Over the last year or so I've found myself watching a number of videos featuring Jordan Peterson. I'd vaguely heard that he was controversial in his opinions which sort of sparked my curiosity to find out just how controversial he is. I'm pleased I did because his lectures are well worth watching. It's certainly true that some of what he says is not exactly mainstream, but there's nothing that struck me as even close to unpleasantly outrageous and a lot that showed insight into the workings of the human mind. He strikes me as a born teacher, investing his material with force and passion.
As with any good teacher there's a certain quirkiness about him and something of the obsessional, though in a generally healthy manner. But the one thing I found puzzling was his obvious animus against the universities and his charges that many departments are driven by a dangerous form of cultural Marxism. This all seemed a bit over-stated, a wee bit hysterical.
I'm beginning to change my mind though. The recent news that staff working for his Canadian publisher protested against the publication of his new book struck me as something of an ironic validation of his concerns as to the desire of the 'woke' to extinguish academic freedoms. Maybe I'm over-stating that, but it's sadly getting easier to see where Prof Peterson's concerns come from. Thank goodness that Penguin intend to go ahead and publish.
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