Biblical Series I: Introduction to the Idea of God (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-wWBGo6a2w&index=1&t=2305s&list=LLms0UnarvQV7mj_B7zT9MPw)
This a lecture series we've been batting around in #discord over the last day or two. It's not a straight info-dump so much as Peterson trying to work through some of his ideas in a public forum. So it rambles and digresses and circles around what he's aiming to say.
I'm not familiar with J. Peterson at all - I understand that he's a controversial figure in some circles, and there are a couple of places in this lecture where I want to throw fruit at him. But for the most part, I really enjoyed this lecture. Anybody who can quote the bible and homer simpson and give both some weight is a good orator.
Here are a few of the topics from this lecture:
- Why Nietzsche was right about Christianity destroying itself
- The unconscious (in the Freudian sense - the stuff we carry inside of us which has a big impact on our behavior despite us not being aware of it) and how it's the space where myths take place
- the origin of philosophical or moral ideals and how they move from concrete behaviors to symbolic abstractions
- The underlying psychological forces which inform biblical mythology, law, and concepts like sovereignty..
- and how those forces may also be what the ancient Greeks and Israelites meant by "God"
I thought you cats might dig some of this stuff - at the very least, it's thought provoking
I thought his interview on the Joe Rogan Experience was fascinating. I took him to be a sort of evolutionary psychologist and is perspective on many "archaic" ideas being passed on from pre-human times very interesting to ponder (i.e. snakes representing evil goes all the way back to tree dwelling monkey times)
ugh, evo psych gives me hives, & I just discovered his clashes with "the SJWs".... ughhhh I think I'll stick to his religious studies stuff.
Quote from: Cramulus on August 15, 2017, 09:30:05 PM
ugh, evo psych gives me hives . . .
oh? it was my first and only exposure to it - i didn't really even know it was a thing
let me put it this way - evo psych is the domain of "just so (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_So_Stories)" stories... It's not evidence based. You don't collect data and then come up with a theory to organize it. A lot of evo psych starts with a premise, like, men are naturally promiscuous and women are naturally monogamous, and then tries to concoct a reductive explanation for why this behavior is informed by natural selection. A lot of evo psych isn't falsifiable. And it's one of these things that typically gets thrown around in defense of some repugnant ideas.
I might have to watch the Joe Rogan podcast... idk, I try to limit my intake of talks about "The SJWs" these days, as a bloodpressure precaution.
It really throws me when somebody can speak so eloquently and deeply about one topic and then be a shithead in other dimensions.
I see where you are coming from with the "just so" stories comparison - i didn't think of it in that context. I was more fascinated with the connection he made between some dots that i never thought to even try connect.
I'm not sure you will like the Joe Rogan interview as it does, if i recall, delve into quite a bit of left vs right discussion. . .
Quote from: rong on August 16, 2017, 12:40:50 AM
I see where you are coming from with the "just so" stories comparison - i didn't think of it in that context. I was more fascinated with the connection he made between some dots that i never thought to even try connect.
I'm not sure you will like the Joe Rogan interview as it does, if i recall, delve into quite a bit of left vs right discussion. . .
I heard it, I can say it's not /entirely/ that, but you're better off sticking with the lectures. I feel like he's overly cerebral in that same way that sam harris is--you know, that ignoring the social implications of what he says kinda thing and also something about staying in one's own lane. But, the flip-side, he does really dig deep on a biblical interpretation i haven't really considered before.
i get a kick out of the canadian accent, too
Quote from: rong on August 16, 2017, 01:36:04 PM
i get a kick out of the canadian accent, too
:lol: to my ear, he keeps morphing from Crispin Glover to Kermit the Frog
Quote from: Bu☆ns on August 16, 2017, 03:45:16 PM
Quote from: rong on August 16, 2017, 01:36:04 PM
i get a kick out of the canadian accent, too
:lol: to my ear, he keeps morphing from Crispin Glover to Kermit the Frog
That's how we all sound.
I'm about half an hour into the first lecture. I like how painstakingly honest he is about what is unknown and that he understands the oversimplification epidemic in academia and elsewhere. Going to take the whole 6 hours of stuff one bite at a time, but this seems darn well worth it.
Wow. That's 2 hrs 40ish minutes I won't get back again; eeeugh, creepy and aggressive.
ah, I long for the naievity of this time last year
You mean you don't want to know about lobster hierarchies? Aren't you at least interested in slaying the Dragon of Chaos? Will you not even consider washing your penis?
In still cleaning my room
Quote from: Cain on August 15, 2018, 05:13:44 AM
You mean you don't want to know about lobster hierarchies? Aren't you at least interested in slaying the Dragon of Chaos? Will you not even consider washing your penis?
For all of Peterson's major flaws and faults, "consider washing your penis" really is fairly sound advice.
(https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/373/910/2e6.jpg_large)
:lulz:
:lulz: okay, okay... I cooke deh thish:
What's so special about dreams?
(this one actually does not stink)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Qcz67m4ks_E
Cram and I had an interesting talk about Peterson almost a year ago... at that point I had reservations about him but it wasn't yet so clear how horrendous he could be. I feel like since that time he got swept up in popularity for one particular aspect of his focus and now that's all he talks about. Now he is just preaching to the choir because most others have written him off completely. Maybe he will be the new Alex Jones once the original explodes.
Also: lobsters.
yeah, when he was emerging, it seemed like he could have just become an innocuous pop-psych guru that helps explain Jung/Campbell to lost teens that need role models
In the bible series, you can see the stormclouds of what's to come. At the end of the lecture, he opens the floor up for questions. And people really want to talk to him about his controversial social justice opinions. And he leans into it, hard, and it gradually takes over his lectures.
my fav response to Peterson is from Contrapoints
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LqZdkkBDas
Contrapoints rules in general. Peterson realized there was a SHIT ton of money to be made in developing and expounding on his anti-SJW platform, and he gets the side benefit of believing that he's saving Western civilization. He ticks many of the boxes for a charismatic cult leader.
Peter Coffin also has some content describing the JPB phenomenon (mostly as a way to get at more general points):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kbk_4x70OG4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j66nyzeoO5M
This is background narrative I inferred, knowing full well my total ignorance of actual facts: fringe orator of decent frequency gets spun into the main tapestry for a hot moment. In his elation, he sticks his dick into something he shouldn't have, which then results in black-mail. Gets a taste of deh powas, agrees to fast-tracking of career that uses his platform as carrier signal for political agitprop and/or alt-right messaging. From what I can tell, I'm basing this on the Australian model. What's actually happening, I don't know, only that I'm disappointed by this leitmotif.