I discovered Jordan Peterson sometime in 2015 long before he became a lightning rod in the culture wars ( after he stood against compelled speech in Bill C16 Canada, which legally insisted on preferred pronouns for transgender people). In fact, I was the first British journalist to interview him. I met him numerous times and found him stimulating and fascinating company. He was amusing, questioning and very intelligent.
I had become interested in Peterson prior to his rise to fame because I had watched his roughly videoed lectures to a small group of students at the University of Toronto where he taught as a professor during the 2000s and 2010s. The lectures were entitled ‘Maps of Meaning’ ( the title of a largely incomprehensible book which he wrote around the same time) and they asked a crucial question - ‘why do we believe what we believe’?. He was also an acute analyst of storytelling tropes, and he deconstructed Disney movies like Peter Pan, The Lion King and Pinocchio with great insight and humour. After that, he delivered a series of lectures on the Old Testament which were also intellectually provoking and entertaining. I thought he was a remarkable teacher, and someone possessed of a great deal of wisdom, charisma and potential. This was all before he became a global Internet celebrity.
Yesterday I watched a video of him called ‘A Message to the Christian Churches’ recorded nine months ago. It was the first time I had tuned into Peterson for a long time, and I was shocked. Who was this ranting clown, so full of fury and spite? Nowadays he even dresses like a clown ( see photo at the head of this essay).
Of course, I wasn’t that shocked. Peterson has long been possessed by the shadow of his own formidable personality, and his bullying, aggressive style has been well established. Long-time critics of the man - and there are many of them - will simply think I have been naive not to notice it sooner.
Perhaps they are right. But I cannot stand down on what I saw in Peterson when I first encountered him. Back before he became famous, he was playful, self-mocking and intellectually provoking. Nowadays he’s just provoking.
Was he always going to turn into the right-wing nut he seems to have become today? I don’t think so. He had choices to make, and I think he made the wrong ones - siding, at least by association, with the Trumpist Right. I also think part of the blame lies with the massive media backlash against him after he went to war with the so-called woke left. I’m not sure who won that war, but he was definitely left bleeding, and he ended up in a coma in a Russian hospital, before reviving and returning to the fray - all the more angered and embittered it seemed. I haven’t really been able to enjoy watching him since.
Peak Peterson came with his famous interview with Cathy Newman on Channel 4 in 2018 when he very gently made the superb journalist look rather foolish with his gentle probing of her very agenda-bound questioning, Since then, I fear, it has been all downhill. The Liberal Centre ( of which I consider myself a longstanding member) has been losing a hero ever since, and now I can finally acknowledge that Peterson is in fact, lost, not only to us, but I suspect to himself.
I could continue on in this vein for some time, but suffice it to say I have no interest in crowing over his ‘fall’ ( he is still massively successful) but mourning the end of someone who could have been a force for good in the world, but in the end just ended up stoking conflict and division.
RIP Jordan, I miss you. But your early videos still stand as a testament to the man you once were, and one of these days I will be able to bear to go back and look at them again.
I think his podcast is one good indication on how low he has fallen. There are some good episodes, but mostly he's just pushing his agenda everywhere he goes, and all he makes nowadays is propaganda. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a preparation prior launching a career in politics. Truly sad. I once was inspired by him, now it's just intelectually upsetting, sometimes even boring, to listen to him.
A good point. I’m often late to the party. The first time I heard of him was when he was interviewed in the observer. Maybe you did the interview? I think I read the book that he was promoting at the time.