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comment by user-inactivated
user-inactivated  ·  2395 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: I was Jordan Peterson’s strongest supporter. Now I think he’s dangerous

    How can you not realize the internal inconsistency in all those views?

There may be no inconsistency. Adopting ideas selectively is not a sign of cognitive dissonance or intellectual clumsiness.

I admire Peterson's (early?) lectures on YouTube. They showed me the road of life a little better. "Find meaning in your life". "Things won't come to you - you have to work for them". "Be the best version of yourself". "Make the best version of your opponents point of view - and then argue against it". Great ideas - not simply in the sense of splendidness but also in grandure.

That I admire those ideas doesn't mean I accept everything the man says. I had my doubts about the gender pronouns. I was somewhat willing to go along with the idea because I respected the man's psychological perspective on things that seemed, until then, covered in mist. I wanted to know how life works, and he gave that to me, so I reluctantly followed his other ideas.

It doesn't make me a social darwinist, or a conservative, or a misogynist. I think it just makes me a clueless yet curious young man with no authority figure to provide the necessary knowledge.

I think life is beautiful, and I even get to enjoy the idea sometimes. Depression is a bitch; otherwise, I think I would've enjoyed being kind to people far more often. Or maybe not, 'cause maybe my desire to be kind is fueled by the misery I feel and 'cause I don't wanna see people around me frown like I do. The dark well, and so on. Still, I think life is beautiful and is worth enjoying. I think people need to be more open about their feelings, especially to each other, and I think people need to stop worrying about being inadequate so damn often. We're all just walking each other home.

    So there needs to be an alternative perspective that can get people out of that depressing nihilism without all of Peterson's baggage.

This might be what you're looking for.