Smart Lefty guy surprised to find Peterson's book "good" - even helpful to him

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Wednesday, March 28. 2018

Smart Lefty guy surprised to find Peterson's book "good" - even helpful to him

Illuminating review of Peterson's new book by somebody who was prepared to trash it. He includes comments on Peterson's psychotherapeutic work too:

I’m really embarrassed to say this. And I totally understand if you want to stop reading me after this, or revoke my book-reviewing license, or whatever. But guys, Jordan Peterson is actually good.

His only quibble is with the foundations of Peterson's idea of the good life: "Reduce suffering." If there is a better idea outside of religion, I either haven't heard it or cannot understand it.

Posted by Bird Dog in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 15:31 | Comments (13) | Trackbacks (0)

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An objective and open-minded critic interested in unearthing truth would never be embarrassed by such a discovery as "Jordan Peterson is actually good.". The fact that he says he is so embarrassed leads be to question and doubt all his previous (and future) critiques.

#1 steve walsh on 2018-03-28 16:08 (Reply)

I suspect it's because he hangs with people who disparage Peterson by reflex

#1.1 BD on 2018-03-28 16:28 (Reply)

The references to lobsters and body fluids seemed to be some sort of Prog inside joke.

Gotta signal he still thinks it's a joke.

#1.1.1 Christopher B on 2018-03-28 16:56 (Reply)

The reference to lobsters is from Peterson.

Peterson notes (this is my rephrasing of his statement, so it may be less technically correct) that lobsters and humans have "the same" neural circuitry for recognizing dominance hierarchies, and he noted that one of the SSRIs (I forget which one) also works on lobsters. This apparently fascinated him, and some of his grad students got in the habit--when tossing bon mots at each other and scoring a point--of "clacking" their hands together as if they were the dominant lobster.

So no, it's not Lefty joke.

#1.1.1.1 William O'Blivion on 2018-03-30 18:09 (Reply)

"Smart lefty" is an oxymoron.

#2 drowningpuppies on 2018-03-28 16:59 (Reply)

One hopes that he is a recovering one, even if he doesn't know it yet.

#2.1 DeGaulle on 2018-03-28 17:04 (Reply)

I believe the reluctance to support and appreciate Peterson is that the smart set use nihilism as the excuse for their lack of character. Peterson is kryptonite to that mindset.

#3 BrianInNC on 2018-03-28 17:27 (Reply)

I wish I could give the American Left the benefit of the doubt regarding their Weltanschauung but I keep encountering crap like this. And these Leftist cannot bring themselves to see the irony.

#4 roger on 2018-03-28 18:11 (Reply)

For a lame lefty response to Jordan Peterson, here is a review from the New York Review of Books. Jordan Peterson & Fascist Mysticism.

QUOTE:

Peterson confirms his membership of this far-right sect by never identifying the evils caused by belief in profit, or Mammon: slavery, genocide, and imperialism.

Yup. Like slavery never existed until the days of capitalism. Like the 100 million that Communism killed were killed for profit. Like the USSR and the PRC -when its economy was still Communist- never did any imperialism themselves. And anyone who has similar disagreements with the "belief in profit" statement must be a member of the alt-right.

QUOTE:

Islamophobes will take heart from his speculation that “feminists avoid criticizing Islam because they unconsciously long for masculine dominance.”

Hasn't Pankaj Mishra, the author of the NYRB article, noticed that feminists DO avoid criticizing Islam? If he hasn't, he is not paying attention. What motives does he give for feminists avoiding criticizing Islam?

#5 Gringo on 2018-03-28 18:43 (Reply)

What the "progressives" hate about Peterson is this. He was supposed to do what all the other browbeaten academics have done: meekly apologize, then resign his tenure, retire and disappear like so many other professors.

But he didn't. And worse still (for them), he is now so successful that they really can't touch him anymore. They have no one to blame but themselves because they actually contributed to that success by their hairbrained ideology.

I love it.

#6 JJM on 2018-03-28 21:15 (Reply)

Oops! Make that harebrained.

(Though on second thought, hairbrained works well too.)

#6.1 JJM on 2018-03-28 21:18 (Reply)

Well before the Beatles came on the scene, the term "longhairs" was in use to describe the "intellectuals." Or classical music lovers, IIRC.

#6.1.1 Gringo on 2018-03-28 21:32 (Reply)

Classical music used to be called "longhair" music.

#6.1.1.1 Sam L. on 2018-03-29 11:22 (Reply)

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Wednesday, March 28. 2018

Smart Lefty guy surprised to find Peterson's book "good" - even helpful to him