Researching Why Some People Don't Like Jordan Peterson

After stumbling on a March 2021 interview where Tim Ferriss had Jordan Peterson on his show, I was trying to understand why I've heard a few of my friends say they hate the guy so much.

Articles that critique Peterson's viewpoints:

Jordan Peterson’s Flimsy Philosophy of Life - Psychology Today column
Great article critiquing that you can't draw morality from religion, as Plato pointed out.

Moral behavior in a social context demands adjudicating between the rights of individuals and the pressures of groups and organizations such as families and nations.

"The deeper issue here is the general question of limitations on free speech. Since the nineteenth century, law and society have recognized that one person’s freedom ends where another’s freedom begins. You do not have the freedom to infringe someone else’s human rights by harassing, threatening, or discriminating against them."

The major sources of good experiences are love, work, and play, so I would rather identify these as the meaning of life than suffering. These three activities feed directly into satisfying basic psychological needs for relatedness, competence and autonomy, as I argue in my book on The Brain and the Meaning of Life.

How dangerous is Jordan B Peterson, the rightwing professor who 'hit a hornets' nest'? - The Guardian

Jordan Peterson, the obscure Canadian psychologist turned right-wing celebrity, explained - Vox

Why Can't People Hear What Jordan Peterson Is Saying? - The Atlantic

Why do people hate Jordan Peterson - Reddit discussion

He had some progressive ideas on his show, including that psychedelics (particularly magic mushrooms) for some people created a new level of openness that could happen in a person's first use of them.

One critique he had is that some people are so open that they don't really know themselves.

Steve Jobs is famous for saying that one of the most important things he did in his life was taking psychedelics (likely LSD).

The Battle Between Order and Chaos

The overarching motif of the interview was the eternal battle between order and chaos.  He mentioned the tree of life archetype that has existed for thousands of years and crosses cultural boundaries.

Between order and chaos is a connection to the heaven world.

The Concept of Conscience

Petersen also touched on the concept of conscience and how it's a mysterious and vital part of our existence. He likened conscience to the holy spirit, even though he seemed to avoid talk of religion itself being true.

Ignore your conscience for enough time and see what happens.

Categorical Respect for a Marriage Partner

If you've decided to devote your life to someone [through marriage] they deserve a certain amount of categorical respect to maintain the relationship over time. 

Indicative Nature of a Home

Walking in someone's home, you can see things that are off that indicate relationship problems, including the kitchen being a mess, packages that haven't been opened two years after the wedding, 

"Genuine peace is hard to obtain.  People generally obtain peace by sweeping things under the carpet."
- 21:05

Pay Attention to Your Negative Emotions

Resentment in particular. It's so informative. You find out where you're immature...who wants to find out that?

Man's Search for Meaning
23:25

This is partly why I have a certain conservative bent. People need to search for meaning because they get corrupted by suffering if their life isn't meaningful. You can't torture an animal forever without it lashing out. 

Do you have an intimate relationship?
What about your family? How's that functioning? Do you have anyone there?
Do you have a job, or maybe a career?
Do you know how to use your time outside of work productively?
Do you take care of your mental and physical health?
Do you manage temptations [of drug and alcohol use] effectively?
Are you as educated as you are intelligent?
Do you have kids, or a wife, or a husband?

If you're overwhelmed by life, anxious suffering, that's a good place to start. Put that together.

28:55
[If] you want to make changes, start with what's under your control. Start with changing the things that will hurt you if the changes go wrong.

Psychopharmacology

33:00

His PhD was around alcoholism. Years of research was drug and alcohol abuse.

Alcohol is like water. It crosses the blood-brain barrier like water.b It bathes every cell.

34:50
I'm also interested in religious experiences...there are agents that reliably produce religious experiences. No one knows what in the world to do about that. 

Psychedelics and the Effect on Openness

37:25
You've spoken in the changes in openness [with psychedelic use]. - Tim
Yes, they're pronounced. - Jordan

38:55
You can undo yourself by being open. People who are open have a hard time catalyzing their identity., because they're so protean, they shift shapes constantly. They're interested in everything. It makes it very hard for them to pursue one thing. 

40:20
There's this constant war between the strictures of tradition and the transformation of creativity. You can't say who's right, you can just talk it out.

Major neurological rewiring by taking psilocybin.