A collection of all of the questions Jordan Peterson has been asked. If we missed any, please let us know! If you're wondering why we're called "Daddy JP," here is the answer!
Stories and Archetypes
- Are you a science fiction fan?
- Have you watched Rick and Morty? [1] [2]
- How can Disney produce an archetypal masterpiece in the mid-nineties (Lion King) and then turn around and create propaganda in the new millennium (Frozen)?
- How we revive interest in the ‘good mother’ archetype?
- How will rescuing my father from the belly of the whale help me with regards to leftist ideologies?
- In one of your lectures you said the film Frozen was garbage. Can you elaborate on those thoughts?
- Is there a universal female story opposite to the hero myth?
- My father is dead. Who do I save from the whale?
- Thoughts on the passage in Paradise Lost where the demons crack open hell, take out gold, and build a temple to themselves, and the connection with the Faustian bargain of the Industrial Revolution?
- What are your thoughts on Tolkien and his work? Not just the Lord of the Rings, but the Silmarillion which seems like a modern Bible.
- What do you think is the archetypal significance of the popularity of the anti-hero in American television?
- What is the female equivalent of the hero archetype?
- What is your view on the book/movie Fight Club?
- Why are dragons in western culture bringers of death and destruction that must be slain, while in the East, they’re portents of good fortune to be revered?
- Why do humans enjoy sad stories?
Culture and Politics
- An idea that emerged from your discussion of the 2008 economic crisis was the perceived culture war of Marx versus Mill. You criticize Postmodern and neo-Marxism often, but there is a critic of Mills. Janis Varoufakis—the former Greek finance minister—levied a critique of Mill about his alleged contempt for the population, and the issues that capitalism leads to like “too big to fail”. Do you have an opinion on this criticism of Mill or Janis Varoufakis’ stance as an “erratic Marxist”?
- Are you in the Illuminati?
- Aren't there any positive things about postmodernism or the egalitarian wave of the 1960's?
- Aside from being a workplace, Google controls a huge amount of the information that people get. What happens to society when companies like this start to censor? How much is this already happening?
- Do you believe in the power of Lord Kek? What do you think about the rise of Meme Magic?
- Do you believe there’s any connection between leftist identity politics of past decades and the emergent white identity politics of the alt-right?
- Do you think gender and biological sex are two tools in describing identity?
- Do you think you publicly disassociate yourself enough from your neo-Nazi followers that use your work as justification for violence and propaganda?
- How do you convince people that there’s a point to standing up against censorial and oppressive workplaces/systems when it appears to be futile?
- How do you justify a rejection of identitarianism when a pillar of the neo-Marxist strategy is to demographically replace the indigenous people of Europe?
- How important is the American right to bear arms and maintain militias? Is it equivalent to the right to free speech?
- How would you address accusations that you are creating another ideological group identity which is equal in its capacity for destruction to Post-Modern neo-Marxism?
- I agree we don't live in a tyrannical patriarchy. Can you provide a better explanation for the inequities women face, especially lateness of the right to vote, etc?
- I was wondering what you thought of Santa Claus. Is it a healthy thing for parents to practice? What's the psychological impact of lying to your child?
- If you could talk to Donald Trump for a day what would you try to say/convince him about?
- In a country like Canada where we're pretty gender equal, is there any merit to the idea that SJWs are trying to create chaos to prevent things from becoming static?
- It seems hard to act out honesty when every facet of human behavior has turned into a meme, so I worry people's natural reaction will be to mock or scoff.
- It seems like radical left-wingers on campus often tell people what to think, what words they can use, and what speakers they can and cannot listen to. Then the government backs them up. What do you think the endgame in all this is?
- It seems we are bound to repeat history... Why can't we find equilibrium in our society?
- Many of my friends sing the wonders of diversity. I try to tell them diversity isn't a moral good but I end up looking like some terrible racist. Why isn't diversity a moral good?
- Please explain the difference between equity and equality? Why is equity dangerous?
- Some governments like Russia and Iran do not want to conform to the nihilistic aspects of the West and as a result have taken an anti-Western approach… So, tyranny or nihilism?
- There are many drug-addicted, mentally ill homeless people in my city and it seems to keep getting worse. How do we help people who don't want to be helped?
- Thoughts on Brexit?
- Thoughts on gay marriage?
- Thoughts on the drug epidemic?
- Thoughts on the Jews? [1] [2] [3]
- Thoughts on the radical left and their superficial view on the environment? How is this influenced by their own raw emotions, inviting questionable, immoral, and dangerous actions despite good intentions?
- Thoughts on the Vegas shooting? (October 2017)
- Were the Nazis left-wing?
- What are your thoughts on Sophia’s (a Saudi robot's) citizenship status?
- What are your views on any consciousness, or lack thereof, of a human fetus? And how does that impact your views on abortion and any legislation of it?
- What do you think about the removal of comments favourable to you from the recent Hamilton Spectator article online?
- What do you think of Paul Joseph Watson’s position that populism is the new punk/counterculture?
- What do you think of the phrase “Diversity is our Strength”?
- What’s going on with censorship, and what should people do about it? (August 2017)
- What's with all the synchronistic frog occurrences?
- You emphasize the spoken truth and negotiation as the alternative to war and cite Solzhenitsyn as a brilliant documenter of the potential or inevitable fall-out of deceit. But in Solzhenitsyn’s diagnosis of the factors leading to the Gulag Archipelago he also included the failure of people to take a violent stance to disrupt tyranny [….] Do the weapons and power of today make violence an inevitable course of action?
- You talked about how society needs a dreamlike religious base so we don’t go between left and right violently, then you also said you admired Nietzsche for chopping down these ideological and dogmatic weeds coming up from the base of Christianity. How can society have this religious base without having these dangerous ideologies that spring up every once in a while?
Education, University, and Therapy
- Advice for aspiring philosophy graduate students?
- Any suggestions for someone about to start university?
- As a student, how do I deal with the leftist ideology in my university education? [1] [2] [3] [4]
- Do you have a more specific breakdown of the social sciences (in relationship to which University courses have been taken over by Post-Modern neo-Marxists)? (August 2018)
- Do you suggest homeschooling with the state public schools are currently in?
- Have you ever had to tell someone that they are best suited to a subservient/blue-collar lifestyle because they don't have any semblance of brilliance?
- How can school teachers promote virtue, morality, and meaning in the face of a chaotic future and the postmodernism in the system? [1] [2]
- How did the postmodernists so successfully take over the education system?
- I don't want my young children indoctrinated with dangerous ideas, and as times goes on I trust public education less and less. I know you have strong thoughts on the danger of the devouring mother, but I wonder if in spite of your idea that kids need to become tough and learn to slay dragons, if you have anything good to say about the idea of homeschooling?
- I have a friend who’s considering majoring in psychology. What advice would you give them?
- I have an interview for medicine coming up very soon. It’s structured in the MMI format and it’s intensely competitive. Any tips on how to stand out from the rest?
- I'm a clinical and counseling masters student. If we conceptualize psychotherapy as a guided meta-heroic journey, what should we watch out for in the process itself? What should we be afraid of or cautious about, or what should we tend toward?
- If Christianity has much historical wisdom to offer, why is it so derided in the academy? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Why?
- Is mathematics more powerful than articulated speech? Does it make you more powerful to study hard sciences and mathematics than the humanities?
- Regarding the online university you plan to create. How can a student such as myself get involved with this process? (July 2017)
- Regarding the online university you plan to create. What plans do you have for the accreditation side, where people can show something for the time they spent? (July 2017)
- Regarding your ideas about an online university, a huge part of learning is interaction and discourse which seems very difficult in an online setting. It’s hard to keep motivated when you're isolated and nobody around you is pursuing the same goal. How would you address that?
- Should artists waste their time in art school?
- Suggestions on how to take notes on books and lectures?
- The opioid crisis in my community bothers me. I have been thinking about becoming a police officer. The culture isn't favorable toward cops lately. Maybe majoring in law and grad school instead? Advice please.
- What is the relationship between IQ and wisdom?
- What is the role of psychology in the selective reconstruction of ethics?
- What is your advice for finding a sane, sound therapist? And do you think a fruitful psychotherapeutic relationship requires compatibility and alignment in broad categories?
- What type of therapy should I seek for my social anxiety with so many options available?
- What would you say the male to female ratio is in your classrooms currently?
- What’s the best method to retain what you read and to be able to use it in conversation?
- You have said that to study history is to study oneself, and that one will be much more grounded and strong if they do so. Will you please talk more on this?
- You mentioned earlier there’s been a pervasive problem of nihilism and moral relativism and that it can be cured with a less naive optimism grounded in fact. Is there a way to communicate that message to a younger audience?
- You've said we need to starve Postmodern Neo-Marxism out of our universities at the source, including the idea that the government should cut funding to those universities by 25% and let them fight it out over the rest. Politicians like Andrew Scheer have taken this up. Thoughts?
Goals, Emotions, and Personality
- Advice for someone with intense chronic pain who wants to contribute to society and tend to responsibilities?
- Advice for those unable to verbalize their thoughts coherently or in real-time? [1] [2]
- Advice for those with high intelligence but low agreeableness/extraversion in making and maintaining friendships?
- Advice to those consumed with envy? [1] [2]
- Are criminality, creativity, and the drive to change the world linked? If so, do they manifest differently in men and women?
- As someone who got a humanities degree, bought into postmodern ideology completely and, until hearing your lectures, couldn't pinpoint that feeling of aimlessness, hopelessness, and aversion to responsibility--how do I begin sorting myself out?
- Can an introvert thrive in the field of law or should they avoid it?
- Can I be a successful teacher if I am an introvert?
- Can you teach introverts to be extraverts?
- Do what extent do you think your advice to young people are predicated on your own personality?
- Do you discard or burn off parts of your personality that don't work or cause problems, or is the path to being stronger figuring out how to put everything together like Jung’s incorporating the shadow?
- Do you have advice for people making New Year's resolutions?
- Do you have any advice for figuring out whether vengeance is ever a good thing or is it always bad?
- Do you have any practical advice on how I can improve my ability to concentrate and pay attention to the world around me?
- For those who are very creative but high in neuroticism, how should one work to gain emotional stability in order to go out into chaos to do more creative things?
- Highly creative/open, stupendously low in conscientiousness. Am I doomed? [1] [2]
- How can a person go through the Future Authoring process of imagining a future for yourself as though you are someone you care about when you hate yourself?
- How can you be confident and courageous if your father was emotionally absent and narcissistic? I'm 21 and very creative. My mother is a people-pleaser who isn't confident in herself and uses me as emotional support.
- How do I deal with the fact that I am a pedophile? And should I tell my family and friends?
- How do I get over my fears about driving? [1] [2]
- How do I make a schedule that doesn't make me a tyrant to myself?
- How do I stop ruminating? These thoughts are recurring and relate to every and any embarrassing moment I have ever had during my lifetime.
- How do I use the results of the new personality test for progress in life?
- How do you boost your confidence talking to people and get rid of the paranoia that people hate you or don't like you and think you're trash?
- How do you help someone with borderline personality disorder? [1] [2] [3]
- How do you maintain a stable identity when you are plagued by bouts of depression and anxiety?
- How do you motivate yourself to do something that you do not enjoy but you deem important, like study for exams?
- How do you set goals if you don't know where you want to go?
- How does the score of 91 for compassion and 1 for politeness equals a score of 35 for agreeableness?
- How many times should I clean my room?
- How should a manager use the Pareto principle in his favor at work? I focus too much on the bottom percentages that cause most of the problems.
- How should one deal with recurring self-pity and why is it so gripping?
- How should people manage jealousy?
- How to be less afraid of death?
- How would you give a speech to Soldiers entering the Army about responsibility? I will command a basic training unit and address young Soldiers. Advice?
- How would you suggest a jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none conduct themselves?
- I am highly educated, I haven't had any job offers in anything other than retail or all-commission sales in over a year. What should I be applying for?
- I have a high need for intellectual stimulation and I can't get that in dialogue with most people. The more difficult things one reads, the harder it is for intellectuals to talk to working class people. How can this be addressed?
- I have agoraphobia and would like to hear you talk about anxiety.
- I have trouble regulating my emotions. It may be because of high openness/conscientiousness/neuroticism and low agreeableness/extraversion. Any tips on dealing with that?
- I lose my ability to think straight or intelligently in confrontational or unfriendly social situations. Any suggestions for adaptation or improvement?
- I recently found out that my father was a former Khmer Rouge. I feel hurt that he was part of the horror in Cambodia. How do I deal with this?
- I scored the zeroth percentile for conscientiousness and the 84th for neuroticism. How do I improve these scores?
- I’d like to take a good big 5 test, I've noticed there are many online. Where can I find the most accurate test to take?
- I'm halfway finished cleaning my disaster of a room.
- I'm told that my overanalyzing is a double-edged sword, but I'm suffering from being this way. I find relief when I drink, smoke, or take certain drugs because it slows down my thought process. How can I use my over-analysis to my advantage?
- If we have betrayed or let people down in the past, how does one move on without guilt turning pathological?
- In the story of Jacob there is a theme of betrayal. Are there any stories where the root of the betrayal isn’t so black and white, and how do the parties recover from that? Or is it always black and white? (best guess)
- Is it appropriate to aim to have as much of an impact as you or more so?
- Is it wrong to turn down a promotion? Is withdrawing from overwhelming additional responsibility like ignoring God's call to Abraham?
- Is joining the military a respectable path for my life?
- It took me 7 months but I completed the Self Authoring suite and I'm still not motivated to do anything and waste all of my time. What do I do?
- My brother is a soldier in Iraq. What should one do coming from a chaotic place back to a tame and structured one?
- My goal is to be married and on my way to starting a family within 5 years. Is this a legitimate goal to have for myself?
- My IQ is north of 130, yet I question my own intelligence all the time. I feel big cognitive dissonance between what people expect of me and what I consider myself capable to do.
- News of real atrocities committed by humans leave me physically shell-shocked and paralyzed as if I had PTSD. Is there something wrong with me?
- Other than cleaning your damn room, what would you suggest to a student looking to overcome procrastination and needless task delay given the unprecedented level of distraction in today’s world?
- Recently moved up and was promoted and not liking it because I have to adjust massively. Is there a difference between liking your job and the lack of discipline to perform a change? Are they connected?
- Regarding your analysis of the story of Cain and Abel, if Cain got to the point right before killing his brother and decided that was something he didn't want to do, what advice or guidance would you give a person that got to that point?
- Should I start with Past Authoring if I am 40? I feel that I have so many unsolved issues from my past that prevents me from accomplishing my potential.
- The story of Abraham exemplifies the development of conscience. More thoughts on that? And let’s say you become a pretty virtuous person, how should you doubt yourself in a way that is warranted no matter how virtuous you become? And can you treat a psychopath? Could they cultivate a conscience?
- What advice would you give to a person high in agreeableness and conscientiousness: get a significant other who is left-leaning or one who is leaning towards radical leftism?
- What are feelings and why do we have them?
- What do you think about ADHD? I have it and I'm frustrated by my failures in life and school.
- What is a practical approach/method for developing or integrating your shadow? [1] [2] [3] [4]
- What is the best way to find a routine when you're diagnosed Bipolar?
- What is your advice for someone who lives with chronic pain? How can I discipline myself mentally in order to be productive when I feel awful all the time? What coping methods can I use?
- What should I do if every time I voluntarily confront my problems I get too overwhelmed with stress to make progress solving them?
- What would you recommend for someone who wants to be productive in their free time but just gets sucked into video games and other distractions?
- What's an effective way to figure out how to match your career with your temperament? How can you determine if a job is a good fit or a terrible mistake?
- What's the best way to stop drinking and to do my best in my psychology degree?
- Why do we feel exposed and vulnerable when we know and do what we really like?
- Why is self-sabotage such a feature in human life?
- With the majority of your audience being men, how would you characterize the few women that are generally interested in your videos? Does it mean their masculine side might be pre-eminent?
- You claim hierarchies are efficient enough yet you claim 99% of creative people get stuck at the bottom. Contradiction?
- You often give guidance to young adults to help them avoid some of the pitfalls of life. Any advice for those of us who are 40+ who have already faltered?
- You've mentioned that your clinical intuition tells you that there’s something seriously pathological about particularly the men who show up to protest at your speeches. Do you suspect that some of them might be psychopathic? Are the psychopaths switching to the social justice warrior hierarchy as their newest shift?
- You've said that positive emotion comes from moving towards a goal, but also that friends and family are critical to a fulfilling life. Are both of those hitting the same neural circuits?
- You've said that you don't believe in the existence of self-esteem. When I'm in a rational argument with someone, however, faith in rationality doesn't get the best results in that negotiation. I think the Postmodernists have one thing right in that the world is a place where powers are at play. So if I'm in a weak position and want to fight back, rational arguments won’t get me there. I feel that those who have self-esteem start in a better position in this game. Thoughts? (best guess)
Philosophy and Philosophers
- A lot of the greatest sources of wisdom we’ve received through human history come from people going into isolation and coming back. I'm having a hard time figuring out from an evolutionary point of view what would compel an organism—whose behavior is centered around surviving and reproducing—to go into isolation, and then obtain some level of information that actually helps the group and coming back.
- A lot of your work recommends the audience tackle life with a lot of attention and intention. I've noticed a common theme in Eastern philosophy is more passive non-action. How do you reconcile these views?
- Are there evil persons with no redeeming qualities?
- Are you aware of the similarities between Anthony Robbins’ work and your Self Authoring suite?
- Can you explain Nietzsche’s general philosophy and some of his most famous ideas?
- Can you further explain your disapproval of Ayn Rand?
- Could you please talk about what Jung called a psychic death, also known as an ego death?
- Dostoevsky writes in Notes from the Underground that if humans had a perfect utopia they would find a way to screw it up purposefully because we like chaos and the unknown. With the left wing envisioning a future utopia, it seems like they're missing the utopia that they're in and trying to tear it down. How do we save this great good utopia that we already have?
- Given the opportunity, what would you have discussed with Nietzsche?
- Have you read much Thomas Sowell? In many ways he fulfilled your societal role for the last generation but from a different academic perspective. Thoughts?
- How can I overcome or live with my fear of malice and disappointment in man?
- How can one model being the fool—to plunge into the unknown and publicly fall on your face in pursuit of learning—in a way that clearly demonstrates the urgency and utility of the fool?
- How do you reconcile the fact that Nietzsche is often taken to be a precursor to Postmodern philosophers like Foucault? Do the Postmodernists misuse Nietzsche?
- How does one distinguish a statement coming from oneself rather than from ideology?
- If the right to identify with certain arguments has to be earned, how does one earn it? How do we truthfully discuss ideas for which we have not earned it?
- In Carl Jung’s essay, Odin presents as a wanderer, a knowledge gatherer, a seeker, and a war god. He’s an accumulation of aspects that seem distinctly Western. Does that underlie the Western psyche? (best guess)
- In Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil, in his chapter about scholars he talks about a kind of person who is like a mirror, that they stretched their skin to allow every new piece of information that they took on, so they were just an instrument and a mirror reflecting what they had learned and never generating anything of their own. How are you supposed to create something?
- In one of your videos you mentioned the power that creates order from chaos but can also create chaos from pathological order. Can you explain the latter?
- In the introduction to Maps of Meaning you talked about the notion that you have to earn the right to identify with an idea. How should a young person who doesn't have a whole lot of life experience be able to read literature and psychology and interact with the wisdom of culture and incorporate it into a structure that is still authentically their own?
- Jung suggested that the Christian myth failed to articulate Christ's descent into hell and that this resulted in the mass shadow projection of The West. Thoughts?
- Piaget's final stage of morality was "he who can create the rules". Would you please provide an example of what that means?
- Some people have criticized your portrayal of Postmodernism. In what ways would you'd claim you were fair/unfair in your assessment of its core principles?
- The Greeks had the maxim, "know thyself". How do we come to know ourselves in terms of our personalities and, more importantly, potential?
- The Tao Te Ching speaks of acting naturally. How is one to put their foot down and change/better their condition without unnaturally manipulating the world?
- Thoughts on what love really is? (best attempt to distill)
- What are your thoughts on George Orwell?
- What did Kamu mean by revolt in the myth of Sisyphus? What are some ways to revolt without being destructive? Or should one simply be a good ant?
- What do Postmodernists have right?
- What do you think about the line that’s often fed to young people to do what you love and follow your dreams?
- What does it mean, “People don't have ideas, ideas have people”?
- What is the role of art in a healthy culture? Is postmodernism as destructive in this domain as in politics?
- What’s wrong with Maslow’s hierarchy?
- Which is the most accessible of Jung's books? Which is the most impactful to you?
- Who else would you pick to have an intellectual conversation with? Will there be a third talk with Sam Harris?
- Would you consider having a discussion with Thomas Sowell?
- You have talked about earning your knowledge. How do you define this and earn it? When is it okay to debate ideas like yours if they are not your own?
- You talked about how when you confront something you fear, you face it head on and destroy it. But then you said that when you're confronting something, you make the world out of it. Can you generally expand on what that means?
- You've said that the moment Adam and Eve eat the apple, they become aware of their own vulnerability and thereby aware of their own capacity to do harm. They seem to be discovering the Jungian shadow within themselves at that moment, but integrating that makes you a substantial person. On the one hand it’s a tragedy that Satan introduced this into people, but also without that shadow, people are insubstantial. Thoughts?
Prescription Drugs & Psychedelics
- I read Aldous Huxley’s book Doors of Perception about his experience taking the psychedelic drug mescaline. He stated in the final stages of egolessness there is an obscene knowledge that all is in all, that all was actually each, and that this is as near as the finite mind can get to perceiving everything that is happening in the universe. Could you explain what that means?
- I started reading up on researchers who used psilocybin to dose treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, and addictions. Researchers claim the results are unprecedented. Is this rhetoric overblown, and if not, do you see these treatments becoming more mainstream or do you suspect they'll fall victim to regulatory capture?
- I think the use of psychedelic drugs in my youth has made my thinking cloudy and uncertain. What can I do about this now?
- I've heard depressed people say that antidepressants did nothing to help them. What do you say to that?
- If psychedelics increase openness, and openness is correlated with intelligence, can psychedelics increase intelligence?
- Is there a Shamanic basis to the story of Adam and Eve?
- What are your thoughts on students taking Adderall? What are the long-term effects?
- What are your thoughts on the use of amphetamines to improve conscientiousness?
- What are your thoughts on using psychedelics to help people overcome traumatic experiences?
- What do you think the role of psychedelics will be in the future?
- You were on the Rubin Report recently and you mentioned how the use of psilocybin straightens people out and can produce these transcendent experiences. Can you expand on what you find intriguing about religious experience and what we can know about the transcendent from them, if anything?
- You've talked about Jung and how you should confront that which you least want to confront. You’ve also talked about psychedelics. People I've talked to describe negative trips as an experience of the most dramatic, prolonged fear they’ve ever experienced. Shouldn't negative trips elicit the kind of confrontation that Jung thought you should engage in?
Relationships and Children
- Advice for people getting over a breakup? [1] [2]
- Any advice for a grieving parent who lost a child unexpectedly?
- Any advice specific to raising daughters?
- As a female, I never had a great inclination to start a family. After watching your material I'm struggling with how much of that drive is my own versus brainwashing versus third wave feminists. How do I parse that out?
- Becoming a truthful person involves dealing with the guilt of past lies. Is it better to come clean about old lies even if they will ruin lives, or forgive yourself and focus on living truthfully now?
- Can I have a full life without kids? (asked by woman)
- Can one reason with an intelligent stalker?
- Do you see any downside to a child being raised by its father in its first three years while the mother is working full time? Are there psychological consequences for the child to be expected?
- Do you think boys in our society are in need of a concrete transition to manhood, like a modern day initiation ritual?
- How can I help my parents sort themselves out? How can I talk about the resentments of my childhood in a way that benefits them instead of giving them guilt?
- How can you be a good partner to someone suffering from depression; helping without enabling, and pushing without being too judgmental?
- How do I tell my half-brothers that their father didn't leave 3 years ago, but that we kicked him out because he is a pedophile who targeted my sister? I'm tired of lying.
- How do you clean your room when your spouse doesn't share that goal?
- How do you get over hiding something because of the fear that people will think of you differently or treat you worse, especially for family members and others close to you?
- How do you know when divorce is the right option?
- How do you walk the line of being too agreeable or too disagreeable when in a relationship?
- How does one save a marriage when there is no longer physical or intellectual attraction? There are kids involved, which is the main reason for wanting to save the marriage.
- How should a son (later, daughter) born without a good father figure expose themselves to the knowledge and healthy behaviors that a good father would have provided?
- I am a 23 year old male with paranoid schizophrenia, however I’m controlling 95% of it. I desire to seek a partner but am afraid how to reveal it. Any advice on how to approach it?
- I don't think my wife loves our internationally adopted daughter and she won't go to counseling with me. My house is filled with tyranny and anger. Any advice?
- I experienced tremendous abuse as a child and it has led to me being a doormat for abuse. I seek out people who reject me, and reject people who seek me out. How do I break this cycle?
- I just found out I'm having a girl. What can I do to raise her to think for herself and not fall into the modes of thinking proposed by popular culture?
- I live in constant worry that my children are going to be hit by a car, kidnapped, murdered, beaten up. It’s a torture. How can I stop?
- I work at a camp with at-risk boys. Any advice for working with young people with behavioral issues?
- I'm 20. My parents have made it clear they don't want me to leave home. They are both drug-addicted, depressed, and anti-social. How do I leave without killing the only positive relationship they have?
- I'm experiencing depression and am having a hard time as a first time mom with a 9-month-old. Advice for being a good mom?
- In an earlier lecture you talked about constantly facing the history and sins of your family. Can you expand on that more?
- Is “remove the toxic people in your life” wholly good advice?
- My first ever girlfriend of 3 months is pregnant and keeping the baby. She said I can walk away or marry her, no in-between. I don't love her... what do I do?
- My girlfriend is overweight but I love her. Should I encourage her to lose weight? Is this likely to explode into a major issue down the road?
- Regarding the juxtaposition between happiness and honor you've discussed, let’s say there’s a situation where person A and person B are truly in love, and they build a history together for years. If person B starts falling in love with someone else—even though it doesn't mean there’s less love for the original partner—how do you take care of a situation like that when you want to stay both honorable and happy?
- What advice would you give the parent of an only child?
- What books ought we read to our young children?
- What do you have to say about girls who grew up without fathers?
- What is your advice for people that aren't very social and have a hard time making friends?
- What is your opinion on open relationships, polyamory, and other forms of non-monogamy?
- What qualities should men and women look for in each other?
- What should I do if my girlfriend isn't satisfying me sexually? How do I get her to progress with me?
- What’s your advice to high-achieving females for finding a man?
- What’s your advice to young men seeking a woman for marriage and family?
- Why is it so important to have kids if the world has an overpopulation problem?
- Women have a tendency to prefer 'bad men' higher in dark triad traits. How come the Bible describes a mode of being as associated with 'nice guy' traits which contradict that behaviour?
- Would you do a lecture series on raising children properly? [1] [2]
- You often mention disciplining children so they behave; what is your advice for making them behave without resorting to corporal punishment?
- You recently said that if a woman doesn't want a baby by age 30, something is unhealthy [….] When you say something might be wrong or unhealthy, where might I look? (asked by woman)
- You've said that a marriage must be based on trust & transparency and "being shackled together". How--and for how long--should you get to know someone? How to set a foundation without scaring them off?
Religion
- An early church father said that God became man so that man can become like God. Is that an example of how the top of the pyramid (of a hierarchy) gets inverted or descends to the bottom and brings it up to the top? It’s one of the things that made Christianity such a powerful idea. What are your thoughts on that?
- At the level of psychological significance of (the Biblical) stories and at the level of mythology and archetype, how is Islam so different from the Judeo-Christian tradition? How different are these stories in their moral presuppositions?
- Can I send you names of US Canadian scholars who are grounded in Western culture and traditional Islam?
- Can we take the biblical stories seriously enough without also keeping biblical traditions? What's the psychological impact of groups gathering (church going)?
- Could you comment on the Buddhist concept of impermanence and the finite nature of reality being what gives it meaning? And how that concept conflicts with ideas of eternal life in heaven?
- Do you believe the evidence for God lies primarily in inner personal experiences?
- Do you believe there is a strong undercurrent of gnosticism in our country?
- Do you ever fear that your psychological reading of the Bible is wrong?
- Do you think Islam is compatible with the West?
- Do you think science is a different domain than religion, and therefore can’t answer questions in each other’s domain?
- Given what you have said about the evolution and amalgamations of religion, what you've said about belief, truth, and Christianity, would it be fair to say that you are a believer in Christianity and—to some extent—Marduk, the ancient Egyptian gods, and subsequent gods that led up and contributed to Christianity?
- Given your working definition of truth, and within the Abrahamic religious tradition, would you say that the more mystical sects place more emphasis on the awe and experience of God as opposed to the more fundamentalist Orthodox which emphasize the moral policing of behaviors? Would you say the former is more true than the latter? And could the former serve as an antidote to extremist literalism, Jihadism, and fundamentalism?
- Have you considered that the Genesis tale is the process of individuation? And that the Trinity is the three core axioms that come from that?
- How can a non-religious person find a meaningful non-religious faith?
- How can you dispute the theory that Jesus is just a rewrite of the sun god myth?
- How do I address those who actively oppose the wisdom of the biblical stories on atheist principles?
- How do you deal with a perfect God who by nature is incapable of a perfect design? (extended question) From a psychological perspective is there a significance to this presentation of perfection and the contradictory flaws that are naturally part of that perfection?
- How do you know that your analyses of Biblical stories are true?
- How knowledgeable are you of the Hebrew in Torah? And have you encountered any of the Midrashic stories—the Jewish oral stories—that date back almost as long as (the Genesis) stories?
- I'm fascinated by the idea of what faith means. Could you unpack the experience of faith and how a human being makes the choice to believe one thing or another?
- If dominance hierarchies select for heroes and breed them, why then is Christ a celibate man? Isn't celibacy an excuse for cowardice?
- If we can say Nietzsche took an order of magnitude of intelligence and depth to be able to predict what would happen in the next century, rationally, if the Bible’s not the inerrant word of God, what’s going on?
- In a recent interview, you said of Christ, “Is his resurrection real? Did his body resurrect? I don't know.” Why is your answer to the question, “I don’t know?” instead of “Probably not”?
- In the book of Revelations, the state is represented in two instances as female, positively and negatively. I was wondering if you had any thoughts on that in regards to what you've said in Maps of Meaning about the state being masculine?
- In the Genesis story, there is this profundity of speaking things into existence and then there is the statement that when God saw what He created he called it good. Is God modeling consciousness there for us?
- In the wake of a dying Christianity, there’s a tendency to go toward paganism. It’s seems like a pendulum swing. Thoughts?
- Is it a good idea to believe in healthy delusions, like karma or life after death?
- Is it possible for something that’s incredibly beautiful to evoke a religious or mystical experience, or something similar? Is that why we build cathedrals and spectacular buildings?
- Is the “failure to recognize the unknown's unknowns” related to the way modern people fail to relate to the idea of God?
- Is the belief in something more than experienced reality unreasonable?
- Is the Holy Spirit the same as the Logos?
- Isn’t the Future Authoring program just praying?
- Many atheistic criticisms are leveled at religious people, saying that it's wanting an imaginary heavenly father, and atheists say that's because religious people don't have a will of their own. But if I have a good relationship with my (earthly) father, I'm more likely to accept a higher deity. Could it be that atheists have conflicts with their fathers and that’s why they’re averse to submitting to a higher being?
- MRA people are often quite smart, why do they have a strong tendency towards atheism?
- On the one hand you say you hate people asking if you believe in God or miracles, but you’ve also talked about empirical evidence for religious or spiritual experiences. Can a spiritual experience exist without God? How do you reconcile that?
- Regarding God allowing Jacob to win the wrestling match, you've talked about Panksepp’s experiments with rats playing, and how bigger rats have to let smaller rats win sometimes or the smaller rat won't engage in the game. So, is God periodically allowing humanity to win to get us to engage in the dialogue through these stories? Also, is this a primitive version of virtue of humility, which is not normally attributed to omnipotent deities?
- Regarding the Biblical lectures, it occurred to me that the tradition and genre you are working in here is that of a sermon. Are you comfortable with that categorization? Might these be called sermons, and might one call you a preacher?
- Regarding the story of Abraham lying that his wife was his sister, you referred to that as a mistake. That seemed to be a very deliberate decision with a good outcome for him and he repeats it a few chapters later, how do you see it as a mistake?
- Some atheists seem to be 100% certain that there is no afterlife, but they still say there’s a positive meaning to life. If you were 100% certain there was no afterlife, would you be one of those, or would you turn into Cain and become cynical?
- To what extent do you believe that discourse with moderate Muslims can lead to reform of the ideology such that the gap between Islamic and Western beliefs can be bridged?
- To what extent does the psychological truth of the Bible have to be embodied in the specific historical events or people?
- Two parts of the Bible stand out to me. The crucifixion of Christ where he says, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And in the realm of Typology, it seems like Isaac is a type of Christ. The difference seems to be that Abraham is sacrificing his son to God, while God sacrifices his son to Mankind. How does that work? What do we make of this?
- We know the Biblical manuscript was edited. Can you give us your thoughts about the differences in the story of creation, especially pertaining to man, from the first chapter, which is very God-like, to the second one, which is more like a fatherly type of creation. What was the reason for this type of editing to put the two together?
- What are your thoughts are on meditation and do you practice it yourself?
- What are your thoughts on the book of Revelation in the Bible?
- What do you make of the gnostic gospels like the Gospel of Thomas?
- What do you think martyrdom—or the willingness to suffer and die for what you believe—says of the conviction? What do you think is the benefit for the martyr, which is traditionally immaterial and transcendent good compared to the regular sacrifice which is ordered toward future material, psychological, or economic good?
- Where exactly do you see yourself differing from traditional Orthodox evangelical Christianity, and why would you differ there given how much you seem to understand the importance of the Biblical stories in Western History?
- Which edition/publisher/translation of the Bible are you referring to (in the Biblical lectures)?
- Why can't a social contract or a legal system replace religion as a moral framework?
- Why did you make the connection between the story of Genesis and Lynne Isbell’s book, The Fruit, The Tree, and the Serpent? Are you suggesting (Genesis) foreshadowed those scientific discoveries?
- Would you ever consider having a dialogue with a legitimate Muslim scholar?
- You described the collection of stories in the Bible as an assembly of stories created by many people, over time, that’s hyperlinked into itself. That sounds like a description of how the internet works. Did you describe it that way on purpose?
- You focus on the appeal of Biblical stories to the individual's psychology. Do you have any thoughts on the relative importance of crowd psychology to the appeal and staying power of the Bible? Also, why did the Bible take precedence over other ideologies which could have taken its place?
- You keep referring to the death of Abel by Cain and the curse in it. That was just two brothers in conflict, but later in Genesis we have the 12 sons of Jacob, and one was an Abel archetype and then eleven came after him so, is there something about that division?
- You said one of your moral axioms is that pain is bad and so we should work to eliminate unnecessary suffering. Isn't this the basis for a secular morality like utilitarianism, and can we therefore be moral without religion?
- You said you don't go to church because the pastors are "lying" most of the time. What do you mean by "lying" in this instance?
- Your analysis of Cain’s cry to God is a mistranslation. He does not say “My punishment is greater than I can bear” he says “My sin is greater than I can bear.” It’s a reflection on the reality of his corruption, not a plea of mercy to the deity to spare him. (…) There are no consequences to our actions that are devoid of a truth we can accept and learn from. If that’s the case, why does it take us so long and so much denial before we accept personal responsibility when faced with tragedy, especially when it’s self inflicted?
- Your comparison of the sacrificial aspect of circumcision and a girl having a period didn't make a lot of sense to me. Also, doesn't sacrifice require some form of willingness? The infant doesn't seem to have a choice in the matter of circumcision.
About Jordan Peterson
- Are you feeling alright? How is your health? (June 2017)
- Did you fail any classes in university?
- Do you ever miss Montreal?
- Do you think your appreciation of the aesthetic beauty of (the Bible) comes from a belief in the truth of its underlying proposition?
- Have you ever performed a ritual sacrifice?
- How are you always so consistently composed and confident?
- How are you doing? Are the food sensitivities getting under control? Are you getting enough rest? (October 2017)
- How did you meet your wife and why did you marry her?
- How do you make time to read for leisure?
- How do you manage to read so much?
- How does it feel to be viewed as a father figure by many people who grew up without one?
- How much did Harvard pay you?
- How old were you when everything you understood started to come together?
- How tall are you?
- I think you're getting funnier. I notice you're making more jokes and that they're landing more often, but also the audience seems to be anticipating jokes and laughing when you're not intending to make a joke. What do you make of that?
- Was there ever a time when you saw a therapist of some kind?
- Were there any lecturers/lecture series that you found helpful to you (like yours have been to so many?)
- What are you doing to buffer yourself from the deteriorating side effect of success and/or arrogance? [1] [2]
- What are your personal spiritual practices and rituals?
- What are your personal strategies for consuming the news? How do you walk the line between wanting to be informed while avoiding the danger of cluttering your mind?
- What are your thoughts on becoming a grandfather? [1] [2] [3]
- What do you do for fun?
- What does your average daily schedule consist of? (August 2018)
- What is your favourite Biblical story? [1] [2]
- What is your favourite meme made of you?
- What is your IQ?
- What is your plan if YouTube deletes your account?
- What moment triggered your obsession with the topics of the Biblical series and Maps of Meaning?
- What music do you like? [1] [2]
- What was your relationship like with your mother and father? (August 2018)
- What were you like when you were 25?
- What will you be doing with the contributions from Patreon and Rebel?
- What’s up with the socks?
- What's your favorite Tom Waits song?
- Who won that childhood fight (a fight Jordan Peterson was in, referenced earlier in the lecture)?
- Why are you now hiding the amount you receive from Patreon?
- Why do you hate Elmo so much?
- Would you consider a more official consultancy role with Andrew Scheer's conservative party?
- Would you end your career as an academic in order to enter politics as a candidate for Member of Parliament under Andrew Scheer's leadership?
- You mentioned switching to a Paleo-diet some time ago and from the way your physical appearance seems to have improved I would say it’s working quite well. Could we have more details into your diet? (June 2017)
Misc Questions
- Are there ever situations where you should hold your tongue and not speak what you believe?
- Are you hiring any software developers?
- Could you please tell us your second ghost story as mentioned on H3H3 podcast?
- Do you think a lot of your work is the form of the bargaining stage of grief?
- Do you think that consciousness and being-hood are inextricably linked?
- Does an original work of art, as opposed to a high-fidelity reproduction, contain the spirit of the artist who created it, and does this account for the disparity in how much you have to pay for them?
- Expand on your comments about the image of twin snakes from cultures around the world being a representation of DNA? I don't see how we could have perceived DNA that early on.
- Good morning, Citizen Peterson… [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
- How can we know the difference between "unhealthy repression" and "healthy self-restraint" of sexuality?
- How do you formulate good questions, given that a well-oriented question seems often more critical than the answer?
- How have you prepared for your debate with Zizek? What are your goals for the conversation to be productive?
- How is the website that identifies post-modern college courses coming along?
- Is mindfulness really beneficial or is it just a trend?
- Is snoring a bad thing?
- Is this chat really just Patreons?
- The image of the hyperlink (in the Genesis lectures), do the colors have any significance?
- What are your thoughts on sleep paralysis?
- What do you think about lucid dreaming? Should one do it?
- What evil deity will enslave the human race come the Eclipse?
- What is the evolutionary advantage of dreams?
- What is the evolutionary reason for having consciousness?
- What’s the story behind the logo in your intros? Where did it come from?
- Who has a higher IQ: a really gifted mathematician or a really gifted painter?
- Why did you have a problem with Lindsay Shephard being criticized for being non-critical, but you criticized Faith Goldy for being non-critical?
- Why don't you use a dedicated microphone and headphones?
- Why is Jordan Peterson's webcam 1000 times better than all my favorite YouTubers with millions of subscribers?
- Why is the conventional wisdom about ancient people so at odds with your idea about ancient people?
- You edited out a disagreement with Camille Paglia, what was it?
- You have talked about the difference between intelligence and wisdom, saying intelligence isn't a shortcut to wisdom. What is your definition of wisdom?
- You once mentioned you were planning on making an IQ test available online alongside the Big Five Aspects Scale one. Is that in the works?