Jordan B Peterson makes a mistake (Times article)

Dr. Jordan B Peterson has a new blog up in response to the publication of a hit piece disguised as an interview in the UK’s Sunday Times.

I’m a big fan of Peterson, as is my husband. I first noticed his online videos of his college lectures on philosophy & psychology, then became aware of his activism and, finally, his “Rules for Life” which became the base of his book of the same name. Larry and I were lucky enough to attend Dr. Peterson’s conversation with Sam Harris, moderated by Douglas Murray, in London a couple of years ago.

The Times‘ recent published interview is even worse than Peterson describes, with gratuitous remarks about toxic masculinity & unflattering, skewed and unexplicable comparisons to Donald Trump.

He’s posted the audio of the entire unedited interview on YouTube and has links in this blog post to the article published 31 January, 2021.
Here are a few of the hostile remarks by the author, Decca Aitkenson, from that article:

“I don’t know if this is a story about drug dependency, or doctors, or Peterson family dynamics — or a parable about toxic masculinity. Whatever else it is, it’s very strange.”

…

“After 80 minutes on Zoom, the one thing of which I’m certain is that, were I as close to death as she assures me her father repeatedly was, this is not the person I would entrust with saving my life.”

…

“The more he talks, though, the more I wonder whether toxic masculinity might have been a culprit, too. His family history of depression might tell us something about the price to be paid for his bootstrap philosophy; that when life became excruciatingly stressful, Peterson’s stand up, man up, suck it up mentality didn’t work.”

And, finally,

“Parallels with Donald Trump come to mind; another unhappy man closed off from his emotions, projecting strong man mythology while hunkered down in a bunker with his family against the world.”

If there’s anything I’m certain about Dr. Peterson it’s that he isn’t “closed off from his emotions.” Aitkenson is delusional or a biased liar. She’s no “reporter.”