Debunking Jordan Peterson

Anybody can express an opinion on politics. But Jordan Peterson clearly demonstrates an utter lack of knowledge, understanding or study of politics, political philosophy, political economy, sociology or history, as anyone who has studied these areas in depth can immediately see. But he presents his opinions authoritatively, as if he knows what he is talking about, abusing his credentials in psychology, as if that makes him an automatic authority in other domains. It does not. Only people who are likewise ignorant and unstudied in these fields can think he makes sense, much less that he is authoritative. Specific problems with his pseudo-authoritative diatribes on politics: he rationalizes and justifies inequality, and presents a Dr. Pangloss view, akin to the fumbling Fukayama, or the more cerebral Pangloss Pinker (the Pangloss of the neoliberal faux-left) that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and neoliberal globalization is the best we can hope for. In short, yes, his venture into politics and political philosophy has been nothing short of a cultural disaster, considering his views are based in utter ignorance, and worse, rationalize complacency, complicity, apathy, and obedience to a social order which Martin Luther King Jr., and any other thinking person, would rightly view as systemically unjust, violent, elitist, imperialist, exploitative, predatory, authoritarian, unsustainable, socially corrosive, and rabidly anti-democratic. That is more than a little problematic. In psychology, maybe he has credentials. Maybe. In politics, he is a charlatan.

J. Todd Ring,

February 26, 2022

And here is the - pardon the expression - ass-kisser, faux “critique” of Jordan Peterson, which sparked these brief thoughts. Note that Jordan Peterson poses as a brilliant polymath. I see no evidence for that. I see an angry middle-aged white guy who was embittered by his lack of getting the recognition or whatever else he felt he deserved, who was caught on camera a few years ago making a semi-incoherent grumbling diatribe, and within six months, went from total obscurity to having a complete make-over of his wardrobe, hair, make-up, body language, manner of speaking, talking points - everything, which could only be achieved by intensive, high level grooming, for example by the CIA, who probably decided he was a useful idiot - to being the celebrity guru of Fox News, and the darling (pseudo-) intellectual of the alt-right.

Ken Wilber is a brilliant polymath (though seemingly illiterate in political-economy, political philosophy and sociology). Jordan Peterson is a sack of hot air, not a polymath, in any sense of the word.