I’m sharing this article because it changed my perception of Jordan Peterson, and exposed him as intellectually dishonest at best and more likely a fraud artist. Starting with essentially his dissertation. It is a long read but it is incredibly well researched and written:
My favourite Jordan Peterson story is how he got himself addicted to benzodiazepines and then felt he knew better than all of western science so he flew over to Russia to be put into a medically induced coma to overcome withdrawals since it was “too hard on him”
Unsurprisingly, the procedure had many complications and left him requiring extra medical attention for him to recover from the procedure.
If we all followed the teachings of jordan peterson we would be living in a world perfectly suited to jordan peterson. I would sooner live in a world which made jordan peterson suicidal.
Nobody is forcing him to be a member of the profession – to paraphrase one of his tweets that was complained about “You’re free to leave [the profession] at any point.”
Jordan Peterson really is free to leave the profession - he doesn't need the money. Meanwhile a psychologist who isn't independently wealthy can't express controversial opinions without risking his livelihood. I don't think "only the rich can exercise freedom of speech" is good policy.
“…being subject to a code of ethics or having to be more responsible and thoughtful in how one expresses oneself in public forums is part of the package one accepts in exchange for the privilege and benefits that come with being a licensed professional”.
Indeed. If Mr Peterson wants to present as a practitioner of a regulated profession, they have to follow the rules. They are not owed a right to practice, they are given a privilege to practice.
It pained me to discover that my brother liked one of his books in 2020. I'm very careful to not stress our relationship because he's otherwise a decent person. I shudder to think what other content he might expose himself to over time and what that will mean for our relationship.
Freedom of speech is between a person and a government, not between a person and a private club they pay yearly dues to be a member of.
The confusion is that in the US the professional organisations are a part of the government. In Canada, the government gives authority to private groups to manage themselves, and they basically get to be in charge of a job title. Jordan Peterson doesn't practise psychology anymore and hasn't for nearly a decade.
Yet he's kept his professional membership going. This way, he can say "As a psychologist, I think [some bullshit about something that has nothing to do with psychology]." This is more than enough for the College to properly reprimand him, as he's bringing the entire profession into disrepute - but they didn't even do that, they just asked him to attend a couple courses.
He could always quit the profession. He'd still have all the qualifications and accomplishments, he'd just have to talk about it in the past tense, ie when he was actually relevant.
Freedom of speech goes to die in favour of the rainbowtards. America as a continent deserves annihilation before this fascism disguised as libertarianism spreads to better places.
Freedom of speech IS a freedom from consequences. Sadly most people using freedom of speech term today don't understand that it doesn't apply to the context of the discussion. The whole article is just complete nonsense.