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| Jordan Peterson | |
|---|---|
.png) Peterson at the University of Toronto, 2017 | |
| Born | Jordan Bernt Peterson (1962-06-12) June 12, 1962 (age 62) Fairview, Alberta, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Alma mater | McGill University (Ph.D) University of Alberta (B.A.) |
| Known for | Personality Mythology and Religion Freedom of speech Opposition to enforced use of non-binary pronouns |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Psychology |
| Institutions | University of Toronto 1998–present Harvard University 1993–98 |
| Website | jordanbpeterson |
Jordan Bernt Peterson (born June 12, 1962) is a Canadian clinical psychologist and tenured professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. His research interests include self-deception, mythology, religion, narrative, neuroscience, personality, deception, creativity, intelligence, and motivation.
Born in Fairview, Alberta, Peterson earned his B.A. in psychology from the University of Alberta in 1982, and his Ph.D in clinical psychology from McGill University in 1991. He remained at McGill University as a post-doctoral fellow for two years before moving to Massachusetts, where he worked as an assistant and associate professor in the psychology department at Harvard University. In 1997, he moved to the University of Toronto as a full professor.
Early life and education
Jordan Peterson was born on June 12, 1962 and grew up in Fairview, Alberta, a small town northwest of Edmonton. He was the eldest of 3 children born to Beverley, a librarian at the Fairview campus of Grande Prairie Regional College, and Walter Peterson, a schoolteacher. His middle name is Bernt, after his Norwegian great-grandfather.
His childhood was bookish and he was instilled with a Protestant work ethic; he learned to read at the age of 3 and attended the United Church of Canada with his mother. When he was 13, he was introduced to George Orwell, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Ayn Rand by his school librarian Sandy Notley—Rachel Notley's mother. He also worked for the New Democratic Party (NDP) throughout his teenage years, but grew disenchanted with the party due to what he saw as a preponderance of "the intellectual, tweed-wearing middle-class socialist" who "didn’t like the poor; they just hated the rich." He left the NDP at the age of 18.
At age 17, Peterson entered the Grande Prairie Regional College to study political science, but transferred to the University of Alberta after he left the NDP and graduated from the U of A in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in psychology. Afterwards, he took a year off to visit Europe. There he developed an interest in the psychological origins of the Cold War and was plagued by apocalyptic nightmares about the escalation of the nuclear arms race. As a result, he became depressed about mankind's capacity for evil and destruction, and dove into the works of Jung, Nietzsche and Solzhenitsyn in an attempt to rationalise his emotions.
In 1985, he moved to Montreal. He earned his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at McGill University under the supervision of Robert O. Pihl and Maurice Dongier in 1991, and remained as a post-doctoral fellow at McGill's Douglas Hospital until 1993.
Career
From 1993 to 1998 Peterson lived in Arlington, Massachusetts, while teaching and conducting research at Harvard University as an assistant and an associate professor in the psychology department. There he studied aggression arising from drug and alcohol abuse. During his time at Harvard, he entertained and supervised a number of unusual thesis proposals. After Harvard, he returned to Canada and took a position at the University of Toronto.
In March 2017, Peterson was nominated for the position of Rector of the University of Glasgow. Peterson came fifth in the election, losing to the Pakistani-Scottish lawyer Aamer Anwar.
Controversy
On 27 September 2016, Peterson released the first part of a three-part lecture video entitled 'Freedom Of Speech/Political Correctness', where he said he would not use the preferred gender pronouns of students and faculty. In the video, he objects to the Canadian government's Bill C-16, which proposes to add "gender identity or expression" to the list of identifiable groups against whom it is illegal to publicly incite hatred against under the Criminal Code. He stated that his objection to the bill was based on arguments about potential free speech implications if the bill is amended. Furthermore, he argued that the new amendments paired with section 46.3 of the Ontario Human Rights Code would make it possible for "employers and organizations to be subject to punishment under the code if any employee or associate says anything that can be construed as 'directly or indirectly' offensive." The videos were criticised by trans activists, who accused Peterson of helping to foster a climate where hate and discrimination could thrive.
After the videos were posted, he clarified that he would consider complying with a request from a "non-binary person" if he was asked in the right way.
Works
The connection between psychology, mythology and literature is as important as the connection between psychology and biology and the hard sciences.
— Jordan Peterson
Peterson published Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief in 1999. The book describes a comprehensive theory for how we construct meaning, represented by the mythical process of the exploratory hero, and also provides a way of interpreting religious and mythical models of reality presented in a way that fits in with modern scientific understanding of how the brain works. It synthesizes ideas drawn from narratives in mythology, religion, literature and philosophy, as well as research from modern neuropsychology.
Peterson’s primary goal was to figure out the reasons why individuals, not simply groups, engage in social conflict, and try to model the path individuals take that results in atrocities like the Holocaust or the Soviet Gulag. Peterson considers himself a pragmatist, and uses science and neuropsychology to examine and learn from the belief systems of the past and vice versa, but his theory is primarily phenomenological. Peterson explores the origins of evil, and also posits that an analysis of the world’s religious ideas might allow us to describe our essential morality and eventually develop a universal system of morality.
Harvey Shepard, writing in the Religion column in the Montreal Gazette in 2003, states "To me, the book reflects its author's profound moral sense and vast erudition in areas ranging from clinical psychology to scripture and a good deal of personal soul searching..." He goes on to note that "Peterson's vision is both fully informed by current scientific and pragmatic methods, and in important ways deeply conservative and traditional."
Online projects
Peterson has produced a series of online writing exercises including: the Past Authoring Program, a guided autobiography; two Present Authoring Programs, which allow the user to analyze his or her personality faults and virtues in accordance with the Big Five personality model; and the Future Authoring program, which steps users through the process of envisioning and then planning their desired futures, three to five years down the road. The latter program was used with McGill University undergraduates on academic probation to improve their grades.
The Self Authoring programs were developed in partial consequence of research conducted by James Pennebaker at the University of Texas and Gary Latham at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. Pennebaker demonstrated that writing about traumatic or uncertain events and situations improved mental and physical health, while Latham has demonstrated that planning exercises that are personal help make people more productive.
Peterson records his lectures and uploads them to YouTube. His YouTube channel has amassed more than 200,000 subscribers and his videos have received more than 8 million views as of April 2017.
Peterson has also recently started recording a podcast: The Jordan B Peterson Podcast which has 14 episodes as of April 16, 2017.
Media appearances
In 2004, a 13-part TV series based on his book Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief aired on TVOntario. Peterson has appeared on TVO on shows such as Big Ideas, and has been a frequent guest and essayist on TVO's The Agenda with Steve Paikin since 2008. He has also appeared on the The Joe Rogan Experience, The Gavin McInnes Show, Reality Calls, Sam Harris's Waking Up podcast, Steven Crowder's Louder with Crowder, Dave Rubin's Rubin Report and Stefan Molyneux's Freedomain Radio.
Selected publications
- Peterson, Jordan. "The Pragmatics of Meaning"
- Peterson, Jordan. Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief. Routledge, 1999.
References
- ^ The Pronoun Warrior
- "Bernt. Pronounced Bear-ent. It's Norwegian, after my great grandfather."
- ^ Anne C. Krendl, 'Jordan Peterson: Linking Mythology to Psychology'. 26 April 1995
- Jordan Peterson
- ^ Where we live...; Fairview Post, 27 January 2004
- Ferreira, Victor (March 3, 2017). "Jordan Peterson, Milo Yiannopoulos backed to become University of Glasgow rector despite clashing with gender policy". National Post. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
- "New words trigger an abstract clash". Toronto Star, November 20, 2016, pageA2. by Rosie DiManno.
- ^ Toronto Star (15/01/2017). "He says freedom, they say hate. The pronoun fight is back".
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Craig, Sean (September 28, 2016). "U of T professor attacks political correctness, says he refuses to use genderless pronouns". National Post. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
- "University of Toronto professor defends right to use gender-specific pronouns". Simona Chiose, The Globe and Mail, Nov. 19, 2016
- Kivanc, Jake (September 29, 2016). "A Canadian University Professor Is Under Fire For Rant on Political Correctness". Vice. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
- Peterson, Jordan B. "Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief" Routledge, 1999, p. 12.
- Shepherd, Harvey (November 11, 2003). "Meaning from Myths". Montreal Gazette.
- ^ Kamenetz, Anya (July 10, 2015). "The Writing Assignment That Changes Lives". NPR.
- "The Jordan B Peterson Podcast". Retrieved April 16, 2017.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - McInnes, Gavin. "The Gavin McInnes Show". www.compoundmedia.com. Compound Media. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
External links
- Official website
- Peterson quotations on Good Reads
- Jordan Peterson on Quora
- Jordan Peterson official Youtube page
- Jordan Peterson on Twitter