THE LOBSTER KING: A GUIDE TO JORDAN PETERSON 

Wow I can’t believe how badly you misinterpreted him

Sisyphus55: “If no one can agree upon what was said was anything said at all?” Nietzsche: *ceases to exist*

Picturing Peterson and Žižek as Kermit and Oscar the Grouch is something more

I'm one of those who Peterson's books and lectures saved from a really dark time. But I honestly think the over exposure and international fame is slowly driving him mad. He's not as calmed and articulate as he once was. He seems more and more dogmatic and hateful. I can't judge him, given all the things he's gone through recently, but it really hurts me seeing him decay like this. Funnily enough, he follows his own rules less and less, and it shows.

Just remember guys, you don’t have to literally be the same person as someone else to listen to them. Disagreement and differences make us who we are. Don’t put yourself in a echo camber.

There is no undertone of sarcasm when I say this comment section is one of the most tame and constructive ones I’ve seen on all of youtube. Def subbing

I like how every thought by Peterson is followed by “this had some criticism”

It's so easy to eat up people's words, especially when the speaker is well spoken and well educated. This is a great video providing a critical perspective on a super relevant and outspoken figure, thank you Mr Sisyphus!

His advice to take responsibility wholly for all I do helped me a lot. Definitely don’t agree with or particularly like everything he says but his impact on me was undeniably positive so for that I’m thankful for him.

if no one can agree on what he's saying, does that make jordan peterson a modern art piece? Maybe the real philosophy was the arguments we had along the way.

My Top 3 Jordan Peterson Trademarked Phrases: 1. _Roughly speaking_ 2. _Manifest itself_ 3. _Lobster_ Honorable mentions: 1. _Hierarchies_

There are many great things I can say about this video, like how it subtly acknowledges that no single psychological strategy can apply for everyone: what works for Peterson's personal life might not work for Zizik's personal life. But what I really enjoyed was your use of soft music, warm colors, gentle but active graphics, and simple humor. Whenever I dive into the world of Conservatism vs Liberalism, I often end up with a literal headache due to the stress I get trying to decide whether I'm right or the person in the video is right. This was so soothing, and now I want to see more calming political videos.

The best analyses of Peterson I have seen on the internet so far. Thank You Sisyphus, keep making amazing content.

Quick shoutout to everyone who took Peterson to heart and turned their lives around. I know this guy has helped a lot of people who needed a push.

“If you can’t agree on what someone has said, then did they really say anything at all?” Jreg cackles in Canadian

"If no-one can agree on what someone has said, have they really said anything at all?" Beautiful. If you came up with that yourself, I hope History gives you the credit you deserve.

By far the best exploration on JP I’ve ever come across, and in only 15 mins! Love the steel drum outro too

Nobody: Sisyphus: *Shrek is an ancient symbol*

“His weakness is going beyond the mark of his area of his expertise” So basically the same as every public intellectual...

I really appreciated your critique. I’ve really wanted to listen to a critique that at least acknowledged he offered something while also addressing issues in his ideas. You’ve done both in a solid way. Thanks

The story of JP is kind of sad, his early works could really help you on dark times, his messages were about putting your life together and be good, but then once he got into politics (which he early stated wasn't interested in) it made his life went into a "weird" way. He could have focused on research and maybe find something of clinical value to actual patients, but maybe that way he wouldn't have published a best seller. But instead he gathered an internet public of radical people with poor understanding of social issues and acted kind of like a "guru" to them losing all respect in the academic and clinical field.

I had the exact same thing happen to me at the same time. My wife got cancer and I started taking anxiety meds and it destroyed my life, had multiple seizures, and lost my mind while she was going through chemo. I couldn't imagine having done it in the public eye.

I often find it interesting that so many intellectuals throughout history, who come up with “the answers” to socio-economic problems, are often deeply flawed, unhappy, unstable people themselves. They seem to be looking for the “one way” to make the world make sense to their own view of the world. Content, well-adjusted people (no matter where they are on the socio-economic ladder) rarely look for the proper “route” the world should follow…they are too busy just getting on with life to worry about it too much!

I became extremely fascinated by some of Peterson's work, especially at how he truly seems to connect dots from many different fields in order to propose new interesting conclusions about the human condition. Listening to some of his lectures on those things, is actually what sparked my modern day interest in philosophy and Jungian psychology. Still, I'm kinda glad I stepped back before being pulled into the more political aspects of his phenomenon. You summarized extremely well there, at the end, we you talked about his willingness to go far out and behond his area of expertise. A remarkable trait in some circumstances, for sure, but a potentially very detrimental one in other circumstances.

ah yes, my daily dose of lobster psychology.

As a young adult, petersons work made me a person who instead of being nihilistic and unambitious now chooses to face the suffering of life head on by creating my own meaning in an existentially meaningless world. I grew a lot as a person due to him. Striving to live up to your potential, focusing on yourself to set an example instead of criticising those who aren't one are some of the few messages that my generation is in dire need of. Our world today is so chaotic and disorienting and his insistance that our quest of being better people individually is the way healthier and more grounded way to live. The collective only grows from the individuals making up the collective growing and this is done by striving upward and forward in spite of life's challanges while encouraging others to do the same. The criticism he has garnered is definitely merited as his politics and philosophy isn't completely thought through but his value is immeasurable to people in my generation who are drowned by the chaos, confusion and meaninglessness that is now hardwired into our brains due to todays wierd world shrouded by social media, unrest and stagnation.

"Civil rights activists likely would have stuggled to enact any change at all if they focused less on their right to vote and more on the cleanliness of their rooms." Well said. This demonstrates quite clearly how trite his advice is.

Very well presented I have to say. I became interested in his lectures because of his passion and interest in psychology as a teacher, and since so many young males I feel like there is no purpose in this day and age so his attempt to motivate was very interesting. I bought the 12 rules for life and read it with a decent amount of interest, but ultimately I unfortunately haven't found the spark of energy to get me through life through his words like many others claim to have gotten. You went much further into his history then I had knowledge of, and ultimately I really like the conclusion you came towards about him: an endearing intelligent person who perhaps tries too hard to get to answers in fields that inspired him. Like you say in the video I too think he does it with no bad intent in his heart, but because of this day and age with media it is hard for anybody not to get corrupted by it and get into arguments that you never intended to have.

This is such a good video on him. Most people seem to either worship or despise him. But this is a much more nuanced take, looking at both his positives and negatives. Well done mate

I grew to be very critical towards his views on sociology, politics, gender roles and religion. On the other hand I can't deny that his "self improvement" and self reflection stuff helped me as a teenager.

Jordan Peterson has many good points. I try to live by some of his advice. I don't eat up everything he says tho. Just the stuff I feel applies to me. Like challenging your fears and keeping it tidy around you.

His works are admirable and he has definitely helped a lot of people, me included. But at the end of the day, he is human, with flaws and biases. We should keep that in mind.

The King of Kings: Jesus Christ The “King”: Elvis Presley The Lizard King: Jim Morrison Jordan Peterson: 🦞

i'm a 23 years old teacher living in africa, peterson lectures and book helped me take my responsibility and try to fix the things that i can fix .. for the last two years i have been learning how to code and i m trying to build a platform that allow people to support African children to continue their education. while teaching the kids in my local school.. I m just aiming to the highest star that I can see as he said

probs one of the best videos i've seen you make such amazing and coherent videos man. beautiful

Mom tells me to clean room and take personal responsibility "I Dont wanna!" Some Canadian conservative says the same thing but with lobsters and funny clothes "What a freaking genius!"

"If nobody can agree on what was said. Did you say anything at all?" I'd argue yes... I don't think that there is a single deep thinker whom everyone can agree on what they meant

When Peterson claims "clean your room" I think hes actually appealing to those who dont feel as if they have an identity or place in society. I dont think you can point to someone like MLK and say his argument is bunk. Even if MLK's house was dirty he still had his large goals and self purpose and structures built around him, he already knew his path. Peterson is saying an easy first step to being able to have a structure, being able to see your path, is to "CLEAN YOUR DAM ROOM, LIKE, C'MON MAN"

This was a great video. I know the lobster analogy is one of the things they make fun of Peterson for, but when I read that chapter in the book, what I took from it was basically, don't let a "defeat" keep you down in life. The more you let things keep you down, the harder it will be for you to pick yourself up. I find this as great advice or at least something to keep in mind, regardless of the method used to convey the message.

Man I wish I could make a video like that. I've been saying that the concept of journalism died in roughly 2016 yet it still exists in random corners of the internet.

He might not be the wisest philosopher, but he sure is a bloody well motivational speaker and psychiatrist, who helped a lot of people to get their shit together.

Peterson doesn’t argue that social hierarchies are good, rather that they are inevitable. Edit: I wanna say that I really liked your take on this, and you were overall very neutral. Good job!

Great summary, thanks! The most important bit is near the end (13.58 in) where you pick up an age old warning nicely put by Socrates in his defense speech - that is, don't outsource your understanding of how to lead a good life to any single person, just because they are good at their job.

A really smart guy with HUGE socio-political blindsides. Around 2019 I thought he could have been the voice of balance but he demonstrated otherwise when he started make a boogie man out of extremes of the left while being blind to the excesses of the modern right.

JBP has an engaging and inspiring refutation to nihilism (or antidote to chaos, if you will), which 18-year-old me badly needed at the time. I remain deeply moved by his pragmatic ideas on how to conduct oneself meaningfully, though I remain critical of his refusal to critique the right in any real form as he constantly critiques the left.

Jordans work helped me a lot early on. When i see how he acts now it makes me pretty sad. Maybe i didnt see his flaws when younger, or maybe his illness has taken a greater toll on him than he realises.

Another thing to consider with his “clean your room first” argument is that people who are struggling under the current political system are much more likely to be dealing with numerous personal problems than those that are thriving under the current system. It’s essentially saying that the people that should decide if we make changes are those that benefit the least from changes being made.

hey man, I respect the fact that you present actual unbiased research in such biographic way thats easy to follow and informative throughout the entirety of the video, keep it up, subbed

I really appreciate your analysis on Peterson and the potential motives and consequences of his work. Regardless of politics infused in the fans and critics, I’m still glad his lectures introduced me into philosophy, psychology, and even Jung. Also thank you for the fundraiser on men’s health. You’ve def earned a sub!

Jordan “roughly speaking” Peterson

Thank you for presenting such a non agressive and expository scrutiny, most other videos I've watched on the topic are really stressful to listen to and frankly seem rather radicalized.

I think this is a very fair overview of old JP. Very enjoyable content. :)

He’s a studied man with interesting things to say that can spur people to improve themselves. I appreciate his genuineness and how he has inspired me to improve myself.

The main thing i care about is that ever since I've started seriously listening to Peterson and following his "generic" advice, my life seriously improved tenfold. So that makes his advice true enough for me, because it's worked. And I know for a fact that if i believed less in self responsibility for my own life and more in the unavoidable impact of my society on me, I'd be having a way less good time of it.

I like listening to him talk, not to agree or disagree. I just love how he talks so fluently and is able to put such complicated ideas and answers into words most people understand, for me at least. It's like finally finding an abstract painter you actually understand.

It's so funny that people love the lobster analogy so much, but then go on to get it so completely wrong.

7:44 as far as I am aware, Peterson argues not that hierarchies are good, but simply inevitable. This fallacy doesn’t apply

Ah a new philosophy video at 5 am. How convenient.

Jordon person made me take psychology in university. I love him for the confidence he gave me, and while I have become disillusioned with him over the last few years, I treasure him and all respect him forever for the gifts of guidance and confidence he gave me.

I do not always agree with Professor Peterson, but I do listen. The core of "clean your room" is that you are responsible for your own well-being and need to put forth the effort to do the hard, uncomfortable work to make your life better, and it's far easier to get lost in social media and waves of politics and the manipulation that we are firehosed upon every day. It is far easier to become agitated and enraged from something that is fed to you in easily digestible, highly polished media streams than it is to do the maintenance on yourself to help you be a better person, a happier person. It's about self-reflection, and learning from that.

"Peterson cares about his clients and he genuinely believes in what he's saying." That is the reason why i can't hate Peterson, he's just another guy trying to make sense of the world, while doing his best to help people along the way. His intentions are genuine, and every once in awhile he shares some really insightful stuff. Also he introduced me to dostoyevsky. ❤ All and all a good person. Great video btw, this was probably the best Peterson video i've seen, very neutral and measured with fair critiques. 👍

I don't even bother analyzing the assertions of his world view. I just like being told to get my act together and contend with life's suffering through moral responsibility. It's rare to hear that.

You basicaly articulated my train of thought about him in a better way than i currentyl can. I too have seen him as an inspiration and smart man that ought to be listened to on the things he actually KNOWS. It is when he leans TOO MUCH into fields that arent his actual expertise, that it gets controversial and hard to stomach. So i am thankful for his input into my life, but i cant understand how anyone would follow his words blindly.

What a majestic piece of work

Generally once he breaches into the political realm he sorta stops being fully coherent, but his psychology stuff is really good for the most part

I am not a Peterson fan at all but I just wanted to comment on how fair and balanced this video was. We definitely need more civil discussion in this world and less instant demonization. Things have nuance, society tends to forget that these days.

it's cool how i did not know he has done and dabbled on so many different concepts and issues. i only knew him from his genesis lectures and am now following his discussions with other theologians and professors in his series 'exodus'

Excellent video! This really helped me to understand Peterson's thought. I'll proceed to watch the three hours long Peterson-Žižek debate.

He encourages people to not feel sorry for themselves, especially young men, and that is commendable and has no doubt saved many lives. He also seems to believe that this way is the only way, actively nostalgic for a world that never really existed. Show me the "natural" model where 1% of the lobsters controlled 99% of the resources.

Going down the Jordan Peterson rabbit hole was my first introduction to philosophy of any kind, and while I no longer believe that strongly in any of his ideas (especially after watching contra points video on him, which is pretty good), I would 100% credit him for inspiring my interest in philosophy in general, which eventually lead me to your channel, so it was nice to see my journey through the internet during lockdown come full circle. Thank you for making such a comprehensive, and well-researched video :)

I always hate learning about people like him, because any information on them is "theyre so smart and cool and amazing" or "they're literally a demon" and you can never trust what you hear I'm glad I can trust you dude 👍

"If no one can really agree on whats been said, have they really said anything at all" love it! Sums up jp

After spending several minutes scrolling down through the seemingly endless comment section, I just feel content on how alive and interesting this has been. People really exposing their thoughts and stories, mostly for the better, as far as conflict can missplace someone into a position that they feel the need to complement their knowledge baggage just so they can move a little further

Claims Peterson’s fears of compelled speech by the state is unfounded because “legal experts” claim there are rigorous standards....conveniently leaves out that Peterson’s employer has their legal team issue him a warning that he may be in violation of said bill.... The issue with this video is it leaves out the Claim, criticism, rebuttal structure that is needed to get the context on both sides...by presenting Peterson’s critics POV but not following up with his rebuttal to those criticisms it just presents him as being unable to back up his initial claim. The second assertion with issue is the claim that there is no serious left wing academics or intellectuals that are post modern neomarxist....meanwhile there are self described Marxist who fall in line with all the social movements of post modern ideological thought...i mean is that not the evidence of post modern neomarxist ? What does it then mean to have a university professor advocate for collective ownership of the means of production, while advocating for the post modern interpretation of things like the disintegration of the nuclear family, the demolition of gender roles, the redefinition of debate, scientific method, or classical studies as tools of a type of power play. If you just include the rebuttals you’ll add at most 5 minutes to the video and have it be balanced...anyone who watches this and not the large number of videos that have come out surrounding Peterson over a great amount of time will inventively get a bent perspective

This channel is by far the most centered most fair most adequate cover channels I have ever come across.

Your videos although great, make me sleep. I don't know if adding energy to your voice goes against your vibe but I certainly would love it.

Respect to your incredible work. There must be so much effort and thought behind the scenes, to articulate something clearly. Thank you!

"u see the archetypes, they're there man! the son saves his father from the dragon! just look!" - killed me

This is by far the best analysis on JP I’ve ever consumed - As a JP fan, this was completely balanced, concise and easy to understand. A very fair video.

I have seen all his videos and read most of his work the problem is people don't study for themselves. they just want a person summarize in 10 minutes, this is a guide to peterson not a tell all bio. Keep pushing the rock. Love this channel

It is definitely hard to create a critical analysis without glorification, nor vilification of one's actions. I really enjoyed the video!

I've never grasped the controversy with peterson, because I've only ever payed attention to his lectures. People feel so strongly either for or against him that i feel really weird sitting in the middle.

I read one of his book because at the time I was in a country that did not have a lot of english language books in stores, his was one of them so I bought it. I didn't completely dislike his book, some parts of the book I actually did find insightful, and some I had to roll my eyes at. It was later that I found out he is widely hated by people on the internet, mostly by people on the "political left". I think his thinking is very much outdated and sometimes misinformed, but I do feel there are parts of his philosophy that can be helpful to someone in the current age, we just have take pieces of his advice and internalize in a way that works for each person, instead of having this polarizing opinion on one man

Cultural marxism is not just a conspiracy theory though, it is an actual term in political science refering to applying marxist theory to a cultural viewpoint

His claim is that competence hierarchies are so deeply ingrained in our biology, that they will arise no matter what, and that trying to avoid or eliminate them is futile. It's not a naturalistic fallacy because he's not defending hierarchies or saying that they're a good thing just because they're natural. In fact, he's often made the point that allowing too much hierarchical inequality to accumulate can lead to extremely bad consequences, and that the traditional left plays an important role in tempering this. "Clean your room before you criticize the world", doesn't mean "don't criticize the world at all". It's a warning against projecting your personal problems onto institutions or other people. Taking the example you give about a marriage breaking down because the husband is working two jobs... It's certainly possible that "neo-liberal capitalism" is the problem here, but there are plenty of questions that could be asked first. For instance: Why did the couple get married before they were financially secure? Why is their household expenditure so high? Why is the wife not working? Can the husband secure better employment by learning a new skill? Can they move somewhere with a lower cost of living? etc. etc. Dismissing some of his political concerns as being part of a "neo-nazi conspiracy theory" is beneath you.

Peterson has his flaws, but has also helped a TON of people with his lectures/book(s). I don't get why people get defensive every time he is mentioned. This is a very well done video, I appreciate your hard work.

give it a full year and this vid is gonna get the craziest fucking part two

10:50 Using this image to represent Peterson v Zizek works on so many levels it's incredible

I'm not even kidding when I say this is the first, objectively balanced and accurate assessment of Peterson I've ever seen lmao

this is the chillest critique of JBP i have seen. truly an achievement

I found what he said (at least in the self help category) enlightening. That's why I made an effort to not form any political opinion as I read the books. I was left leaning when I started reading, and I still consider myself left leaning when I finished.

He definitely is someone with very strong opinions which are shaped by his own life, as we all are. I enjoy listening to his podcasts, he has very interesting conversations with very interesting people.

Oh so he gets to be the "king" lobster but I'm stuck being the gloomy lobster

It's taken me a while to get to where I am now, but Jordan Peterson is, at least in my eyes, is partly responsible for sending me down the "alt-right pipeline" in my early teenage years. Perhaps this isn't a symptom of him intrinsically but a symptom of me being younger and thus more susceptible to any idea fed to me. I watched Peterson's lectures which then led me to him talking on a few boards with Ben Shapiro. The algorithm picks this up and then recommends me other more radical channels and one day I wake up and believe that the "experiment of diversity" is a fallacy. After that I believed in an authoritarian ethno-state. I can't say this is singularly Peterson's fault, because after all, I was only around 14-15 years old. Regardless I think the ideas of Peterson outside of philosophy are ideas that are not terrible. Perhaps not all of these ideas apply to everyone, but I do wake up and make sure my bed is made and my desk is clean for the day. It's not that I want to impress anyone it just helps me get work done a lot easier now. I also like the idea of "petting cats on the street". In a sense, living in the small day-to-day pleasantries of life instead of getting caught up in ideas too large for me to handle. Some of the tenants of the 12 rules don't seem to construct a true picture of my perception of the way I live my life. Like the rule that goes something similar to: "Assume people are stupider than you." I disagree wholly with this statement. I think even the most stupid of people I've met have something to show me, whether that be about myself or about the world, and discounting them as being stupider than me makes the presentation of learning something from them a pill more difficult to swallow. This is the first channel on RU-vid where I have felt comfortable enough to send a large comment sharing my thoughts on the video and I cannot thank Sisyphus 55 enough for this. The videos posted here are a bastion for me whenever I am feeling philosophically creative. Anyways this is an incredibly long comment and if you managed to read to the end thanks for the time you spent reading.

This was a really great and fair analysis of JP. I found myself very very persuaded by his self-help, personal responsibility, exposure therapy focused rhetoric. It echoed what I had been taught by my father during my adolescence, and those lessons carried me through some really shitty dark times in my 20s, and ultimately found me on the other side as a better man. The grit your teeth, put one foot in front of the other, and don’t even fucking think about giving up mentality is powerful and ultimately leads to personal achievement when combined with good decision making and planning. However, Peterson is also extremely petty, says things that are demonstrably false to prove his points, and can be offputtingly arrogant. Ultimately though, if every idea I ever espoused was public content to be analyzed and cross analyzed for the past 10 years…. Well I’d be fucked. So I allow some leeway when he struggles to answer the question “are you a prophet”, but not too much…

Bravo 🙌🏽 Very very very well said. I think this has to be the most objective assessment I’ve ever heard about Jordan Peterson.

I'm a big time fan of Jordan Peterson (without an overestimation, his lectures improved my life) and I really enjoyed that video. I also think you provided a valid criticism of his thought in a very objective and non-personal way. Congrats, you've earned yourself a sub from me. Definitely going to check rest of your videos :)

It’s always a pleasure to see a great piece of journalism. A formal and factual summary of the subject at hand followed by a successful attempt to strong-man each perspective on the matter finished with a broader yet relevant moral or question. Informative and thought provoking. Thank you.

Truly excellent analysis, brilliant job!

Literally nothing inherently bad about Peterson inspiring people to take charge of their own lives, that's just an understandable perspective and completely valid. I however do have a gigantic problem with how stupid his perspective of gay and trans people is.