I’m not saying this to make fun of Peterson, per se, but I think this is useful and you can use it to make up your own mind.
Jordon Peterson is a published expert on alcohol and benzo abuse. He wrote his thesis about it; even if it’s not what he prefers to talk about recently, it’s literally the work that made his career. It’s what got him a job at Harvard.
In other words, he knew exactly what he was getting into. He took his prescription knowing what the drugs were and what they did. Then when he developed a chemical dependence, he knew that he needed to be weaned off using a different benzo, but he refused. Instead he flew to Russia to get an experimental (cold turkey) treatment that he knew would cause permanent and possibly lethal brain damage. (And keep in mind, no matter what you think about Russians, they don't grow doctors dumb enough to cold turkey someone on benzos. This treatment was definitely elective. Probably his genius daughters idea.)
Everything that happened was not only completely avoidable, but Jordan Peterson is probably the first person on earth you’d expect to avoid it. Like I said, this is the area that his academic career was based on.
So what does this say? Is this a sad story of how professional expertise can blind us? Is this a sad story about how even smart, well educated people can get suckered in by scam artists (his daughter)? Or does this just say something about Peterson’s temperament, like he wouldn’t know good advice if he gave it? Or his scholarship, like maybe he didn’t even write his own thesis? I’m not sure. I’m not comfortable mocking the man*. But I do think that, if you’ve ever taken his ideas seriously, you should pause and take stock again.
* Maybe this wouldnt have happened if he cleaned his room.
Son of Krokodile XVI