RE: Peterson's 12 Rules for Life v2.0-- actual book discussion
September 24, 2018 at 8:42 pm
(This post was last modified: September 24, 2018 at 9:13 pm by bennyboy.)
Okay, so I just finished the first chapter, entitled Stand Up Straight with your Shoulders Back.
Let me list my ideas about it:
1) It's very interestingly written. The way in which he humanizes lobsters and lobsterizes humans is humorous (Who's your daddy?), and the points he is making have very little to do with all the shit that's been said by the hysterical assholes critiquing the book. I mean. . . do people even know how to read?
For example, I've seen a fair bit of rage about the 350 million-year number. People rage on about false equivalency, and how seratonin affects lobster brains differently than humans and so on. They claim that lobsters and humans diverged 700-800 million years ago, as though he was actually pointing to lobster--> human evolution as a source of power hierarchies.
He said nothing of the sort. He's simply saying that power hierarchies are built in to biology right from the start, and that it is our biochemical response to winning and losing (which are actually evolved responses meant to minimize harm to individuals in conflict) that is involved in things like clinical depression. That, after all, is the point of the chapter.
2) It goes far beyond a typical (I'm thinking Anthony Robbins) style self-help book. There's rather a lot of talk about clinical psychology (surprised?), and about how instinctive success and failure mechanisms can be interacted with to good effect. It's not just a bunch of made-up woo, and clearly so.
3) His actual advice about keeping your shoulders back is really him saying, "These instinctive mechanisms can be overcome if we understand them-- and in order to function well in life, it's important that we overcome them." Keep in mind that he's a practicing psychologist, and his main job is to empower people who feel they have too little power over their lives.
I'll reserve judgment on the women's issues and the spanking thing until I get to those chapters-- but based on the responses I've seen to chapter 1, and what chapter 1 actually says, I think I'm almost ready to confirm my suspicions-- that his critics lack either the ability or the willingness to understand what he's written, and they're using his work as some kind of masturbatory trigger: "Just stand there Peterson, I'm. . . almost. . . at my. . . favorite memes about. . . the unfair. . . oppression of. . . the little guy. Gaaahhhhh!"
Haha, I noticed that, too. However, given how things have actually played out, I'd say it shows a pretty fair awareness of the state of things. I'm liking your videos more and more, though. If you tag them right, I'd wager you might actually get a significant number of hits! I'll make you a deal-- if you promise to keep making videos (and if you want it) I'll make you a slick animated intro like the pro sites have.
Let me list my ideas about it:
1) It's very interestingly written. The way in which he humanizes lobsters and lobsterizes humans is humorous (Who's your daddy?), and the points he is making have very little to do with all the shit that's been said by the hysterical assholes critiquing the book. I mean. . . do people even know how to read?
For example, I've seen a fair bit of rage about the 350 million-year number. People rage on about false equivalency, and how seratonin affects lobster brains differently than humans and so on. They claim that lobsters and humans diverged 700-800 million years ago, as though he was actually pointing to lobster--> human evolution as a source of power hierarchies.
He said nothing of the sort. He's simply saying that power hierarchies are built in to biology right from the start, and that it is our biochemical response to winning and losing (which are actually evolved responses meant to minimize harm to individuals in conflict) that is involved in things like clinical depression. That, after all, is the point of the chapter.
2) It goes far beyond a typical (I'm thinking Anthony Robbins) style self-help book. There's rather a lot of talk about clinical psychology (surprised?), and about how instinctive success and failure mechanisms can be interacted with to good effect. It's not just a bunch of made-up woo, and clearly so.
3) His actual advice about keeping your shoulders back is really him saying, "These instinctive mechanisms can be overcome if we understand them-- and in order to function well in life, it's important that we overcome them." Keep in mind that he's a practicing psychologist, and his main job is to empower people who feel they have too little power over their lives.
I'll reserve judgment on the women's issues and the spanking thing until I get to those chapters-- but based on the responses I've seen to chapter 1, and what chapter 1 actually says, I think I'm almost ready to confirm my suspicions-- that his critics lack either the ability or the willingness to understand what he's written, and they're using his work as some kind of masturbatory trigger: "Just stand there Peterson, I'm. . . almost. . . at my. . . favorite memes about. . . the unfair. . . oppression of. . . the little guy. Gaaahhhhh!"
(September 24, 2018 at 10:04 am)robvalue Wrote: I made a little video for people who are wondering what the living fuck a "villanous intro" is.
Haha, I noticed that, too. However, given how things have actually played out, I'd say it shows a pretty fair awareness of the state of things. I'm liking your videos more and more, though. If you tag them right, I'd wager you might actually get a significant number of hits! I'll make you a deal-- if you promise to keep making videos (and if you want it) I'll make you a slick animated intro like the pro sites have.
