I don't understand the hate for Jordan Peterson

I kind of wrote this spur of the moment so its not as eloquent or informative as I'd like it to be.

I've been listening to his podcasts a lot lately. I suspect all of the hate and bitterness towards him is due atleast in part rumor and gossip. Because if you actually took the time to listen to even one lecture, you would see he's quite intelligent, sympathetic, educated, logical, and informative. Especially towards those of whom struggle to cope with life and its many catastrophes. He is surely not a fascist or marxist like many claim. I gather many suspect that he is because he sometimes utilizes stories and quotes from well know fascist or marxist propaganda. You don't have to like him or even agree but I must infer anyone that demonizes him is incredibly naive and brainwashed by left wing ideology and is essentially an enemy to morality, common sense, and good will.

After listening to him for hours I have come to the conclusion that he is a man of reason. He believes in deriving knowledge and wisdom from every avenue possible. He believes that everything is a potential tool for us to improve upon ourselves and our society. Maybe not necessarily deriving wisdom from said sources but using them as a resource nonetheless to get a better perspective on the human psyche. He has even mentioned many times that is not only wise but healthy to derive information from people you probably wouldn't otherwise get along with. If you continue to converse only with people who share the same agenda as you, the same thoughts and opinions, then you will never learn anything of value. He teaches people to broaden their horizons and broaden their minds, encompass everything in their path as a means of attaining wisdom, understanding, and knowledge.

Jordan is not a christian but he's also not not a christian if that makes sense. His system of thinking about such things as the afterlife, God, Jesus, etc go much much further. In my opinion, as far as I can tell, he takes an agnostic approach. I try not to infer too much about the nature of his character or what he believes in. I would hate to label him as something he is not. Regardless of his stance on the belief in God, he often quotes stories from the Bible especially from Genesis and Exodus. He believes it is an invaluable tool at the very least in teaching and instilling morality and wisdom.

I have been listening to him for about a week now and he has inspired me to look at my life and life in general from a new perspective and really figure out what it is I'm doing with my life and what I want out of it. He has given me many guidelines for discovering my purpose in life and finding meaning in it. So say what you will about him, this is the kick in the pants I needed. I have been searching for years upon years looking for answers to my questions and he is the closest to answering all of them. I understand that many of questions probably cannot be answered but at the very least he has given me hints in which I should direct my attention towards.

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greensnacks · F

He's a misogynist and a part of the toxic patriarchy that's destroying you, your true self and your actual feelings, all of your connections and views with beings that don't have the same genitals like yourself and adding to the demise and further separation from men like him and his followers and everyone else. But maybe that's what you're actually looking for. Life in misery.

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greensnacks · F

@JestAJester You assuming what I do is first layer of your blindness. You thinking what he's preaching is masculinity is another layer. You thinking that he's not a misogynistic man is a third layer of your blindness. Onions have less layers than your intentional blindness.

When you use belonging to create separation, you are missing out on gifts that other human beings might be able to share. The desire to belong in a group with similar thoughts creates drive and purpose and it's exactly what you're feeling towards that clan leader. The irony is that fundamentally we all belong to the human race.

I invite you to listen to the opposite of whatever you're idolizing. Listen, but listen with intention to listen and not to rebuttle.

P.S.if you don't find anything misogynistic in what he's saying, that says tons about you and how deep you're in.

FYI, it will only further extend your misery, not heal you, because he's talking about separation and not inclusion. Separate from what's innate in you instead of embrace, accept and learn to manage/feel/act etc

And it's okay to use whatever we have at hand and move on with the growth. I know men pressure men to stay in the same vicious cycles, but I'm telling you (and healed men too) that you don't need to "battle", "conquer", "dominate" anything or anyone to feel that void inside your chest. The only one that can fill it is you, knowledge and empathy. It's okay to be scared.

Btw, it's very unlike me to respond at all to your cult follower type, I guess you're lucky tonight.

JestAJester · 31-35, M

@greensnacks Not in a cult. In fact theres a big reason why I left religion, because I felt it was cultish and everyone was just strung along with the same mentality. No independent thinkers, just a bunch of sheep. In fact I am not misogynistic, I know I have plenty of faults and hopefully aware of all of them if not most of them and I am working to fix them. I would argue I have fixed many of them. I assume your first comment was in relation to my last comment. That was not intended to be an attack, its just a common occurrence. Its easy for us to judge someone based on a clip we saw of them and often the clip is either edited or cut short so we don't get the whole story.

I haven't really touched on his lectures of masculinity much but what I have touched on is his message for men. I think its on youtube, try "Jordan Petersen monster" and im just paraphrasing but essentially he teaches that a man should become a monster. Not in the literal sense and not in the sense of becoming a destructive and terrible person that is detrimental to society. But becoming a strong individual that faces adversity head on with an iron will. He says its ok to be afraid and in fact its necessary. You will never not be afraid but you can become courageous. And the more and more you face adversity and the sooner you face it, the stronger and more courageous you will become. If thats not good advice then I don't know what is. Why would a bad man say this? Why would such a scummy person teach something so fulfilling and impactful? Sure he has faults, in fact as I listen to him more and more I am becoming aware of them. But I myself am human guilty of many mistakes. You can not expect anyone to be infallible. No human is.

I'm not sure what you mean by seperation or atleast separation from others humans because he says the exact opposite. In fact he preaches that it is necessary to converse with your fellow humans who don't necessarily share your same beliefs. In one of his podcasts he actually says if you continually only converse with those who share the same thoughts and opinions as you do, you'll never learn anything. I believe it was that same podcast he said that you need to converse with different opinions even if it annoys you. So that particular accusation was founded either in misunderstanding or warped interpretation.

Also rebuttle is necessary. Its called a conversation. And just as Jordan said, I am conversing with someone who has a differing opinion that I meaning you as a means to learn and understand. Rebuttles are necessary for conversation and learning.

I'm not sure what you mean by the 'men pressure men to stay in the same vicious cycles'. But the following sentence is also something he preaches. Its sounds to me you and him think alike but for whatever reason there is some sort of misunderstanding or misinterpretation.

I'm not sure what you're so angry about and I don't understand why its directed at me seeing how I've never done anything to you personally. But that last comment, that was definitely a bit narcissitic like I should be thankful. I'm thankful to have conversation with anyone at this point.

See the reason I posted this was to open up an avenue of discussion. I want to talk to people. I don't get to in my day to day life. And Jordan is only one of many different people I like and admire. Because they are answering questions or solving problems that no one else has before. That doesn't necessarily I believe everything they say or worship a golden idol of them in my bedroom. Some people need role models and I had never had one before. I like Trump for example but there are some things I don't like that he does. I like Candance Owens, Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, Richard Dawkins, etc. They have a lot to offer.

And lastly, as a man who has been struggling with depression, anxiety, and existential crisis, forgive me for searching for discussion and answers to questions I've held on to for the last 14 years. Civility is not my strong suit but I am making an attempt.