Dr Jordan Peterson

The Kay's cooking of motivational speakers.

I was about to say he sounds like Kermit

I agree with most on here - some of what he says is very relatable and the fact that he encourages young men to shape up and grow up has to be a good thing. But he does push the gender roles a bit much for my liking. The fact that he thinks women shouldn’t aim to be successful because it’s not all its cracked up to be with those long hours and responsibility etc doesn’t take into account that money = power in our society and by keeping women in traditional roles we keep them powerless to have agency over their own lives. How many times do we read on here about women who are miserable in their marriage but not earning enough to leave?

He’s like most of these people who are famous rent-a-gobs - very articulate and persuasive but without much nuance or empathy of other people’s situations.

Didn't he go into an induced coma in Russia to get over an opiate addiction? Doesn't sound like a very clean room.

My husband is a huge fan. He tried to get me to read the book but couldn't get into it

I had heard of JP but only knew of his "views" from second hand. When someone in the pub asked me (as a Canadian, but not living in Canada) to explain his hateful opinions I decided I'd better find out what's what.

So I watched some videos, both lectures and talks with others (Douglas Murray, Gad Saad) and the Uni free speech eruption. I liked it, and watched more. That person who put ME on the spot in the pub did me a huge favour. The way social media is now, people can be turned off an idea or a person through half truths or outright lies. I thought JP was beyond the pale so I didn't bother to hear his message. I can't back absolutely everything he says, sure, but he is intelligent, thoughtful and his videos are well worth watching.

I don't agree with a lot of what he says, but boy! The way he says it.
I've listened to a lot of his interviews and lectures and he is considered, articulate and skilled. I don't think I have once heard him say “er...”
His debating skills are considerable and he remains courteous and articulate, sometimes in the face of extreme provocation.

I enjoy his lectures where he uses archetypes and myths to illustrate points on psychology; and he uses biblical stuff in the same way.
I didn't think he was an evangelical Christian but sometimes I got the impression he wished there was a god.

I think he is wrong about Feminism and the Patriarchy, which he doesn't believe in, citing men's work in dangerous industries and settings throughout history as evidence of their oppression, analogous to women's (nothing like it) but he has some good points about telling men to get their acts together and take responsibility for themselves.

He is put in the “alt right” box, mainly by those who haven’t bothered to listen to him.
He condemns Communism as much as Nazism, and points out that no one seems to mention the millions incarcerated and dead during the Soviet and Mao eras, whereas everyone remembers the concentration camps under Hitler.
He is opposed to Marxism and Post Modernism, and sees them as infiltrating universities and organisations at the expense of independent thought and bringing in wrongthink. (Ring any bells?)
He sees his opposition to “compelled speech” in Canada as reminiscent of what Orwell wrote about in Animal Farm.

People have ridiculed him for his voice, saying it sounds like Kermit the Frog (it does)
One thing that made me warm to him was a picture on his blog, of him looking quizzically at a Kermit puppet. 😀

I must push my son toward him- also uberrational, DS2 thinks soft subjects aren't worth studying and we should all be doing stem.

The only thing is, when he's just in general conversation as opposed to delivering well thought out seminars, he a bit long winded and boring.

I don't believe he has ever said :

1. women are biologically predetermined to be better at caring jobs and men are biologically predetermined to be better at maths, engineering, and being the boss

He has said that the psychological data of the big 5 model suggests that women are more empathetic / caring etc.. "more interested in people" is the way he often describes it, and that this explains why they go into nursing / caring roles. This is contrasted that the same model shows that men tend to be "more interested in things", hence the preponderance of men in engineering stuff.

2. the kind of work women are innately drawn to is objectively easier, less valuable, and lower skilled than the work men are innately drawn to, therefore those jobs will always command a lower wage

I have never heard him say these jobs are objectively easier, less valuble (in a moral sense) or lower skilled. What he says is that caring roles are inherently unscalable (you can only care for a certain number of people at any one time) and this limits the potential revenue, whereas engineering type roles (say, software) can scale up to a much greater degree to earn greater revenue.

he opposes transgenderism because he wants gender to be inseparable from sex and thinks everyone should stay in their original box

Again, I've never got this from his work. He has always framed it as a free speech issue, not that trans people shouldn't exist or don't have the right to exist. He has expressed plenty of times that he has used his trans students' preferred pronouns when asked, but objects to being legally coerced into doing so.

To think I'm left wing but am less convinced these days

Dont let the current pushing of boundaries and being forced to accept anything and everything or be labelled right wing or bigoted , make you stop feeling that being a relatively normal human being with normal reasonable views stop you from thinking you cant be left wing. Many of us are on the left. We havent changed. They just want us to think we have

Found it! Here's an excellent and very funny Digested Read of Peterson's book. He liked it so much he re-tweeted it.

www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jan/28/12-rules-for-life-an-antidote-to-chaos-by-jordan-b-peterson-digested-read

I think that one of his points are that women in general score higher on “agreeableness” and that this trait is less optimal for career development and salary negotiations.

I love that man like a father. Mine took his own life when I was 5. A lifetime of be feeling worthless. (with a lot of other crap thrown my way) Then JP comes along! The dad I always needed.
I don't agree with everything that comes out his mouth. But his 12 rules for life are great.
Don't stop children skateboarding
Don't let your children do things you don't like
And clean your own bastard house before judging others

I've yet to watch his videos but read his book, '12 Rules for Life: An Antidotes to Chaos' as I'm more or less his polar opposite: humanist, feminist and left wing. I found it really accessible and thought provoking even if I didn't agree with a lot of what he had to say. It's essentially a very tough minded self help book. He's a firm believer in everyone stepping up and taking responsibility for their lives and putting in the required hard work.

He's useful.

My previously TWAW son has been watching his videos( and from there, Posey Parker on Triggernometry) and changed his mind.

He said to me 2 weeks ago - mum I agree with you now.

And just yesterday morning we were having a big conversation about Jordan Peterson's views on women, and at the end of it he said - ' as a young man, how can I help?'

So I'm not going to knock JP.

A curate's egg. But I don't tend to have the mental energy to expend on him.

I don't think he should speak for women either; however, very few women in Canada are criticizing the trans ideology. I'm just glad that someone is doing it.

I think we are at risk of fulfilling his sexism by not listening to him. He is keen on agency, that we need to take responsibility for ourselves.

I don't think he should speak for women, and when he does it makes me cringe. He is good at telling men to shape up.

His tips on wage negotiation have netted me money. I am terrible at charging people money for my freelance services

Everytime I give a quote I try to imagine Jordan shouting at me to be aggressive and ask for more rather than always doing the work so cheaply.

And the best thing is NOT ONCE has anyone complained about a quote being 10-25% more than I would previously given. They still smile and say what a great price!

Thanks a lot Dr Petersen!