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Everything You Need to Know About Jordan Peterson (and it's not even 500 words)

Jordan Peterson is a professor of Psychology at the University or Toronto and he taught at Harvard, which is the Mount Olympus of academia for people who don’t know much about academia or Mount Olympus. As a professor at the University of Toronto, Peterson felt he was oppressed when he was asked to refer to students who identify as queer or transgender by their preferred pronouns.  He threw and enormous academical hissy fit and took his case to the internet where he has found fame and fortune as a right wing guru railing against political correctness. Dr. Peterson’s whole POV is that human beings are capable of doing evil deeds while believing they are doing the right thing.  Drawing examples from Nazi Germany and Socialist Russia, he argues adhering to an Ideology - in this case the ideology of political correctness run amuck in his eyes - creates blind spots in personal morality. As a form of security in a chaotic world full of people who believe they are doing good but are actually doing harm, Peterson proposes his 12 Rules for Life, his magnum opus, which is a system of ideas and ideals - or what one might call an ideology. 

Like the often misinterpreted texts behind the ideologies of Islam, Christianity, or Socialism, on its surface 12 Rules for Life presents as a somewhat maternalistic guidebook for living a virtuous life. However, in its name, readers are using Peterson’s thinking and indeed his own words as justification for mistreatment of transgender people, persecution of Muslims and serious consideration of blatantly misogynistic viewpoints and policies.  In effect, Peterson has created an ideology, which like those ideologies he so vocally warns people of, is full of blind spots in personal morality and easily misinterpreted by immoral or stupid people believing they are doing the right thing. But Peterson is making so much money and garnering so much attention that, despite his vast intellect, he's unable to perceive the horrific outcomes of his own good intentions. Matters are complicated as his positions are only calcified by his detractors, many of whom haven't done their due diligence: you can call this man many things, stupid is not one of them. Rather, he's so smart he can rationalize all of his ideas, even the truly terrible ones. Paradoxically, thanks to his own intelligence, Dr. Peterson is unable or unwilling to see he’s become the very breed of monster he’s been warning people about this whole time. Chapter 6 of 12 Rules for Life is called " Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world." Perhaps Dr. Peterson should read the book he wrote.
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