I have recently taken some flak for my blog post Jordan Peterson: A Black Hole and a Mirror, which I wrote back on December 12, 2018. Some found my criticisms of Peterson unfair or too subjective; others were quick to point out that I had neglected to mention the positive in Peterson's thinking and the good he often espouses.
I took a moment to reread the post and immediately understood why my thoughts regarding Peterson were being challenged. I expressed myself rather sloppily in that post, and my metaphors were quite muddled. Regardless, I still firmly stand by the main idea I clumsily attempted to put forth in that post - on the whole, Jordan Peterson is net harmful. Following his teachings and ideas might lead to some temporary good, but the entirety of his philosophy lacks a proper basis, so in the long term it can only lead to harm, and will definitely fail in the end. I will try to make my point more explicitly by using another analogy that will, hopefully, be more easily understood.
For me, Jordan Peterson's philosophy is like the architectural blue prints for a beautiful house. The house itself appears wonderful and solid, containing all the bells and whistles you could wish for - four bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, a massive living room, gorgeous hardwood floors, a state-of-the-art kitchen and all the rest of it. You take the blue prints and start building the house in a breathtaking landscape that offers inspiring and panoramic views from all sides. When you are finished, you pack up your things and in you move.
For a few days, weeks, or years, you will truly feel at home, comfortable and content. When you glance out the massive windows, you are fed nothing but inspiration. You have finally found your place in the world; a place you belong; a place where things make sense; a place that offers a future; a place you'll finally be happy. You begin to decorate the house to your taste - not deviating from the blue prints too much, of course. You paint the walls and hang some pictures to make the house a little more your own. As you do so, you notice fine cracks in the walls. At night, you begin hearing strange creaks and groans. The days pass and the cracks get bigger. One day you wake up and notice half of the house has sunken into the earth. A few days later the roof splits in two as the sunken half of the house keeps sinking. Before you know it, a major exterior support wall collapses, and your dream house eventually submerges into the ground leaving no trace of its existence behind. And there you are, left with nothing but the crumpled blueprints clenched tightly in your hand.
Simply put, Jordan Peterson's philosophy is like the house described above - a house built on sand. Like the attractive, seemingly solid-looking house above, the problem with Peterson's philosophy lies in its foundation.
If this story above sounds familiar, then you are more aware of New Testament parables than you might care to admit:
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 7:24-27)
I am not arguing that Jordan Peterson has no good ideas or talking points, or that his lectures and speeches do not, indeed, present some aspects of truth, beauty, and goodness. The problem is this - the totality of his good ideas is based on something inherently inferior, false, and foolish, and this pretty much guarantees his ideas, even the best of them, lack solid support and will ultimately fail at the most meaningful "level of analysis" (to borrow one of Peterson's own phrases).
Ultimately, Jordan Peterson is very much like the foolish builder above; though he has evidently spent a considerable amount of time studying Christianity, he refuses to hear the sayings and do them. Consequently, he has built his philosophical house on sand.
Having said this, I have nothing against those who find some utility in his work. I was favorably disposed to Peterson myself for many months before I gradually recognized the fatal foundational flaw in his thinking. Of course, Peterson still has time to build on a rock should he so choose, but somehow I doubt he ever will.
I took a moment to reread the post and immediately understood why my thoughts regarding Peterson were being challenged. I expressed myself rather sloppily in that post, and my metaphors were quite muddled. Regardless, I still firmly stand by the main idea I clumsily attempted to put forth in that post - on the whole, Jordan Peterson is net harmful. Following his teachings and ideas might lead to some temporary good, but the entirety of his philosophy lacks a proper basis, so in the long term it can only lead to harm, and will definitely fail in the end. I will try to make my point more explicitly by using another analogy that will, hopefully, be more easily understood.
For me, Jordan Peterson's philosophy is like the architectural blue prints for a beautiful house. The house itself appears wonderful and solid, containing all the bells and whistles you could wish for - four bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, a massive living room, gorgeous hardwood floors, a state-of-the-art kitchen and all the rest of it. You take the blue prints and start building the house in a breathtaking landscape that offers inspiring and panoramic views from all sides. When you are finished, you pack up your things and in you move.
For a few days, weeks, or years, you will truly feel at home, comfortable and content. When you glance out the massive windows, you are fed nothing but inspiration. You have finally found your place in the world; a place you belong; a place where things make sense; a place that offers a future; a place you'll finally be happy. You begin to decorate the house to your taste - not deviating from the blue prints too much, of course. You paint the walls and hang some pictures to make the house a little more your own. As you do so, you notice fine cracks in the walls. At night, you begin hearing strange creaks and groans. The days pass and the cracks get bigger. One day you wake up and notice half of the house has sunken into the earth. A few days later the roof splits in two as the sunken half of the house keeps sinking. Before you know it, a major exterior support wall collapses, and your dream house eventually submerges into the ground leaving no trace of its existence behind. And there you are, left with nothing but the crumpled blueprints clenched tightly in your hand.
Simply put, Jordan Peterson's philosophy is like the house described above - a house built on sand. Like the attractive, seemingly solid-looking house above, the problem with Peterson's philosophy lies in its foundation.
If this story above sounds familiar, then you are more aware of New Testament parables than you might care to admit:
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 7:24-27)
I am not arguing that Jordan Peterson has no good ideas or talking points, or that his lectures and speeches do not, indeed, present some aspects of truth, beauty, and goodness. The problem is this - the totality of his good ideas is based on something inherently inferior, false, and foolish, and this pretty much guarantees his ideas, even the best of them, lack solid support and will ultimately fail at the most meaningful "level of analysis" (to borrow one of Peterson's own phrases).
Ultimately, Jordan Peterson is very much like the foolish builder above; though he has evidently spent a considerable amount of time studying Christianity, he refuses to hear the sayings and do them. Consequently, he has built his philosophical house on sand.
Having said this, I have nothing against those who find some utility in his work. I was favorably disposed to Peterson myself for many months before I gradually recognized the fatal foundational flaw in his thinking. Of course, Peterson still has time to build on a rock should he so choose, but somehow I doubt he ever will.
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