a stand up comedian and the host of The Rubin Report.

Members of the Intellectual Dark Web have garnered large audiences despite using traditional mainstream platforms. Joe Rogan has over 900 Million views on YouTube and receives an estimated 11 million monthly downloads on ITunes. Jordan Peterson's book, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos topped the bestseller lists, extending as far as to become the number one on Canadian Audible, and number three on U.S Audible. Additionally Jordan Peterson has close to 9000 Patreon who support him voluntarily through a monthly subscription. Dr. Peterson's YouTube Channel has close to 1.6 million Youtube Subscribers, garnering him 76 million views. Alongside his online presence, Dr Peterson consistently sells out live venues for his lectures. Ben Shapiro's "The Ben Shapiro Show" became the second top podcast on ITunes, being only surpassed by Oprah.

The popularity garnered by the members is often credited to their exploration on controversial ideas that are otherwise ignored. Their insistence on deconstructing popular narratives has created a cult like following. Over the years, there are sparks for these intellectuals being introduced to the mainstream culture and deconstructing popular narratives. Ben Shapiro's appearance on Piers Morgan on the controversial topic of gun debate impacted the way society perceived gun rights. Sam Harris's appearance on Bill Maher created a discussion on radical Islamism, which led to a topical discussion on whether critiquing religion is racism or a process of disavowing dangerous doctrines. Jordan Peterson's appearance on the Channel 4 with Cathy Newman led to a heated debated on Freedom of Speech and numerous feminist talking points. The intellectual debate or lack thereof lead to an eventual backlash in the court of public opinion for the network.

Revamped section

The term "intellectual dark web" is a term coined by Weinstein that received wide discussion in May 2018, after becoming the subject of a column by Bari Weiss in the opinion section of The New York Times. Weinstein created the term as a semi-ironic reference to a particular group of academics and podcast hosts after his brother, Bret Weinstein, resigned from The Evergreen State College in response to a campus controversy. The individuals profiled in the article were Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Sam Harris, Heather Heying, Claire Lehmann, Douglas Murray, Maajid Nawaz, Jordan Peterson, Joe Rogan, Dave Rubin, Ben Shapiro, Michael Shermer, Debra Soh, Christina Hoff Sommers, Bret Weinstein and Eric Weinstein. In the article the individuals were described as "iconoclastic thinkers, academic renegades and media personalities" who did not share a common set of political ideas but were all considered to have been locked out of traditional and mainstream media outlets and institutions because their viewpoints and discussions did not match the current culture and as such, silenced.

Responses to the article, term, and their criticism have varied. Henry Farrell noted that some of the people listed, such as Shapiro and Harris, did not fit the description of purged and silenced individuals. He also stated that while the individuals did feel isolated and marginalized, "the reasons are quite different from those suggested by Weiss", he felt that "The truth is rather that dark web intellectuals, like Donald Trump supporters and the online alt-right, have experienced a sharp decline in their relative status over time. This is leading them to frustration and resentment." The National Review also remarked on the idea of the intellectual dark web, stating that they represented "a significant rightward shift in intellectual life — one that we conservatives are right to embrace and would be wrong to overlook."