UKC

Plus a bunch of other profound ideas:

youtube.com/watch?v=3WOOvTpCLyE&

The speaker is Jordan Peterson, Professor of Psychology at Toronto University, and formerly at Harvard University. He is also a clinical psychologist (he has patients).

The ideas come thick and fast, so parsing this is not easy. It's pretty deep.

In reply to Thrudge:

I daren't click. JP videos are a total rabbit-hole, I've spent hours and hours watching them, listened to him on countless podcasts, etc. He's one of these people who's brilliant, charismatic, a tremendous speaker; and on some topics I think he's totally right (not just "I agree with him" but "these ideas are so well justified to be as good as true"). And then on other topics, I just think he's a complete tit-end. Weird stuff just spills out of his brain with absolutely no foundation in reality, just completely made-up bollocks that's not anchored to anything tangible.

Tomorrow I'll steel myself to watch this, and I might reply...

In reply to Thrudge:

Enjoyed that, thx

In reply to Thrudge:

Had a look at this and some of his other videos, very interesting, thanks!

I did not really enjoy watching the video, though: To me it felt as if he often deliberately overstated his point, making controversial discussion necessary before you can arrive at the correct conclusion. This, of course, does not work in a youtube video (and is also the main reason why I do not believe that MOACs can replace traditional teaching).

I would love to listen to him live, though, and may suggest him for the "off topic" seminar series at my uni.

CB

In reply to Thrudge:
It's a good'un.

At least he didn't wander off into how the objective reality we inhabit is embedded within a larger religious framework described perfectly by his Bible Studies module. Seriously, some of the stuff he believes is, ironically, clinically insane (and before you ask, yes, I am joking when I use my vastly superior understanding of the human mind to disagnose Prof JP with a mental disorder!).

I should watch it a few times before actually giving any response really, but I can't resist. I love most of it, but I also think he's being unclear about a lot of stuff. He never once mentions - or considers? - the advantages of someone such as a parent, or an employer, or indeed the state setting out clear boundaries about the contexts where it's appropriate to say what you think, and the contexts where it's appropriate to play nicely. His message comes across a little too much on the side of "just blurt out whatever crap comes into your head and the social process will guide us all in the right direction". And I don't believe it, I think taking down all the boundaries will end in chaos. Equally, too many boundaries are dangerous, which I think is his point. But he's one-sided, he's not coming up with a way to find the optimal balance, he seems to be saying "boundaries are bad".

I might well have misinterpreted him horribly, but that's my initial reaction. Another problem with him is that if you tried to argue with him, he would be so utterly intimidating that you'd just feel that you *must* be wrong, due only to his self-confidence coupled with unbelievably well-developed technique in putting forward his ideas. This is how he gets away with all the Bible Studies bullshit without being laughed out of town, and that makes my trust in the guy totally non-existent.

In reply to cb294:


MOACs??? Are you confusing business with pleasure?

In reply to Rob Parsons:

Yes, apparently! There must be a psychological reason, I am sure!

CB

In reply to Jon Stewart:

I also agree with him on much and I think his motives (dodgy area I know) are good, but he has a propensity to follow his ideas to the incomprehensible and totally useless end without considering the real world application outside of his often unassailable thought experiment. The main problem I have with Peterson though is that he seems to credit everyone with, if not the same intelligence, at least a similar mental resilience as him. He's truly compelling, but I regularly see his arguments attempted to be wielded by the not-quite-clever-enough and the effect is often just callousness.

Good reading/watching but a blueprint for living, not quite.

In reply to MonkeyPuzzle:


The main problem I have with him is he claims to be able to tell *me* how to cut through an existential crisis, and yet he's the one who's pulling the answers out of the f*cking Bible! Well, OK, he isn't pulling the answers out, because they aren't there. What he's doing is going deep down the tunnel of introspection on the question of the meaning of life and, like anyone who tries this earnestly, is getting spat out into the void at the other end. What do you do when that happens? Get depressed and nihilistic? That's one option, I happen to be rather fond it myself - or you can desperately grasp on to the only thing left in the world that looks like it might offer you some meaning, the thing that we evolved in order to save ourselves from existential angst: religion. As someone who considers this to be a profound intellectual failure, the ultimate white flag, I'm rubbed up the wrong way when he comes across with his tough-guy talk about how I should be living courageously and not pussying out of life's challenges. As you say, I think his motivations are genuine and sound, but at the same time, he's a coward who can go f*ck himself, to be honest.

If you can't face up to the big philosophical questions of meaning and free will and all that jazz - which as I see it, JP can't - then you have a greatly diminished position from which to lecture those of us who stare it in the face every f*cking day.

Apologies for that rant, it's probably a bit much for a public internet forum about rock climbing! And in all honesty, it's only when I sit at home watching his bloody videos that I end up in an existential crisis; if I went out climbing instead I'd be fine!

In reply to Jon Stewart:

It's a f*cking weird one alright, and I only stumbled across his bible-truth brainfart (great band name) just three days ago. I can't say I've been tempted to listen to any of that bit intently.

He's often used and abused by the far right unfortunately as his railing against the 'regressive left' has some absolutely tailor-made quotes for anyone who's capable of constructing a strawman.