Jordan Peterson - what is the deal?

[glittertinsel]

I know this guy has been around a while, but I only bothered watching some if his YouTube stuff recently. My impressions are -

He is very articulate

I alternate between thinking he is very insightful and feeling irritated by the 'mansplaining' tone of it all

Some people say he is offensive / misogynist, but I haven't really encountered that??

I get vibes from him of an evangelical (slightly peculiar / deranged?) nature underneath the calm and logical veneer?

When interviewed by Piers Morgan, why did he start crying very suddenly out of nowhere? What was all that about?

Something seems 'off', but also he makes a lot of sense in some ways.

AIBU?

Oh and Jordan Petersen has crazy eyes.

I think he's possibly dangerous because he dresses up his most obnoxious ideas in pseudo-science and uses rhetorical methods, that are evidently persuasive. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, I suppose. My intuition is that he's heavily cherry-picking.

I find listening to him goes like this:

... sounds reasonable
... interesting connection, sounds plausible (repeat a few times)
.... totally agree
.... spot on, good point, couldn't agree more!
.... not sure (pivot moment in his line of logic)
.... whoa! how did he get there?!!

on a loop. His rhetorical style is hoping you'll be so won over on the points you know you agree with (won over emotionally) you'll accept the end point he arrives at. Which I don't. I'm sure he's missing many important things out.

He's also rather conveniently that male violence is endemic within monogamous relationships.

DV and abuse by men is incredibly common through all classes.

Men regularly murder their partners and ex partners.

So how exactly does monogamy solve male violence.

*He's also rather conveniently ignoring that male violence is endemic within monogamous relationships.

I think he has some interesting insights but as others have pointed out he goes to a line where you're thinking he's an intelligent informed man, and then randomly goes off the deep end.

My biggest issue is how he's apparently an expert across so many different subjects, yet scratch beneath the surface and he simply isn't. His musings across biology, societal issues and womens issues are no more informed than many people but because he is a doctor (of none of these things) there's an assumption he's educated on the subjects he talks of.

Add to that his very troubled personal life, his addictions etc and you get someone who is clearly intelligent, but also very clearly damaged and a bit of a mess - don't know about you but I don't tend to get my life advice some someone who's personal life is a car crash.

one of the most intelligent living humans in modern society

You have an extremely low and strange bar for intelligence if some narcissistic clinical psychologist who talks shite and as someone said, has hit upon the gold seam of the male backlash to greater equality for women is who you consider one of the most intelligent living humans...... Maybe educate yourself more.

*My biggest issue is how he's apparently an expert across so many different subjects, yet scratch beneath the surface and he simply isn't. His musings across biology, societal issues and womens issues are no more informed than many people but because he is a doctor (of none of these things) there's an assumption he's educated on the subjects he talks of.

Add to that his very troubled personal life, his addictions etc and you get someone who is clearly intelligent, but also very clearly damaged and a bit of a mess - don't know about you but I don't tend to get my life advice some someone who's personal life is a car crash.*

This.

A Dr and a self appointed expert on everything and anything.

Such self believe is so excessive that he has to have a personality disorder.

He expresses male issues very well. So when somebody makes a statement such as "men regularly murder their partners" he is able to articulate that this is the extreme end of male society and not appropriate statements to make about men.

As ever you need opposing views and have a debate. I just hope he isn't silenced or cancelled.

The leading cause of death for pregnant American women is their partner, so its not the extreme end.

But he is very intelligent. Why state the opposite? Who do you want to listen to instead? The ramblings of your postman? Your stupid boss? Your grumpy husband? If these men were intelligent enough they would write books, have podcasts or YouTube videos. But they don’t.
In my experience people who say JP is not intelligent, are not intelligent themselves.
Who is intelligent enough for you? Pray tell.

I don't mind him. He's a bit wordy but seems quite insightful.

Are crying women ‘unstable’?

So I guess a lot of your pregnant friends were killed by their husbands? Must be the case if not extreme end of male behaviour.

I'd like to see this statistic broken down a bit by demographics - ethnicity, socio economics, etc.

It's like when people say the UK is rife with FGM. It may be but not in the white middle class families whose parents post on mumsnet. Of course, this doesn't make it any less serious an issue but it makes it a little absurd when white MC women from Sussex try and use it to claim collective victimhood.

Non-Hispanic Black or African American individuals were more likely than white or Hispanic people to be murdered during pregnancy or shortly after childbirth. Black and African American people make up only 14% of the country’s population but accounted for almost 40% of pregnancy-associated homicides.

www.healthline.com/health-news/homicide-is-top-cause-of-death-during-pregnancy#Abuse-takes-a-variety-of-forms

Interesting statistics.

I always find it odd that people are happy to discuss sex demographics but not racial demographics. I wonder if it's out of fear of the woke crowd turning on them for perceived racism (incidentally what allowed the Asian sex gangs in Rotherham to act with impunity for so long, and also the reason why nobody discusses the 1200 sexual assaults in Germany on NYE a few years back - likely the biggest single instance of collective rape/sexual assault in our lifteme but ignored because the perpetrators were almost exclusively non-white).

Either it's fear of repercussions/accusations of racism that causes people to turn a blind eye or it's the realisation that they can't hold the much maligned 'straight white male' to account if we acknowledge the true perpetrators.

But in the UK (not the gun toting USA) maternal death is actually most likely to be cardiac or suicide.

amp.theguardian.com/society/2022/nov/10/sharp-rise-in-number-of-women-in-uk-dying-in-pregnancy-or-shortly-after

''The report found that many of the women did not have a formal mental health diagnosis, but they were facing multiple adversities, including a history of childhood trauma or domestic abuse.''

'I think he wants to be seen as some tortured genius. He’d make a good cult leader.'

unfortunately those who seek power and influence are often the first to abuse it.

'one of the most intelligent living humans in modern society'

That did make me laugh. That's a low bar if you think this of him, regardless of agreeing or not with is views, calling him one of the most intelligent people in modern society is a BIG stretch

'He cries in almost every interview he does. Very unstable man.
Are crying women ‘unstable’?'

If a woman cried way he does, under the same conditions, then yes.

In this clip he gets asked “How are you?” And then he just rambles on about music and emotions and starts crying. To the person who asked if we’d talk about a woman behaving like this, well yes as he does it so much and just comes off to me as bizarre. It’s that whole tortured genius thing he’s trying to do. I also don’t think a woman would behave like this and expect to be treated seriously.

(Question asked 50 secs in)

I would suggest you look into everything that has happened to him over the last few years. Frankly it's amazing he survived.
The (very left wing progressive American) blog Maintenance Phase has an episode on him. They don't like him but sympathise with him on a human level.
I believe he is doing better now.

Jordan Peterson is a flawed human being, like the rest of us. I have found him an inspiration.

I'm currently reading 12 Rules for Life and loving it. I strongly recommend it. I'm already trying to live my life more productively and authentically, although it isn't always easy.

Thanks, Jordan!

He speaks uncomfortable truths: preaches self-reliance, resiliance and self-determination. That's a good thing.

It's a welcome balance to the bloated social media frenzy that accords high status to procaiming victimhood at every opportunity.

Amen!