The Good, The Bad and The Weird: A Guide to Jordan Peterson
Public intellectuals are a common feature of contemporary discourse. Leary, Lacan, Chomsky and Rand have all had their time in the spot-light, representing entire movements in public thought and political change. However, none of these figures lived in a time in which social media allowed for instantaneous communication and, thanks to the glorious algorithm, the formation of toxic echo-chambers. These modern tools, that have led to the rise of dogmatic loyalty and hyperbolic criticism, have never been more apparent than in the emergence of the controversial Canadian clinical psychologist Jordan B. Peterson.
LIFE
Born in Edmonton in 1962, Peterson was raised by a fairly well-off Christian family in the small Albertan town of Fairview. At a young age, he recalls that many of his questions on the literal truth behind the biblical stories he was taught were met with surface-level responses. This pushed Peterson away from attending church.
At the age of 13, Peterson was introduced to the works of Orwell, Huxley, Rand and others by his school librarian: Sandy Notley, the mother of Rachel Notley, who would go on to become the…
