EFFORTPOST The time Jordan Peterson did a Reddit AMA

So, in case you need some contextualization, Jordan Peterson was born in Alberta, Canada and he earned his PhD in psychology from McGill University. It's important to note that Peterson is prolific in his field, and he has over a hundred papers published covering topics such as addiction, play, and personality.

Peterson taught at Howard University before returning to Canada to teach at the University of Toronto. It's interesting to note that during this time, Jordan Peterson began to change. He became more intense, more politically involved, and many of his friends noted this.

The professor rose to fame after protesting Bill C-16 and claiming that it legislated compelled speech and forced him to refer to transpeople using their preferred pronouns. Since then, many have debunked JP's concerns and have pointed out that absolutely nobody has been imprisoned as a consequence of Bill C-16. In modern day, JP is still fairly popular and he enjoys a strong following, as seen with the sales of his latest book, We Who Wrestle With God.

In 2018, Jordan Peterson was arguably at the peak of his fame, and he had yet to be completely demonized online. Consequently, he took to Reddit to host an AMA. It's actually quite a funny one because it highlights the main problem with JP - while he has some insightful advice to give regarding his core field (psychology), he exposes areas of ignorance when he delves into other topics he is not an expert on. He has a tendency to read obscure esoteric texts and to latch onto fringe ideas merely because they are interesting. He has also demonstrated that he is not the best when it comes to interpreting scientific papers and reaching logical conclusions.

Jordan Peterson's Reddit AMA

Link to the whole thing is here: https://old.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/8m21kw/i_am_dr_jordan_b_peterson_u_of_t_professor/

Let's off with something light. Jordan Peterson makes a statement regarding antidepressants and whether they are overprescribed. An expert in the field quickly jumps in and points out an error in JP's message. You'll see this trend of experts popping up to disprove him recur.

Now to dive into the deep waters. Postmodern cultural marxism! JP always uses this phrase, and it seems like a highly self-contradictory one at first. He gives a definition but many point out that his definition is bullshit.

Fricking /u/Bardfinn appears!!1!

Jordan also touches on Nazism, arguing that it was an atheist doctrine.

Euphoric redditors don't take too kindly to this.

Lastly, we have the topic of "enforced monogamy" which was a controversy at the time. When asked about incels, JP recommended enforced monogamy. When talking about a murderous incel, he states:

"He was angry at God because women were rejecting him," Mr. Peterson says of the Toronto killer. "The cure for that is enforced monogamy. That's actually why monogamy emerges."

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/18/style/jordan-peterson-12-rules-for-life.html

He is asked about this in the AMA, to which he replies with the following:

That is not enough to placate redditors who still see a problem with what the professor is proposing.

Conclusion

So that's all for today regarding the adventures on Jordan Peterson. You can catch him on Ben Shapiro's The Daily Wire where he teaches his fans about marriage, Christianity, and conservatism. Personally, I think JP is an intelligent man who may have stumbled into a few psychological truths. However, he is bogged down by so much political crap and tangential bullshit including religion that anyone with some sense would avoid and go seek knowledge elsewhere. There is nothing JP exclusively offers that can't be obtained elsewhere without half the amount of bullshit.