About
Jordan Peterson is a Canadian clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Toronto, who has gained a significant following and criticism online for challenging postmodernism, political correctness and identity politics.
Career
In the mid-1990s, Peterson taught and conducted research at the Harvard University psychology department, where he studied drug and alcohol abuse-related aggression. In 1998, Peterson was appointed a full professor at the University of Toronto, where he went on to author and co-author upwards of 100 academic papers on a variety of subjects related to the field of psychology. In 1999, Routledge published Peterson’s book Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief, which discusses the the use of symbols in human culture, the relationship between religion and science and discusses neuropsychological research regarding ritual, myths and religious stories.
Online History
YouTube Channel
On March 30th, 2013, Peterson uploaded his first video to YouTube titled “Jordan Peterson: What Matters” (shown below). On April 24th, Peterson began uploading select university lectures to the channel.
On August 9th, 2017, Peterson uploaded an interview with software engineer James Damore, during which they discussed his controversial Google memo (shown below, left). On October 2nd, Peterson uploaded a video in which he discusses postmodernism with professor Camille Paglia (shown below, right). As of January 2018, Peterson’s YouTube channel has accumulated upwards of 600,000 subscribers.
Bill C-16 Opposition
On September 27th, 2016, Peterson uploaded a lecture titled “Professor against political correctness: Part I,” in which he announced he would not be using the preferred gender pronouns of students and faculty in response to Canada’s Bill C-16, which added “gender expression and identity” to the Canadian Human Rights Act list of protected grounds. In the video, Peterson argues that the bill presents a potential threat to free speech, claiming that those who refused to use preferred pronouns could be prosecuted under the law.
Peterson’s opposition to the bill was subsequently criticized by various activist groups, leading to protests against him on campus. On October 20th, the 1791L channel uploaded footage of Peterson arguing with students on campus, which received upwards of 3.1 million views and 46,000 comments over the next three years (shown below).
Podcast Appearances
On November 28th, 2016, Peterson appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. Within two years, a YouTube upload of the episode received upwards of 2.6 million views and 15,500 comments (shown below).
On May 9th, 2017, Peterson appeared on the podcast a second time (shown below, left). On September 1st, Peterson appeared on the podcast with evolutionary biologist Bret Weinstein (shown below, right).
On November 3rd, Peterson appeared on an episode of the H3 Podcast, where he was interviewed by hosts Hila and Ethan Klein (shown below). Over the next two months, the video garnered upwards of 1.75 million views and 10,700 comments.
Laurier University Censorship Controversy
On November 1st, 2017, Laurier University graduate student Lindsay Shepherd taught a tutorial class on language during which she presented a debate from the show The Agenda broadcast on the Canadian public education television channel TVOntario between Peterson and Nicholas Matte over the use of gendered pronouns. Following Shepherd’s tutorial class, she was contacted to meet with her supervising professor Nathan Rambukkana, associate professor in communication studies Herbert Pimlott and manager of gendered violence prevention and support Adria Joel. After audio of the meeting was leaked online, an enormous backlash erupted online in response to the way Shepherd was treated.
Channel 4 News Interview
On January 16th, 2018, the Channel 4 News YouTube channel released an interview with Peterson titled “Jordan Peterson debate on the gender pay gap, campus protests and postmodernism” (shown below). Within 72 hours, the video gained over 1.6 million views and 37,800 comments. The following day, the news site Quilette published an article about the .
Search Interest
External References