Jordan B. Peterson’s DIY Cult: When Malicious Nonsense Passes for Worldly Wisdom

I have never heard of this guy before now. I had to do some Google work to even know who he is. So, why do people care that he is banned from Twitter? Seems to me that banning him from the Western Hemisphere would be an even better step.

 

Before letting others think for you, it is essential that you let others decide who should and should not think for you.

 

why should anyone care? no idea who this person is.

 

He's a Canadian who sounds like Kermit the Frog and almost died after going on an all beef diet

 

For all his influence or whatever, I dont hear many people cite his ideas. Probably because its mostly Jungian mumbo jumbo and nonsense. More or less he makes people feel good & smart about having very ordinary and standard beliefs, like misogyny or transphobia. A philosopher of the status quo.

 

I would put more credence in the OP if just one example was given. The quote cites how fallacious his arguments are but does not cite even one. If his arguments are that bad and he is that prevalent I would think that would be an easy slam dunk. Yet, just critique and ridicule without proof of what the person is claiming.

 

First Jordan's opinions are his own. He does not speak for a cult. Second while he may have followers on twitter, facebook, instagram and you tube the numbers though large (in the millions) do not reflect or take into account how many are the same person and/or bots.

 

Does he really make 'arguments?' His whole thing is like archetypes, symbols and "heroes journey" stuff - stuff like women represent chaos, symbolized by dragons, which you have to tame, because men represent order, which is why you have to clean your room. He's like Tom Cruise in Magnolia meets a lit crit professor who is really into cartoons.

 

That's a lot of qualifications right there. You say he is running for President?

 

I've listened to him in long form discussions and come away scratching my head wondering if I'm the only one who couldn't follow what he was saying. Apparently, it's not just me.

 

It's hard to explain if you haven't spent time listening to him. I'm not sure if he's necessarily wrong in a sort of fact-checking sense. I think it's hard to prove or disprove philosophical takes and opinions, but I think we would look for things like clarity and consistency. He's extremely difficult to understand IMO - much less summarize - and seems to refuse to concede anything that might contradict whatever framework he is advocating.

If you want a taste of it, you can listen to his first podcast episode with Sam Harris. This is Harris' take obviously, but I think it's a fair description of the back and forth where they were arguing about "truth."

Sam Harris | Speaking of "Truth" with Jordan B. Peterson

 

Peterson is a word salad kind of guy. Trying to derive meaning from what he is saying is not easy. He's obviously very smart, but to me he is very deceptive.
His description of God is a good example. It in no way resembles what the typical description of the average Christian's view of God would be. When pressed as to whether he believes Jesus was resurrected, he says no. So, how he is considered Christian (as he is self-described) is beyond me.

 

I don't know if he's smart, he obviously has learned how to sound smart, but it seems like smart people find him infuriating because they more or less don't see any substance behind the academic jargon and mumbo jumbo, and he never lets himself be pinned down on a position. He's kind of like the right-wing version of a mindfulness/New-Agey guy.

 

Where is Plank when we have this quandary? A Christian that doesn't believe in the Resurrection? I'm going with NOPE, isn't possible.

 

So.. did anyone Google his dream about his grandma?

 

I can't imagine being someone so into the political game that they actually have this much of a negative opinion about someone like Jordan Peterson. He talks about many, many things. This hit piece is pretty ridiculous. Sure he is a word salad kinda guy and can ramble a lot but I've yet to see him do anything to deserve this type of attack. One of the linked debates he was talking about where apparently he was outclassed was actually a very well rounded debate which isn't something we normally see.

Truly pathetic hit piece here on someone that shouldn't even be on your radar.. smh

 

Thank you for taking the time to write a fair response.

I’ve read one of his books, saw him live in Orlando and listened to many of his talks. JP came to fame as a Professor of Sociology in Toronto when he refused to obey the Canadian law that requires you to call a Transgendered man a woman and use certain pronouns. His point? He said by requiring certain speech the Federal Government was controlling you and your thoughts; and, he was not going to accept the government telling him how to think.

For this he was ascribed a transphobe, racist, worst person of the world and more. He said he would (and had) called anyone who asked him to use certain pronouns and address them by preferred names those pronouns and names; but, that was a personal interaction and devoid of government fiat. Pretty straightforward stuff, IMO. Again, he then became cause celebre for the Right and an evil, white man (but I repeat myself) to the Left. From there he has leveraged his 15 minutes into a lucrative speaking and book tour deal. What a horrible person.

 

I've followed Peterson a little bit. He's an intriguing figure. My take on him is he is kind of a philosopher/sociologist that rejects leftist-Marxist thought. So, he embraces Christian values, or you could say Christian moral law on some level, but embracing Christian values or Christian moral law does not make someone a Christian. Dennis Prager and Ben Shapiro are two others I would place in this category. Like Prager and Shapiro, he is an enemy and a threat to the left if he is particularly gifted in the way he is able to articulate and advocate for ideas and societal principles that are a vestige of a previous civilization that the left is trying to eradicate from the planet. That is why he must be attacked and discredited. The left knows who their enemies are. They know who they need to destroy and discredit to further their agenda. They know what they need to do to maintain their ideological sway over the masses, and Jordan Peterson is way up there on the hit list because he is not bowing to the ideology. He's stepped out of line. They lob grenades like "white male", "transphobic," at him and his ideology. And boom. He is discredited.

Is he a Christian, though? There are real reasons to doubt, but time will tell. I would categorize him as a formidable, articulate, and even a sincere heartfelt intellectual who seems to understand that Christianity is the best explanation for many conclusions he has arrived at. But Christianity at its fundamental level is a faith. A brilliant intellect can only take you so far. There are many brilliant intellects who will perish because their intellect fueled pride and their pride prevented them from coming to Jesus. Every person must come to God like a child trusting his father. This is hard for the wise of this world. Having listened to Jordan Peterson, he does not strike me as someone that is consumed with pride. Nonetheless, pride would definitely be a temptation for someone who has risen to the kind of status that he has.