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> I have tried hard to understand what makes Peterson such a radioactive personality on the left It's not just the "Left". Peterson has two characteristics tha
by monkeydreams 5y ago
> I have tried hard to understand what makes Peterson such a radioactive personality on the left
It's not just the "Left". Peterson has two characteristics that irritate me whenever he arises in conversation.
His arguments, which are generally in the form of a flimsy comparison to an actual scenario/event/situation, a breathless demand that we just hear him out and not look into the comparison too deeply, then a demand to consider the implications as if the relationship was completely equivalent. The logic is so tightly circular that the only thing he has managed to almost convince me of is that pi is exactly 3.0
The second thing is his fans. They feel he is persecuted because others (whom they label "The Left") don't agree with Peterson. They will extol the virtues of this or that book, horrified that someone might have found a flaw in the argument that White Privilege doesn't exist or that people with sub-80 IQs have no benefit to society. They will then claim that this supposed flaw is actually a strength, as proven by this argument in book B or at this timestamp in this video.
As to why "The Left" can't cancel Peterson... is because "cancellation" is generally a target audience deciding that they will no longer purchase, listen or otherwise interact with a party, brand or product. Peterson's audience aren't people who organise against people like Peterson. The most positive thing one can say about him is that he hasn't betrayed his base - he knows they enjoy his pap-philosophy - and he is happy to make some extra-curricular dollars by selling it.
- mdoms 5y agoI can certainly see why people disagree with him on plenty of things. I do. As I said I don't think he's especially insightful. But what I don't get is why so many people outright hate him. Students protest his events, he has been called a Nazi apologist[0] by mainstream media organisations. I just... don't see it. [0] https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/jordan-peterson-nazi-apologism-lindsey-graham-holocaust-migrant-caravan-mexican-border-tear-gas-a8659001.html https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/jordan-peterson-nazi-ap...
- monkeydreams 5y ago> But what I don't get is why so many people outright hate him. I have heard from people who genuinely hate him. He is in the public eye and everyone in the public eye is hated by someone. But they are in the minority and most people just disdain him and the shallowness of his thinking from what I can see. The biggest source of hate talk about Peterson tends to come from him and his supporters. What use is it being outspoken if it does not provoke rage or, at least, if you cannot recast disagreement as anger? He makes his bread-and-butter as someone who the lefties apparently hate - and his supporters splash around this narrative like a puppy sloshing up a bowl of soup. > he has been called a Nazi apologist[0] by mainstream media organisations. I just... don't see it. I kinda do, and I think he purposefully walks close to the line on this. He isn't outright calling for the killing of people based on immutable characteristics... but he's certainly asking if they have any use to society. His comments about people with < 80 IQ is a great example of pretty much everything for which I dislike him (false equivalencies, circular logic, and a complete inability to deal with disagreement). If you are sensitive to the rise of nationalism and inequality, these are the types of arguments that can* actually make you hate a person, particularly one with such awful, rabid fans. edit: "can", not "will"
- eesmith 5y ago> he has been called a Nazi apologist Here is more on that topic, titled "Exposing Jordan Peterson’s barrage of revisionist falsehoods about Hitler, the Holocaust and Nazism" https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium.HIGHLIGHT-jordan-peterson-s-barrage-of-revisionist-falsehoods-on-hitler-and-nazism-1.8955174 https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium.HIGHLIGHT-jordan... Non-paywall version at https://theworldnews.net/il-news/exposing-jordan-peterson-s-barrage-of-revisionist-falsehoods-about-hitler-and-nazism https://theworldnews.net/il-news/exposing-jordan-peterson-s-...