Jordan Peterson
We recently had a debate about Peterson and I made a comment but I didn't really know much about him so I got a hold of his book "12 rules of life"
Some interesting stuff, particularly about raising children.
Constant biblical references, particularly about the garden of eden story and Cain and Abel.
He gives long explanations about what the stories mean and how they relate to our current condition.
He does mention Occam's razor but certainly does not wield it.
He totally misquotes Thomas Hobbes "nasty brutish and short" and says that is our normal condition and of course he can sort us out.
I read somewhere that he suffers from depression and alleviated the symptoms by eating only meat. ??.His depressive nature certainly comes through in his writing.
He is a real prophet of doom saying that we are all flawed but use his 12 rules and we will be OK.
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.More regarding Peterson relating atheism/agnosticism.
AlPastor
Level 6
July 9, 2019
1
Peterson is a brilliant orator, and a fine rhetorician, that however is not any indication that he has anything worthwhile to say, only that he says it well.
Peterson has a knack for drawing attention to himself, for stating controversial opinions in ways designed to provoke both the overly sensitive and the media.
He is also a fine strategist planning his interviews and debates to be three steps ahead of his interlocutors by basically anticipating how he would destroy his own arguments if in their place, and then calculating facetious Ad hominem or mockeries to bring the audience on to his own side.
His demolition of Cathy Newman on channel four news was a master piece of "forewarned is forearmed" knowing exactly her technique and having prepared counter measures.
LenHazell53
Level 9
July 9, 2019
3
Brilliant orator? hmmm yes sometimes. Sometimes he is fascinating and interesting. But other times he waffles, makes outrageous unsubstantiated statements and absolutely refuses to answer a basic question. And have you experienced his pauses? He can ponder for 3mins but perhaps that's the prerogative of someone with an IQ of 160 or whatever he said he had. I find him disingenuous the way he avoids answering questions about religion. I am suspicious of his agenda.
ok Len this is one of my favourite comments by a poster to a Peterson video....
Hoichi The Earless
10 months ago
“Dr Peterson, what’s your favorite color?”
“Well that depends on what you mean by favorite. And it also depends on what you mean by color. This is a very complex question...
One must acknowledge the underlying verisimilitude that is irrevocably nested within a multi-layered metaphysical substrate which many people fundamentally conflate with their ideological presuppositions with no uncertain irregularity, causing the inadvertent dismissal of Jung's archetypal extrapolation of the quintessential axiomatic juxtaposition required to achieve Raskolnikov's magnitude of Neo-Marxist existential nihilism...”
@MsDemeanour Very funny, but seriously I think he my see himself as a later day Jung
Also a sexist
Amisja
Level 8
July 9, 2019
4
He would say that supposed sexism is a result of natural species evolution, but he should also remember that a good hard kick in the knackers is also the result of species evolution and is equally undesirable. 
ok i haven't read his book, but I was reminded today of a young guy who told me that when the bible/god talks about 'man' it's meant to be taken as 'mankind'. I told him I took it as an 'out' for me. If he'd wanted to write mankind he would've written about mankind. Peterson does this. He is not overt is his sexism but it's certainly there when he speaks of the roles of men and women.
MsDemeanour
Level 8
July 9, 2019
3
False prophet?
bobwjr
Level 10
July 9, 2019
2
Prophet of doom. I prefer Steven Pinker's attitude. Things are better than they ever have been. I agree with him up to a point but we are in danger of messing it all up.
When asked whether jesus was literally resurrected he waffles and says it depends on how you interpret the word resurrected or something like that. But I have a suspicion that he believes in christianity hardcore, he just hides it; I also think he is intellectualizing christian ideas to appeal to people who would otherwise be really turned off by christianity and its extreme nature. To me all of what Jordan Peterson says is just intricate sophistry, and I'll do myself a favor and not read his book.
bootaski
Level 6
July 9, 2019
1
I think you are spot on. He must have had a Christian upbringing and his constant references to god and the bible will probably appeal to believers.
Peterson is the master of waffle.
I haven’t read his book, but I’ve heard him debate and give interviews and I find his views to be mostly at odds with mine. He is a poster boy for the young white privileged male with a grievance and a right leaning bias....so has almost the exact opposite views to mine.
Marionville
Level 10
July 9, 2019
6
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