I really appreciate the seriousness with which even the most dubious skeptics are approaching Jordanetics, and the way in which they are honestly reassessing their previous assumptions and beliefs in light of the information it contains. This detailed review of the book explains the process of what goes through the mind of a Peterson fan when he first interprets what he hears Peterson saying versus when he subsequently encounters the verifiable reality of Peterson’s teachings much better than I ever could.
– Vox
Confessions of a former, Jordan Peterson fan…
December 4, 2018
I’ve been a fan of Jordan Peterson (JP) for a couple years. I’ve watched many hours of JP video, including: classroom lectures, blog posts, event speeches, interviews, Bible story analysis, etc. I loved JP for denouncing Marxism, Leftism, SJW’s and speech control as he adroitly argued against many of the standard leftist positions.
On our family road trips, I would force the family to listen to JP lectures or speeches, then proceed to tell them what JP was saying.
As a Christian and Bible student, I understood that JP’s position on the Bible was flawed and that he was not a Christian himself, however, he was speaking against so many of the positions I was against that he inspired me to hope that he could stem the tide of those beliefs. I put some of my “faith” in JP…that was a mistake.
It is a strange experience to look back in time and see something I thought was so good, profound and impactful, that it moved me to tears, but now, realize JP did not really say anything I thought he said. I listened to the words he said, but I am the one that filled in the meaning…JP did not mean what I thought he meant.
As I was telling my family what he “meant”, I was really telling them what I wanted him to mean. JP was my “reason”, or excuse, for pontificating on various subjects and JP became a source of validation for my positions. I could state with confidence that my position was “right” and then point to JP and say, “See, he’s saying the same thing…”, thus making me feel good about this professor because he “backed me up”.
Later, as I noticed inconsistencies, or position changes, with JP, I wrote them off as mistakes, or taken out of context, or simply ignored them. I was not willing to accept that I put my faith in someone who would actually be antithetical to my beliefs; that was something I was unwilling to consider.
About this time I learned about some of Vox Day’s posts regarding JP’s positions. Some of Vox’s statements about JP were quite harsh. I thought, “Vox is not being fair to JP. JP is on “our side”, so cut the guy some slack.” However, one thing Vox said was the “key” that allowed me to reexamine my faith in JP. Vox said something like, “JP is repackaging Gnosticism and is not really saying what people think he’s saying. JP is literally evil.”
As a Christian, familiar with the problems of Gnosticism, I had to acknowledge that if Vox’s point was true, it would be detectable if I reexamined JP’s positions. My problem at that point was a pride, or ego issue. I did not want to admit that I could have been mislead, or duped, into following someone who was teaching something I knew to be evil. How could I possibly be fooled? I’m too smart to fall for that sort of thing, right? Not me.
So, I accepted some of Vox’s challenges. One was to simply “read” what JP was saying, instead of “listening” to it. Wow, what a difference! Reading JP’s words, I found they were devoid of the meanings I had been assigning to them. What he meant by good, evil, God, truth, etc. was not what I knew these words to mean.
When JP said to always tell the truth, I plugged my definition of truth into his statement. When JP said this or that position was “evil”, I plugged my definition of evil into his statement. When JP talked about “consciousness” I “heard” my definition of consciousness, or “being” or whatever.
But after taking some time to go find how JP defined these words or ideas, and ignoring what I hoped he meant, I was shocked, to say the least.
One of my life axioms is, “Only the truth can withstand scrutiny.” Therefore, never be afraid to scrutinize something; if it is true, then it will survive the scrutiny. It was time to scrutinize JP more fully.
After my own findings were eroding my faith in JP, I took the plunge and purchased “Jordanetics”.
The first couple chapters did little to shed more light on JP, but did add more reasons to doubt my faith in him. However, once I reached chapter 3 and beyond, Vox’s dissection of JP’s positions began in earnest. Vox’s approach is quite simple.
- Here is JP’s Rule for Life #X
- Here is what JP says, which does not address said rule at all.
- What JP is saying means this, using JP’s own words.
- Now that we are clear on what JP is saying, you have to decide what to do.
I decided. Instead of a thinking JP is a man that supports what I support, I’ve come to the sad realization that he is antithetical to most of my values and beliefs. Wow! That hurt my pride and ego, but truth doesn’t care about those.
I’ll summarize: If you believe any of the following, then JP is your man:
- There is no such thing as Objective Truth.
- Truth is whatever helps you survive.
- Being or State of Being is contingent on your acceptance of truth (little “t”) and rejection of “evil” (little ‘e’).
- Evil is that which hinders you.
- Jesus represents a state of being, but not a person, and definitely NOT the Son of God (God being the Creator).
- Satan represents a state of being, but is not an actual fallen angel.
- Social hierarchies exist, however, if you are too low or high, that’s evil. The goal is the middle, that’s where “good” is.
- All ideas of God / gods are simply mankind’s attempts to explain states of being.
- Belonging to a “group” will negatively affect your being.
- All concepts of “good”, “evil”, God, Being, heaven / hell can be unified and coalesced into one concept…the one JP supports.
I could keep going. However, if you find these concepts appealing, then JP is your man. If, like me, you find these ideas to be irrational, nonsensical, demonstrably wrong, the opposite of your beliefs, etc., and you’ve been influenced by JP, then read “Jordanetics” and see for yourself…
To those who wrote negative reviews; I read them. I was where you are…putting my meanings into what JP says. I feel pity for those who continue to base their support for JP because of “what they think he means”, when what he actually means is there for everyone to find. However, like me, getting passed your ego and pride might be the toughest step for you to take. But take the challenge at take it…
In other words – Only the truth can withstand scrutiny.