The Downfall of Jordan Peterson

A Response

Photo by Avery Evans on Unsplash

Jordan Peterson is an enigma, at one point he helped numerous men, myself included, try to find meaning and understanding in a world constantly in flux. Now he can be seen as an angry conservative commentator who holds an opinion about nearly everything he clearly isn’t an expert in.

When people tried to cancel me both online and in real life I stuck to Peterson's every word. The basic premise is that it is wrong to dehumanize people in the name of political correctness.

However, as soon as I started to read into very philosophy Peterson talked about I had to question my assumptions about him. I wrote that he misrepresents the philosophical concepts he talks about and the science he does cite.

I Don't like Jordan Peterson

This work was inspired in part by a scathing critique of Peterson's work by Nathan Ross. Now, a new critique has shown up to criticize who Peterson has become rather than the work he has created.

What Happened to Jordan Peterson?

The goal of this article is to respond to this new article and build upon it with what we know about human psychology, philosophy, and human health.

Then and Now

It's well known Peterson misrepresents and cherry-picks science for his own aims. He does it in his written work as well as in a debate. But what drew a lot of people towards him was his philosophy, his metaphysical interpretation of the world through the lens of Jungian psychology.

He often mixed this fancy spectacle with pieces of resignating advice such as "clean your room" and "stand up straight". This enthralled people and gave many an intellectual to aspire to.

But as we see with his new Twitter outburst and newer Youtube video apperances he has become what the media stereotyped him as, a conservative commentator.

Just look at what he states about his ban on Twitter:

Now compare this to his early videos from 2017:

You see the difference in approach, in 2017 and 2018 Peterson’s demeanor was much more calm, much more rational, and much more calculated. While I don’t necessarily agree with his arguments from then or even now his approach then is different than now.

Now his approach seems to be that of an angry reactionary. Someone who is a political commentator for the culture war rather than a tempered intellectual making a case for his arguments.

But what caused this change? Why did Peterson shift his persona over time?

The Shift

The Rebel Wisdom article makes the case that the reason why Peterson shifted to this stereotyped version of himself or the caricature, is due to the impact of our current media environment.

Social media algorithms stress a constant feed of content, this content gets you attention and accolades from people all over the world, this attention is used to make money, but this can turn into a feedback loop.

The constant stress of content creation, travel, debates, lectures, and book deals must have taken their toll on Peterson. Eventually, this stress brought on by this feedback loop can cause burnout.

It’s no surprise then Peterson turned to substances to ease the pain and pressure of celebrity life. Peterson then became addicted to the drug colloquially known as benzos.

This is strange considering his previous sage advice of getting one’s life into order, but it is often easier to talk about one’s philosophy than to live it out.