DR. STRAINEDLOVE

Or: How I learned to stop quarreling and walk away from Jordan Peterson

Article by Matthew Iddon

My introduction to Dr. Jordan Peterson was probably around 2018. His notorious Channel 4 interview with Cathy Newman has been watched over 44 million times, and is undoubtedly a captivating piece of internet history. Over the course of a 30-minute interview, Newman interrupts, antagonizes, and mischaracterizes Peterson; poking and prodding in vain to wear him down. In turn, Peterson remains composed; unfazed. He confidently rebukes her at every turn. This verbal battering intensifies until she asks why his right to speak freely outweighs someone else’s right to avoid being offended — at which point Peterson utters the now-infamous quote “in order to be able , you have to risk being offensive.” Then, demonstrating his mental agility, he turns the tables: “I mean look at the conversation we’re having right now… you’re certainly willing to risk offending me in the pursuit of truth. Why should you have the right to do that? It’s been rather uncomfortable.” Newman pretty much runs out of steam, and the interview comes to an end

There’s a reason why that quip is the most replayed part of the interview. Something about Peterson’s stoicism and Newman’s flustered expression undeniably resonates (and the comments seemingly confirm this). Gen Z’s fascination with the conflict between logic and emotion pops up in internet meme culture every now and again, but has recently taken the form of the “Chad vs. Soyjak” comic. This meme exists in a variety of formats, but essentially postulates this: the correct opinion in any debate belongs to the stoic, unyielding intellectual; the incorrect opinion belongs to those too emotionally unstable to cope with reality.

Cathy Newman’s intellectual thrashing was likely a watershed moment for many young people, and many young men in particular. It certainly was for me. That killer line about the necessity of being offensive made perfect sense. Why should we sugarcoat facts for those who are too emotional to cope with the truth?

It’s 2023 now, and I’m 23 years old. As I sit down to rewatch the Cathy Newman interview for this article, I’m greeted by a Jordan Peterson ad. The man himself is sitting in a leather chair, shilling marital advice, and advertising himself as my “best chance of happiness.” It seems appropriate, since I feel as if I’ve been married to Jordan Peterson for years now — and I’m very, very tired.

Who is Jordan Peterson?

If you’re a young man between the ages of 18 and 25, you already know who Jordan Peterson is. Whether or not you found his work organically, or if the YouTube algorithm shoved him in your face, the man is an inescapable facet of digital life. He’s a clinical psychologist with a passion for mythology; he’s taught courses at Harvard and the University of Toronto, and his online lectures rack up millions of views; he’s written three books, and provides several self-help programs all while touring internationally. There’s no denying his resumé is impressive, but it’s not the reason for his notoriety.

Peterson has been a figure of controversy ever since 2016, when he publicly opposed Bill C-16. The bill was intended to protect the rights and freedoms of those with differing gender identities, but Peterson ruled it to be an authoritarian overstep intended to “control the ideological and linguistic territory.” While legal experts quibbled over whether the misuse of a person’s preferred pronouns could send you to jail, Peterson seemed primarily concerned with the bill’s infringement of free speech.

After this event, Peterson’s life and career became symbiotically intertwined with a new cultural audience, particularly young, conservative-leaning men. His book, 12 Rules For Life: An Antidote To Chaos advises men to “stand up straight with your shoulders back” and “set your house in order before you criticize the world” (a.k.a. “clean your room”). Despite being touchy about speaking on his relationship with God, Peterson’s teachings are undoubtedly grounded in a Judeo-Christian framework, which usually affords him favour with the Christian demographic.

Wherever Jordan Peterson stands politically (we know he’s antiTrudeau), it’s clear that he has struck a chord with a very particular subset. He advocates that tradition should not be abandoned without great caution, and disagrees that Western society and culture has been built upon a bedrock of systemic oppression. His scathing critiques of feminism, postmodernism, and Marxism have cemented his position as a countercultural beacon for young men who identify as right-wing, alt-right, or simply conservative. Beyond politics, he appeals to the disenfranchised and abandoned as a kind of father figure. But he didn’t reach them all on his own. It took a middleman to bring Peterson’s moral teachings to the masses.

Why The Algorithm Loves Him

Are you a college student trying to veg out and watch some YouTube videos before bed? The YouTube algorithm would like you to know that there are millions of Jordan Peterson clips available for you to enjoy, all conveniently chopped up into bite-sized YouTube Shorts. What’s that? You’re not interested? Don’t worry, YouTube also has plenty of content from Joe Rogan, Steven Crowder, Ben Shapiro, and other content creators that your liberal friends find “problematic.”

It’s no secret that YouTube algorithmically curates what you watch in order to suit your interests. With the proliferation of TikTok-style short form content across every social media platform, this process is made even more instantaneous. Each swipe takes you further and further into “your” personalized side of TikTok/YouTube/ Instagram.

Many have theorized that social media algorithms have an ideological bias that can lead users down politically extreme rabbit holes. While the thought is concerning, the truth may not be quite so scary. A study by Brookings found that YouTube’s algorithm only pushes users “into (very) mild ideological echo chambers.” YouTube isn’t necessarily leading innocent young lambs to the slaughter, and personal choice is still the main factor that determines whether or not you spend your evening watching Holocaust denial videos. So if there’s no grand conspiracy, why is there so much goddamn Peterson in my feed?

His scathing critiques of feminism, postmodernism, and Marxism have cemented his position as a countercultural beacon for young men who identify as right-wing, alt-right, or simply conservative.

The answer is simple. If you’re a young college student, quickly gaining an appreciation for politics, religion, and philosophy, you will surely stumble across one of Peterson’s videos discussing one or all three of these things. If you tend to agree with what he says, and you enjoy the video, you will be delighted to find that YouTube has ten more Peterson recommendations waiting for you. If you didn’t enjoy the video, but hate-watched even just a quarter of it, you will inevitably find yourself back in the arms of Dr. Peterson.

Short form video content has made this process even quicker. It may seem harmless to hate-watch a 30-second video, but after 30 seconds pass, you’ve advertised to the algorithm that you would like ten more videos where that came from, please. Even if you attempt to curate your content stream with feedback, it’s not just your digital diet the algorithm is analyzing. The internet is a vast ocean, and the same virtual currents that brought you to Peterson in the first place will see you drifting back to him again — and again.

Why People Love Him

There’s nothing wrong with being interested in some of Peterson’s work. He has a fascinating series of lectures on his YouTube channel in which he analyzes The Book of Genesis. He’s undoubtedly a very intelligent man who has contributed value to the world, and if some of his “12 Rules For Life” inspire you to become a better person, more power to you. His lessons for men are certainly more mature, thoughtful, and profound than the “advice” that people like Andrew Tate spew out. But when I see book titles like Savage Messiah: How Dr. Jordan Peterson Is Saving Western Civilization, I have to believe there’s some degree of blind hero worship happening here.

I mentioned earlier that Gen Z has a particular infatuation with stoic characters, and this is evident in countless internet memes. There’s something inherently humorous about watching someone have a meltdown when confronted with steely opposition, and the people who upload Jordan Peterson clips to YouTube know this. Videos titled “Overconfident Atheist Tries To Cancel Jordan Peterson, gets DESTROYED Instantly!” and “Jordan Peterson Instantly OWNS Woke Professor On Gender Pronouns” rack up hundreds of thousands of views.

Stuff like this is conservative porn. It intentionally frames Peterson’s opponents as whiny submissive crybabies, and Peterson himself as the intellectual dominant, bolstering the confidence of his young audience. Nevermind that most of these video titles are misleading (the videos themselves mostly contain civil discussions where no one gets DESTROYED or OWNED). They entice people on both sides of the political fence to click, strengthening Peterson’s digital empire.

I get it, I really do. As the culture wars rage online, young people desperately want to be included; to be viewed as intellectual keyboard warriors. Peterson has become a father figure to many, and like good children, his followers want to emulate him. They want to counter opposing arguments with cold hard facts and logic and be seen as deep, philosophical thinkers. I know they do, because I did too. But by emulating Peterson and other famous conservative pundits, you may be conflating “intelligence” with what is essentially just petty schoolyard bullying.

Jordan Peterson is not the stoic Chad you think he is. He cries frequently, loses his temper, and froths at the mouth when talking about the things he hates. He’s a human being. Not to mention, much of his recent online behavior is frankly vile and unpleasant. Whether he’s throwing a tantrum over a curvy “plus-sized” woman making the cover of Sports Illustrated because she’s “not beautiful” or calling a drag queen “the whore of Babylon,” it’s becoming increasingly difficult to take him seriously anymore. My hope is that his fans are starting to see this too. Try to mouth off in public like Peterson does on Twitter, and most people will deem you to be anti-social and embarrassing.

Remember that Cathy Newman interview? At the beginning of it, Peterson declares that there is “nothing uglier than an old infant.” Never before have such prophetic words been spoken.

In Conclusion…

Peterson is not just some amorphous online entity. In fact, he recently appeared at the Abbotsford Events Centre as part of his Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life tour. His appearance elicited a condemnation from the interim president of UFV’s Faculty and Staff Association (FSA), Greg Mather, who was “deeply concerned for the holistic safety of our UFV community members to have this speaker so close to our campus doors.” It’s hard to see how UFV’s overreaction to an unaffiliated event does anything but strengthen Peterson’s case. The things he says are resounding with young people in a very real way.

When Peterson cries wolf about cultural Marxism, claims to be a victim of the “woke” agenda, or when he is demonized by the left, his audience showers him with sympathy and cash. In return, Peterson caters more and more towards the 4chan crowd, pushing him further into the conservative “manosphere” until both parties are leeching off each other for support. Peterson’s online presence has become increasingly mean-spirited and extreme, likely because he doesn’t want to alienate the audience he’s cultivated.

If I could ask men my age one thing, it would be to carefully consider where you get your “wisdom” from. At this point there can be no doubt that the motivations behind self-help content are never wholly altruistic. Peterson has become a sort of “port-in-the-storm” for disillusioned, depressed young men. And yet, I can’t help but wonder: what precisely is the difference between catering exclusively towards vulnerable people, and preying on them? There’s good money to be made in telling insecure men how imperfect they are, especially when you alone hold the antidote to all their problems. Take what resonates from his sermons, but always try to diversify your media diet — man cannot survive on Peterson alone.

I am not trying to slander Jordan Peterson, or indict his behavior. Nor do I seek to poke holes in his arguments or somehow subvert his entire enterprise with “facts and logic” of my own. His beliefs are his own, and he has every right to them. If anything, I wish him success in his endeavors, and hope he continues to help people. I’m not smart or competent enough to challenge him on intellectual grounds (and as the man himself says, you shouldn’t meddle with things you’re not competent enough to deal with).

I’ve become exhausted with trying to be right all the time. Peterson certainly enjoys waxing philosophical about many things — his fans expect it — but I suspect he’s not competent enough to fully understand all of them. I’ve taken what I can from him, but ultimately I know that I have to look elsewhere to gain a wider perspective of the world. Plus, embracing the vision of a man who sees imperfection and chaos everywhere can make you bitter. Perhaps that’s why he’s abandoned so many of his “rules” in his own life, and why his online persona is so divorced from any semblance of the man who laughingly jousted with Newman in 2018.

I don’t have an answer to the challenges created by a society that is rapidly evolving and dissolving all at once. But I do know with absolute certainty that I can aspire to be a nicer person than Jordan Peterson — and possibly a happier one too.