I had seen this interview before, but I happened on it again tonight. If you’ve never seen it, you might agree that it’s quite a spectacle–more than 25 millions viewers are evidence of that. Cathy Newman (of Channel 4 of a British TV show) is interviewing Jordan Peterson in 2018. This is intense and it goes on and on. I’m tempted to say that Newman violated every one of Heterodox Academy’s suggestions for how to have a civil conversation. This is not a conversation, but it makes for some extraordinary theater. Newman entered the studio to school Peterson. She put on a clinic in strawman argument. And after several of the most painful minutes, she still didn’t seem to have the faintest clue about the meaning of “multivariate analysis” and its relevance to many of her questions.
Newman’s main technique was to misstate Peterson’s position, requiring Peterson to dig out, over and over, which he does with saintly patience. Toward the end, the attacks turn purely ad hominem and then it’s finally over. This interview was a precursor to what has increasingly become a commonplace “interview” in 2020. Interviews are now too often gotcha matches based upon false accusations. When this happens, the advantage usually goes to the unfair interviewer because if the successfully defends the attack, the interviewer just moves on to another attack based on new falsities. There is an unfair disparity throughout these conversations, because it normally takes a lot longer to repair a false accusation than to make one. That said, Peterson patiently and swiftly swats these false accusations away, leading to ever new accusations.
I’m not entirely certain that I have yet distilled all of the take-home lessons here, but I watched the whole thing tonight, finding it impossible to click away to some other website. After it was all over, I found myself nodding in agreement with many of the comments, such as these:
Jordan: Hitler was evil
Cathy: So your saying you supported the Nazis?
“Let me get this straight, you’re saying we should organise our hierarchy like lobsters”
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Jordan Peterson: “I like ice cream”
Cathy Newman: “So you’re saying we should stop making yoghurt?”
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Kathy Newman’s greatest life accomplishment is probably introducing millions to Jordan Peterson.
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I have recently read that Jordan Peterson is again entering public life after a long bout with illness. In the following short video, he explains what he has been going through.
I was not (still not) familiar with Dr Peterson. This interview and the interviewer are indeed atrocious. But … There is something off-putting to me about this guy. It feels like arrogance, although maybe that’s not what it is. I saw it in some other videos I browsed through. I guess I’m the only one, though, because he seems to have a huge online presence and following.
I know what you mean about Peterson’s “bedside manner.” I assume that he loses some audience because of his delivery, even though I agree with much of what he has to say. He has lots of lovers and haters out there . . .