Thread: Should I take Jordan Peterson seriously?

I've come across JP in 2018 but I have only recently hopped on his hype train. I bought his books and watched some lectures of his and got doped by his cult of personality.

But looking back, he comes off to me as a narcissistic academic who wants to impose unrealistic ideals onto others to get some kind of intellectual thrill out of it...

For example, he needlessly uses complex vocabulary and uses Jung/Freud subconscious mumbo jumbo and psychology BS that sound pseudoscienctific and he's extensively invested into marketing books and merchandise for profit which, to me, diminishes his authenticity

I came to the realization that you need self discipline and coping strategies for what you can't change to navigate life. In other words, common sense.

I tried checking JP sub on Reddit but I realized I am talking to cultists rather than authentic people so I figured out I'd ask here.

What do you think about him?

He's the messiah father figure for all the poor BP men that just can't get laid in life and need some sort of direction because when you remove religion it needs to be replaced with some higher purpose for sheep that haven't done much individual thinking, these days the normal religion is sitting your ass on anti-depressants or navigating the modern dating scene blindfolded.
You can take the parts that you find useful, disregard the one's that demand you cowtow to shacking up with a woman.

JP met his wife in the 70s and hasn't dated since - guy has no idea what the modern day dating scene is like. He's a good psychologist - leave it at that.

Originally Posted by JustWannaRetireFk

He's the messiah father figure for all the poor BP men that just can't get laid in life and need some sort of direction because when you remove religion it needs to be replaced with some higher purpose for sheep that haven't done much individual thinking, these days the normal religion is sitting your ass on anti-depressants or navigating the modern dating scene blindfolded.
You can take the parts that you find useful, disregard the one's that demand you cowtow to shacking up with a woman.

JP met his wife in the 70s and hasn't dated since - guy has no idea what the modern day dating scene is like. He's a good psychologist - leave it at that.

You're right...

What turned me off about him is his rude demeanor. He carries himself as if he is some uninsultable figure, like God, and gets offended and exhibits subtle passive aggressiveness each time someone rebutes a claim he has made.

He puts his nose in everybody's business, for example calling MGTOWs pathetic weasles and acts surprised MGTOWs insulted him back. He's no different than the leftists he claims to fight.

He also politicizes science, acts like each opinion or statistic he utters is a law of science while the large portion of what he utters is political OPINIONS. He acts like he's the sole arbitrator of what's right and wrong. He pushes himself as some infallible human being who is here to lecture the ignorant masses but he's as clueless as anybody else.

I enjoy the videos of him owning leftists and feminists on Youtube. I liked the few university lectures of his that I watched as well. There's so few people these days with enough balls to publicly say the emperor has no clothes, I'm delighted whenever it happens. There's a particularly good one of him on some talk show where fat Aussie SJW who tries to corner him and he absolutely slaughters her, it's brilliant. I haven't read his books or anything, it's not that deep for me really though I know he is pro-marriage.

He's very much a tradcon in some respects (his "man up" tropes), but he does make some good (if obvious) points about maintaining motivation to finish big goals by setting a series of smaller, more manageable ones, etc.

I find his style to be needlessly confrontational, but I realize that much of that is probably reaction in kind to the abuse he receives.

Jordan Peterson?

Look a little deeper.

12 rules of life!!!

My first experience of him was in was in a Fox News interview and I thought: “Wow, here’s a guy that’s saying a lot of what I’ve been thinking for years.”

I didn’t agree with all of what he said, but that’s O.K. because no two people see everything the same.

Then I read about his real life problems:

In and out of clinics for depression and substance abuse. Can’t say I really blame him when you look at the world but is this a guy you want to take advice from?

He gives advice about raising children yet his own daughter hooked up with a porn creator (sorry that I don’t have references to this, but they have been mentioned before on this site.) Try Googling Mikhaila Peterson to see what a great job he did of raising his own daughter.

On the flip side you could take the view that he has made mistakes and so knows what he is talking about.

Fair enough.

Go out on to the streets and take advice from down and outs – they know what they’re talking about too.

Take advice from meth-heads. They’ve also seen a bit.

Admittedly he has a lot of red-pills for one to ponder upon, but really is this the guy you wish to aspire to be like?

Some points:
-You need to be very careful with people who deliberated say what you want to hear;

-JP talk about obvious things most of time, then there is very little to learn from him;

-He saied once that he follow paleo diet and he is very skinny nevertheless. The guy is worried about soy but he don´t lift.

-Of course, he make money with his fame and he make no excluse about it. This is another reason to be very careful with everthing from him. Make money with your work is noble, with your fame not soo much. I am not against capitalism, I just don´t agree with everthing that the corporations do.

IMO, if he is really a treat to left-wing, then he would be in terrorist list by now.

Disconnected word salad mumbo jumbo. I can't bear to listen to him for more than 15 seconds.

If you listen very carefully, you'll notice the verbal tic he has that indicates that he's about to tell a semi-truth.

Jordan Peterson or Jordan Chase? You are born PRIMAL! Take IT! LOL

Originally Posted by frompaintogain

I've come across JP in 2018 but I have only recently hopped on his hype train. I bought his books and watched some lectures of his and got doped by his cult of personality.

But looking back, he comes off to me as a narcissistic academic who wants to impose unrealistic ideals onto others to get some kind of intellectual thrill out of it...

For example, he needlessly uses complex vocabulary and uses Jung/Freud subconscious mumbo jumbo and psychology BS that sound pseudoscienctific and he's extensively invested into marketing books and merchandise for profit which, to me, diminishes his authenticity

I came to the realization that you need self discipline and coping strategies for what you can't change to navigate life. In other words, common sense.

I tried checking JP sub on Reddit but I realized I am talking to cultists rather than authentic people so I figured out I'd ask here.

What do you think about him?

What I find is that Peterson appeals mostly to men who grew up without a decent father in the picture. So, that whole "clean your room" shtick truly is a new idea for that type of male. Men who did have a decent father in their childhood might still like Peterson but they're not devotees and probably don't follow him very closely.

I fall into that second category. So, I'm happy that Peterson is out there doing his thing. But he doesn't appeal to me all that much.

Still, Peterson knows who his prime audience is and he is fairly protective of them. When challenged about his appeal to "lonely white bachelors", Peterson turned the question around and asked why he's the only person who is trying to reach out to that segment of society rather than ridicule them. His accuser suddenly went silent, of course.

All in all, I think Peterson is alright.

Originally Posted by JustWannaRetireFk

He's the messiah father figure for all the poor BP men that just can't get laid in life and need some sort of direction because when you remove religion it needs to be replaced with some higher purpose for sheep that haven't done much individual thinking, these days the normal religion is sitting your ass on anti-depressants or navigating the modern dating scene blindfolded.
You can take the parts that you find useful, disregard the one's that demand you cowtow to shacking up with a woman.

JP met his wife in the 70s and hasn't dated since - guy has no idea what the modern day dating scene is like. He's a good psychologist - leave it at that.

He doesn't understand MGTOW. His point of view of male/female dynamics is based on
- treating severely maladapted young men as a shrink and
- not having dating since before the invention of fax machines and video cassette recorders.

The best response when he lecturing us using outdated advice, is "OK, Boomer."

Originally Posted by Mr Wombat

Disconnected word salad mumbo jumbo. I can't bear to listen to him for more than 15 seconds.

If you listen very carefully, you'll notice the verbal tic he has that indicates that he's about to tell a semi-truth.

What is that tic? In poker terms, what is his "tell?"

Originally Posted by sam luis obispo

He doesn't understand MGTOW. His point of view of male/female dynamics is based on
- treating severely maladapted young men as a shrink and
- not having dating since before the invention of fax machines and video cassette recorders.

The best response when he lecturing us using outdated advice, is "OK, Boomer."

As a Millennial, I can understand that. But I kind of disagree with you. His advice would actually be useful if all of society followed it. All of society won't follow it, of course, so his recommendations are DOA. But I don't think his male/female stuff is off the mark.

Originally Posted by sam luis obispo

What is that tic? In poker terms, what is his "tell?"

LOL. "Very carefully". Mind you - this isn't my own research, it's just something I picked up from reading Vox Day.

Peterson is a mentally ill tradcuck who’s made millions off of gullible losers who need someone to tell them to clean their room.

I admire his stance against the SJW/woke mob. He catalyzed a lot of resistance to that, and he took tremendous heat in doing so. He deserves honors for that.

He is a very good speaker. He isn't famous just because he takes unpopular stances; it's because he is a very articulate speaker. He can think very quickly on his feet. It's a joy sometimes to see him stitch the words together on the fly, as he is thinking a difficult subject through. He isn't as good at it anymore, after the neurological damage caused by his Xanax dependence and withdrawal. But he used to be damn good at it. That's why people lined up to see him speak.

I think he had a fatal flaw, which was his undoing. That was (and still is) his rather harsh psychology, which repeatedly hammers on themes of responsibility and duty. I remember him telling young men that they should "find the heaviest burden they could bear, and then carry it." That is terrible advice, imo. What about taking care of yourself, going easy on yourself, not putting too much weight on yourself? I mean, look where that philosophy landed him: addicted to Xanax, then having a breakdown because he couldn't get off it (granted, some of that is Xanax's addictive potential, which is underestimated, combined with his very unusual reaction).

I would not want to have JP as a dad. I think he'd be overly harsh and demanding. Lots of "shoulds." Very moralistic. I think he's that way with himself, which is why he overburdened himself and cracked up. And I think that's part of what he transmits to young men: whip yourself into shape, bucko! Granted, some lackadaisacal kids may need to hear this, but I'm not a lackadaisacal kid, so it doesn't work for me.

Now that he's famous, he gets asked his opinion on everything. He is surrounded by people who tell him he is great, wonderful, a genius. He tries to be humble, but he also starts to believe them, to buy into his own press. This happens to all famous people. He starts pontificating about things he doesn't know much about, because the interviewer is asking, and because his opinions are taken seriously.

He does know quite a bit about psychology, Marxist theory, totalitarianism, postmodernism, mythology, and Christianity (to some degree). When he strays beyond those subjects, watch out. In particular, he is clueless about modern dating. He's a blue-pill trad-con as far as that goes. I wouldn't take anything he says in that area seriously.

Overall, though, I'm glad he entered the scene. I agree with Justathought, who said he's been an overall net positive.

no, he is very biased tbh, always blaming men, and forcing them to level up, shouting at men, where as never blaming or pointing out women and their mistakes.

i do not respect biased people like him, he is mediocre and incompetent at best, he wants men to beta buxx and level up, and do that cucked stuff, he never talks about gynocentric laws and courts.

i rate him and his ideologies 1/10.

gave him one point solely because i saw him criticizing feminism ones.