A Glitch in the Matrix
A Glitch in the Matrix: Dr JB Peterson, the Intellectual Dark Web and the Mainstream Media: A Documentary by Journalist David Fuller.
Jordan Peterson is a clinical psychologist and a professor at the University of Toronto whose popularity surged when a video surfaced showing a mob of students confronting him about his failure to adhere to Canada's compelled speech law. He was further thrusted into the limelight during an interview with Cathy Newman of Channel 4 News:
At the start of his career, he was an assistant professor at Harvard prior to obtaining full professorship at the University of Toronto. Since gaining online fame, he published a best-selling book, 12 Rules for Life: Antidote for Chaos.
I have the book on order, Goodread says: What does everyone in the modern world need to know? Renowned psychologist Jordan B. Peterson's answer to this most difficult of questions uniquely combines the hard-won truths of ancient tradition with the stunning revelations of cutting-edge scientific research.
Humorous, surprising, and informative, Dr. Peterson tells us why skateboarding boys and girls must be left alone, what terrible fate awaits those who criticize too easily, and why you should always pet a cat when you meet one on the street.
What does the nervous system of the lowly lobster have to tell us about standing up straight (with our shoulders back) and about success in life? Why did ancient Egyptians worship the capacity to pay careful attention as the highest of gods? What dreadful paths do people tread when they become resentful, arrogant, and vengeful? Dr. Peterson journeys broadly, discussing discipline, freedom, adventure, and responsibility, distilling the world's wisdom into 12 practical and profound rules for life. 12 Rules for Life shatters the modern commonplaces of science, faith, and human nature while transforming and ennobling the mind and spirit of its listeners.
A Glitch in the Matrix II:
The Origin of the Intellectual Dark Web:
A Documentary by Journalist David Fuller.
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My experience of interviewing Jordan Peterson
GQ interview by Helen Lewis
Peterson sells himself as Professor Logic, and his fans love to see him “own” and “destroy” his ideological opponents. He is undoubtedly smart, eloquent and well-read in his favoured subjects. His bestselling book, 12 Rules For Life, is peppered with references to Jung, Dostoevsky and Nietzsche. It is also – how do I put this delicately – very, very weird. It mixes homespun life advice with denunciations of Soviet communism.
Going into the interview, in a hotel suite in Baltimore, I resolved never to argue that his views were offensive. After all, he thrives on suggesting that feminists, and the left generally, are addicted to grievance politics. Instead, I would argue, he’s simply wrong. He makes his points with such ease and authority that it suppresses the bit of your brain which should go, “wait, that’s not quite-“ until long after he’s moved onto something else.
I TOLD HIM BEFOREHAND THAT I THOUGHT WE’D DISAGREE A LOT, BUT I HOPED IT WOULD BE AN INTERESTING DISCUSSION.
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How dangerous is Jordan B Peterson, the rightwing professor who 'hit a hornets' nest'? The Guardian
Since his confrontation with Cathy Newman, the Canadian academic’s book has become a bestseller. But his arguments are riddled with ‘pseudo-facts’ and conspiracy theories
“The difference is that this individual has a title and profession that lend a certain illusory credibility,” says Cara Tierney, an artist and part-time professor who protested against Peterson’s appearance at Ottawa’s National Gallery last year. “It’s very theatrical and shrewdly exploits platforms that thrive on spectacle, controversy, fear and prejudice. The threat is not so much what [Peterson’s] beliefs are, but how they detract from more critical, informed and, frankly, interesting conversations.”
The key to Peterson’s appeal is also his greatest weakness. He wants to be the man who knows everything and can explain everything, without qualification or error. On Channel 4 News, he posed as an impregnable rock of hard evidence and common sense. But his arguments are riddled with conspiracy theories and crude distortions of subjects, including postmodernism, gender identity and Canadian law, that lie outside his field of expertise. Therefore, there is no need to caricature his ideas in order to challenge them. Even so, his critics will have their work cut out: Peterson’s wave is unlikely to come crashing down any time soon.