I have a Masters degree in philopsophy, I wrote a memoire on Nietzsche's philosphy, and I can tell you that Jordan Peterson is so smart and that he has such an authentic and personal way of understanding things... It's beautiful.
Ricardo Alatorre Gtz. de Velasco He’s brilliant, right? He had me delve into Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, Solzchithzin (spelling?) and many more great thinkers. i’m so glad that has caught on and become so popular. I was into him about five years ago and still going strong. 😊👍🏼👍🏼
@gary grine I do not think to embrace Nietzsche is to think as he is quite against rationalism of the Greeks , for him it is all about the power of the will. For Nietzsche reason is a tool that man uses. In the Revaluation of Morals , he is quite explicit that values did not come from reason but from those who had the stronger will.
@@JohnnyArtPavlou the library isn't free, it just typically doesn't cost the patrons to pick up a book and read. it also doesn't set up anything approximating a proper educational environment. generally they like those places quiet. if you want me to seriously take your opinion, use more than two words. otherwise it's worth as much as it took to write. you aren't nietzche, smokey the bear.
only down side of these lectures Is now I cant watch any other lecture by a professor without comparing it to these ones,Peterson has set the bar so high I can barely tolerate listening to anyone else😕
Black Market Goodness have you watched or listened to Rick Roderick? Quite a good social philosophy professor delivered with the same kinds of passion!
I've been seeking highly intellectual mental health advice all my life and I've finally found it. Thank you for creating this account. Knowledge of this caliber being available for free is amazing to me. Thank you.
@@tinfoilhatter , is your criticism based on religion? Or do you think that there is no value to be found in trying to understand how or why a person might be motivated? As far as I understand both fields, psychiatry is concerned with examining brain structure & chemistry with the goal of "tweaking" try and produce a better outcome for the individual. Psychology, in contrast, is more concerned with analyzing motivation and helping the individual to strategize and develop a plan to better harness (or change) their motivations and decide how to make choices more likely to result in better outcomes for that person. (Again, just a summary of both fields as I understand then right now.) Dr. Peterson seems to have dedicated his life to raising the standard even higher, by crusading to strengthen the individual to the point that they reach for the better and more valuable goal of not only making things better for themselves now & themselves in the future, but also for better for their family & their community (also now and in the future). Before I ramble on longer, another thing to consider is that this lecture is the 12th in the series, so not the best place to start. If your hesitance is based on a religion, look up Peterson's interviews on the Joe Rogan Experience, then consider looking up Peterson's youtube series on the psychological significance of the Biblical stories. That's many hours of youtube, but flippantly dismissing the depth of thought and priceless advice in these free youtube videos based on a hesitance to critically examine human nature and what makes us tick is nothing short of tragic. Hope that helps, and best of luck to you.
It's 4am in India. . . I just moved into my new apartment and am listening to your lectures while unpacking my life. . . It's illuminating. It makes me stop every now and then and contemplate everything I've done so far. . . Thank you very, very much.
@@lunarnodes728 How have you benefitted from Jordan P. during these past month since you posted this comment? Love and blessings to India from Germany. And happy belated Divali.
Ooooh don't go quoting Hitchens or the radical left will discredit your thought as confounded like Heidegger ahaha just kidding (not really) that's actually one of my favourite quotes of his
Big fan of his, but to say that his lectures, after sitting down in hundreds of others, are the only ones you’ve heard where students applaud at the end, is bullshit.
Affectation, I would call it. A deliberate attempt to appear to be improvising that which he has already fully prepared. Pretension is another word that springs to mind.
@@illywhacka Of course he knows what he is going to say beforehand, he is a professor and he prepares his material before the day class. Why would that be pretentious? He has probably taught that class many times, so he is surely digging what to say from memory.
Thank you for saying this. And you can tell it’s working. Not by telling us we’re perfect as we are but by telling us we’re not and we/you/us can do better as individuals. I believe we can and we will.
This was the first Peterson UA-cam video I watched, searching for someone talking deeply about Dostoyevsky. So much has transpired in these years since. Ive learned so much through you and the people you introduced me to. God Bless you and your family Mr. Peterson.
"We must experience nihilism before we can find out what value these values really have." Wow. You don't appreciate heaven until you've seen hell. Sure, Nietzsche suffered from syphilis and it may have affected his mind later in life, but you have to admit his observations were profound! Love you Dr. P!
53:30 “Now... one of the things I’ve been thinking a lot about lately... lately being the last 10 years, I suppose” Dr. Peterson never ceases to make me laugh to myself in the middle of the deepest streams of thoughts. So refreshing. Gotta love it.
First off, let me just say what a brilliant lecture; seriously, as someone who has sat through hundreds of seminars and lectures only one philosophy professor has managed to captivate me as thoroughly as you. With that being said, I am for the most part ignorant to the philosophy you've discussed in this video. Despite my ignorance of formal philosophy, I found that in my youth my mind gravitated to pseudo-philosophical trains of thought. It is at this point that I should mention I am afflicted by, as you brought up in example , chronic illness. So I feel that presenting my approach to life ought to hold some value for prospective psychologists watching this video. The nature of reality for those afflicted with chronic illness is very different from someone who only experiences physiological discomfort in an oscillatory manner. It is one thing to know that some days of your life will be uncomfortable - it is another thing entirely to know that every day will be filled with discomfort. The realization that your life will proceed in this manner undoubtedly leads to an aberrant psyche ; not necessarily a depressed psyche - but aberrant nonetheless - something I am fully aware of. A thought that almost invariably eventually enters every chronically afflicted persons mind is "will i ever be happy again?" Now as one would expect this is a major point of mental divergence between individuals - it goes without saying that some people simply cannot reconcile that this is now their reality - others choose to ignore it. I admittedly fall into the first category of individual simply because I find ignorance more discomforting that pain. But despite my lack of happiness I find comfort in purpose. You see, it is was a sad day that I realized that I won't ever REALLY be happy again - but it is was a liberating day when I realized that I may influence the happiness of others. It is in this thought that I found comfort and purpose - granting others what I cannot find myself. Again, this scenario is specific to myself, but I truly believe that is is necessary for psychologists in modern society to move away from the dogma that anyone can find happiness. Individuals in positions such as myself need to realize that happiness is not the ultimate goal in life - to be rather blunt I could as you suggest huff a line of cocaine every two hours and be perfectly happy. In this way happiness is very shallow - what lies beneath it is personal fulfillment and this is defined by a persons values. Well, what are a persons values dictated by? For the large majority of individuals value is dictated by consensus - in other words what society tells the individual is valuable. It goes without saying that if society tells me that happiness is the most valuable thing in life, something I may never attain, I will naturally fall into a state of depression - I cannot attain that which is most valuable to me. So it is my belief that it should be the job of psychologists to help shift these values away from happiness toward values that are more attainable. I am not suggesting that psychologists abandon the notion of happiness altogether as it is a continuum not binary in nature - but I am suggesting an approach that makes it OK not to be happy. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on this matter.
I agree with your perspective. I also think that happiness is a very subjective state, some ones definition of happiness is not mine, some times even contradictory to mine. Some studies state that very ill people identified them selfs as happy and perfectly healthy and wealthy people didn't. So happiness is a very intimate assesment. You my friend sound like a very intelligent and aware person that found his purpose and I applaud you❣️
You write very well, and what you say is very interesting, especially about happiness being not what it seems, and fulfilment being more meaningful. I'd like to suggest though that what a person values is not 'what society tells them' but that values are acquired through imprinting; a very different process that occurs in a limited time window and comes from immediate experience, not 'being told'. This basic feature of human life gives potential for all sorts of systems, some that will work and some that will fail. If your childhood brought pleasure in some ways (dopamine hit) then those ways become things to aim for - in your case helping others, but not everyone would see value in helping others, especially psychopaths! Jordan went on to have a nervous breakdown - in this lecture he is visibly having to work hard, and not really finding answers. Moving from philosophy (19th century) to evolutionary psychology is I think what is needed to make progress.
Truly enlightening. The way this man teaches is touching. Every 5 seconds I'm pausing the video to reflect on something he says. The world needs more people who can teach like this.
I'm 41 years old. Listen to this man. When I was 20 I knew everything and it was everyone else that was wrong. Find purpose, contribute, be steadfast in your understanding but never be resolute in your ability to adapt.
I’m 32 and I think the same thing. Right now I’m grappling with the Dostoevsky idea that even though you might physically get away from your decisions that are wrong, you will still pay for it in the end and you can’t escape it. That idea will make you think before you do anything let me tell ya.
I'm 24 and just graduated from college. I just wanna ask how to find purpose in life cos I feel so clueless about life. I've been through abuse and depression and thought of committing suicide. Now Im trying to develop a new life cos I see the potential of time and life but I also see other people's achievements and tbh it's hard to compete with them given that I don't have any particular skill or deep knowledge on anything. I am trying to find a field to cling onto, but the options are so many and I just don't know which one to choose. I still have depression even though I've given up committing suicide. It's just hard for me to feel the joy or spark on anything so that I don't even know what I like or care anymore, besides the will of continue and finding. I can't believe that after 24 years exploring this world, I'm still a lame person who doesn't have a clear self-identity and a good amount of experience on anything.
@@陳查理-c2c read mans search for meaning by victor frankle. I’ve dealt with abuse and nihilism in the past as well and his book helped me immensely in understanding my position in the world and how doing my part for those around me is of utmost importance.
@@陳查理-c2c sorry can’t relate directly to your specific background, but would like to be helpfull to you nonetheless. I’d suggest reading slowly the book of Job and investigating the exact reason for the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth
took me close to 5 hours to go through the whole thing as I had to constantly pause and contemplate what has been said. truly brilliant. Dostoevsky is the goat.
Idk about Jung. He did turn me on to Carl Rogers though. The further he gets away from psychodynamics and closer to biology and cognition, the more I appreciate psychology. I wonder if he has lectures on phenomenology since he's been talking about it more recently. Heidegger, Hegel, and Husserl are all really "fun" and it'd be cool to hear his take on them.
I’ve been an MA counseling psychologist and also later on trained in management as an MBA & worked for the betterment of people all my life (I’m 72) and wish I had a teacher as great as Dr. Peterson! He’s the best!
Minute 33 onwards, blew my mind. I literally uttered similar words roughly an hour prior to listening to this.. It gives me peace and assurance to see JP talking about this.
Prof Jordan, lecture after lecture you are elegantly answering some heavy questions that have been killing me for almost 10 years. My breakfast tasted fantastic this morning. I missed that feeling. From a fellow human being, thanks for pulling out of that f*$#&ing cold and dark cave. Cheers!
Hey I hope you are feeling good even now Can't say I'm going through the same things But dark period sure. I wanted to know what b lectures seemed profound to you? Can you tell me Thanx
@@kritikasingh7992 Hi, feeling much better since then. To me it was the part either in this lecture or the previous where he talks about "why do anything at all?" which was a crippling question for me for years. I guess at the end, at least for me, what this did for me is to start acting in the world and doing creative things rather than keep digging. The lecture was freeing to me because I always had the feeling that it was something with my and my life that needed fixing but ended up being more a sense of being lost and confused that can be cured by doing creative work .. seems we are built this way and you can choose to see it as something that needs fixing or as a drive to keep doing things you enjoy working on.
These are the questions I struggled to solve many years ago. They were the inevitable conclusion of our civilization. I have found meaning and purpose since then. I now see that our civilization is now dealing with this with recent events. Prof. Peterson saw this before many. These words are more important now thaan ever for every person to come to grips with.
Here in 09/2021 absolutely floored with gratitude that these lessons are provided free of charge. Don't take that for granted. Imagine the price of this class when taught in a university. Thank you, Dr. Peterson!
I've been looking for someone to express my life condition for the past 5 years like that, and I'm so happy that I found this video. Since romantic rejection coupled with health issues came to surface, my entire 5-year course can be described perfectly by what you said, from the "why me?" question to me struggling to get into a career to avoid being a drifter playing video games and not finding any point in socializing until my forties. My recent struggles is "trying to like something I find boring" since in the first 5 minutes of learning that something I face constant yawning and mind wandering. I tried to combat that with discipline and tools like habit trackers, but it's as you say it. Not even the conscious awareness that failing to do so will lead to even further financial breakdown fixes it. It's something from my values and beliefs that makes me averse to it, and I have to find it if I want to have any hopes of acting before it's too late (one might argue that it's already too late for many things but meh). I'll read the "notes from underground" and the other book recommendations. I pirate books a lot even if I know that it's not the right thing to do. I wasn't always prone to reading books or intellectually curious. It happened as a consequence of my health issues and my constant rejection. It's just like you said in another lecture, that learning comes when you realize that what you have to work with doesn't really achieve the results you want. And I really want to pull myself out of this shithole I'm into, while I'm intellectually honest, and I come to believe that being excessively critical and curious can also be a bad thing.
***** I am finding it hard to absorb a lot of the information. Partly because I tend to do other things, while having his lectures go in the background, but.... keep at it, and don't let your Freudian urges distract you from the lectures (;
Oh there's nothing Freudian about it. ;) I usually claim that I'm bored but I don't think it's that simple. Distracted, scattered, hard to focus, to much that requires my attention. I never have the time to catch up with anything, least of all myself. Dunno. Depression? I did get that "diagnosis" and nothing has changed, so that might be it. Is that how depression manifests itself?
this is beautiful. you can feel his passion for the subject especially through his expression at the end of the lecture. I am mesmerised by his intellect, creative understanding and oration. Amazing
This lecture speaks to my core. i've come full circle. Started last year searching for lectures on Existentialism and came across Professor's lectures. today i watch with more meaning to it, than ever.
@@Raiko01 : Begs the question. Who is starting these silly character assassinations. People who run with scissors are rarely the people who make the scissors...
Mark snow S a m e. I feel like I'm trapped in a matrix I didn't sign up for, thus want no part in. I hate trying to build castles on a foundation made of sand.
that's your problem. i'm 30, drifting, and perfectly happy. i create as i speak, money finds me whenever i need it, i haven't got a care in the world. i'm not anxious to 'make something of myself' like i was at 24 when i really was miserable. my room and person are always clean. i basically live on £14 a day and earn on average about £30. i have no need for progress, no need not to stay exactly where i am for another 50 years or so and die whenever
A genuine pleasure to watch and listen. His intellectual energy, genuine belief in what he s talking about with a deep sense of its great value along with his performance to elucidate it simply, truthfully, and honestly is inspiring. I fail to see how anyone cannot seek out copies of Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, Jung, Tolstoy, etc. and reacquaint themselves with these great authors. I would also not leave out another great author-Dr. Jordan Peterson.
I have truly felt that I have learned more valuable and genuine knowledge from these videos than the schoolwork I have studied over the last 2 or so years. Thank you Professor.
I live in the United States and have been shut out of the higher education because l can’t afford it and choose not to go into debt for the rest of my life paying off student loans. So l turn to UA-cam for college and university lectures. I’ve listened to thousands of hours of lectures by professors on every subject imaginable . Professor Peterson is one of the best l’ve heard in terms of psychology , psychoanalysis - hands down!
Same, trying not to be resentful about being more than capable of doing higher education, but shut out by circumstance. It's especially bad when I meet a rationalist materialist atheist that occupies that high position. All of us lower caste work to keep society running so they can squander the highest place and spit on the walls (painfully constructed) that keep them safe, comfortable
The intellectual exercise of questioning everything is my primary coping mechanism It's like I'm only compelled to action when I'm completely overwhelmed Not a great way to live
Almost seems like Peterson is reluctant to reveal what he knows about human nature. This pains him and he's given his life to find a method of connection. It's much appreciated.
He is right at the beginning at the age and goal thing. I have spent time in rehab, and saw, the people older than 30 struggle more to stay stable than younger people. That was one of the best motivation for me to stop using opiates before i reached 30. And taking the addiction part out of it, and replacing them with all kinds of destructive behaviour, It is, what i heard from a psychologist, a real problem to learn people in their 50's to change their behaviour. Each year counts he said, and now i am a bit older, i realised he was right al along.
I had to quit my university studies a few years back when I got burned out and depressed, subsequently diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I have misssed it, even though I don't think I could do it again - not at this point, anyway. Listening to your lectures really take me back and I love it, these are the things I am interested in and there's no reason why I shouldn't "study" it if only for my own pleasure. Thanks!
I am completely thankful for these. He speaks to every level of existence. Biological, philosophical, emotional, historical, political, psychological. Religious. It’s just completely fascinating.
Those claps in the end say it all. I have been to so many lectures in my life, but never did I ever hear students clapping out of sheer respect. I hope more teachers love their subjects so much as this one so that what comes out of their mouths is profound, complex and extremely interesting.
It's amazing to think that there is an even greater depth of knowledge that he possesses behind every idea he brings forward for contemplation. The way in which he effortlessly expands on his thoughts, using precise language, is truly remarkable. Jordan Peterson; thank you for sharing your knowledge and wisdom. I am hopeful that, with the guidance and education of people such as yourself, we can achieve a more rational society that promotes human flourishing. 🙏
I don't even know where to begin to express the deep respect and honor I have for this genius of a man....please don't ever die, I'll try not to either so i can learn as much as I can from you, you wonderful wonderful teacher!!
I’m thankful, just being able to hear this level of dissertation it’s beyond what I could ever imagine. Thanks for even go deeper including other intellectuals to discuss to you. I’m actually learning.
I'm a big fan of your teachings. given the time, I have no troubles listening to three or four hours of your lectures without my mind wondering as a general rule. I didn't believe that you could impress me any more than you already have. I was completely wrong. This lecture resonated with me on a personal level far more than anything else in your works that I've listened to. You managed to articulately weave an academic tapestry that portrayed my personal journey into the void that is a destructive and empty nihilistic mindset. My cultivation of an indomitable way of being because strength, anger and dominance was the only thing that seemed to let me feel anything. My self created implosion that sent me into a six month battle with the most crushing depression I'd ever known and my pivotal moment where I knew I had to pick myself up or I was going to die. I envisioned a better way and I used the lessons I learnt during my long night in the wilderness to recreate myself as I wanted to be. I taught myself what it felt like to be human again, something I hadn't experienced since I was a child. I did all that but never forgot my previous lessons. I learnt to love hardship, personal suffering, and high levels of stress because it forces me to grow, because I get to test myself. What once fed a great emptiness inside me now inspires me. This lecture gave me an unusual sense of pride. It somehow gave my experience an intellectual layer of validity. There are not many people in this world that manage to incite a great deal of admiration from me, but you get it in droves my good Sir.
As a psychology student on a distant learning course, these have become my proxy lectures. Amazing, I've never felt so connected and excited by my chosen area of study. Amazing may not be quite strong enough - I'll have to work on my adjectives.
The greater lesson, beyond the ideas and thoughts of some of greatest philosophers referenced by Peterson in this lecture, is the flow of perfection, meaning, purpose and funtion of an educator--Jordan Peterson is an example of perfection of an educator and edcuation, that can only be described as beautiful. You walk away from a Peterson lecture with a understanding of the nature and science and intentions of great thinkers, but in awe of Peterson’s delivery of such critical awareness’s. The most powerful sensation of truth you’ll attain from a Peterson lecture is gratitude. Thank you, JP
Beautiful lecture. Your explicit presentation of theese profound themes, guides my mind with progression to "the next step " of "comprehension", and thus fills me with peace. Thank you.
The beautiful clarity of Petersonian solid reasoning enlivened by Peterson doing what he seems to love best, teaching his subject matter to the next generation. A pleasure to watch.
as someone who was raised by a buddhist matriarchy in my family, ive always questioned existentialism to the point of nihilism and read some works but never fully understood why i was so depressed. now after having watched your videos, i can understand why my life was so fractured, and i dont want to blame anyone or myself, only to forgive myself for being so distraught with my surroundings. its time for me to be less depressing with the whole "life is suffering" motif in buddhist tradition, but to question why that is so, and how I can make a difference to this world as a subsequent. Thank you Doc. I have a scenario question and "what if theory": Doctor Peterson, this maybe a farce I believe the reason many men who watch your videos not only were deprived of responsibility, but have no responsible paternal figure due to overprotective mothers, divorce arrangements, and child settlements. my question is where is the responsibility of the maternal figure for women who have undergone their respective family's divorce or overextending father, and respective child custody? or is the groundwork for being a mother fairly laidout. or is that a territory/question we don't want to cross/ask.
Andrew you are right that the maternal figure is not enough. I see continually how my 3 year old grandson needs a masculine model. And I seet single mothers ignore that yearning and are irritated by any masculine drive which defies their authority. But all the same frustration I believe is a great spiritual teacher and not necessarily a passport to trauma if you retain confidence in yourself and a deep search for truth
The depth of this lecture has really helped me fill in some gaps in my thinking. I’ve only just woke with a sense of shame of my past. The link between nihilism and depression and suffering is revealing for me.
Its an incredible gift to US ALL to have the ability to sit up under this incredibly gifted teacher. I am in awe each time. Thank you whomever is responsible for all these lectures being easily accessible. Its changing lives!
I drifted for years , and enjoyed it immensely, until around 35 I ended up in rehab, an opiate addict, with a child on the way, a terminally ill father and no life or money or friends left. 8 years on I have a couple of psych degrees and work as a psychologist therapist in a rehab, which is a very meaningful job. I'm a good father and have a decent women. Life taught me the hard way, but i learnt big time. I wouldn't change a thing. My life has been many ups and downs , this has taught me the hard way, but I think in a way book learning alone could not of. Btw Peterson has been a big part of my reinvention and I also tell a lot of folk in rehab to check him out and many do love and benefit from his work like I do. Cheers Mr P 😁
Peterson is a well spoken man. I wonder if he knows that he even reach people that are not intellectual and that English is not even their first language! Great teacher Dr Peterson.
I've been going through an existential crisis for about 12 years now. I've been trying to get across to my VA treatment team this very thing, i.e. "I see the meaning of life as suffering, therefore, why go on living?" And I do have VERY philosophical leanings. I study this stuff and psychology relentlessly. I was a nominal Christian for 18 years and it did me very little if any good, other than giving me a little, perhaps misplaced, hope that there was an ultimate meaning in life, ultimate Justice, and a never-ending pleasant afterlife. My dogmatic literal belief in the claims of the Bible were shattered beyond repair about 8 months ago. Since then, I've continued to listen to you, Dr. Peterson, as well as Alan Watts' talks on UA-cam. It's helping a lot. I'm an inpatient at the VA Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program in Leavenworth, Kansas currently. I listen to you every day here. I'm so proud of you that you are ACTUALLY helping people put their lives together and find meaning and purpose in life. It's helping me too. I've attempted suicide 3 times, only to be found by someone "miraculously" and taken to a hospital. My hope is that I can find a new reason to keep living...to find a new identity. Thank you for everything you do. And, by the way, I really loved your remark about making no apologies for being an "evil capitalist." Hilarious. $300K-400K per month? NIIIIICE! I love it. You deserve it! If anyone does, it's you. Ayn Rand would have loved you too, I think.
Dr. Peterson thank you so much for uploading these vidoes!! I've been vocally supporting your current situation and then stumbled on all your beautiful powerful brilliant lectures and I couldn't be more grateful! Thank you!
This is how you approach a four way intersection and pick all four at the same time. Something that I got agains this type of educational approach is that it lacks response, but it is superb to raise questions and poke your brain for further mental development. It is quite certain that every one got some pearls of wisdom. This gentlement is truly a river of wisdom.
Dr Peterson, thank you for putting your lectures up, I'm finding them fascinating and am listening to all of them. I read some of the authors you talk about when I was in highschool but I was never able to draw all of these conclusions and practical applications and my professors never offered much context either. I'm a medicine student from Slovenia.
That was a blast...saw myself (as atheist...slightly nihilistic and possibly a portion depressed at times) in those fundamentals and I think they were absolutely right). I recently made the journey back to religion, etc....and find myself impressed with some of the fundamentals same as Peterson, who also described it as something that adjusted some opinions in him as well in recent years. I think we all...before going ballistic into nihilism...should at least watch back and make some sense out of why we or our ancestors lived increasingly successful and with some lesser distress as it now manifests in society. Lack of meaning in life is a big one and we will implode...with no room for talking, discussing, etc. This is already happening and its scary.
In a way, I'm glad the Canadian statists went so far as to try and compel speech by the force of law. Had they not, the intellectual field cannon that is Jorden Peterson might not be sounding and firing on the cultural battle fronts in the way he is, and only be experienced by those in his classrooms. God (or the universe, take your pick) bless this guy for taking on the hassle of celebrity and engaging the snake oil selling enemies of the shared western tradition.
*W O W* --- can't remember any other lecture going so so deep to the core of things that should matter to all of us. Truly exceptional. I agree with most of the ideas presented here; and also the way you connect them. I'm also thankful that the lecture added some depth to my own interpretation of the world.
It occurs to me, at about 30 minutes in, that the philosophers stone is a symbol for the hope of embodying the conceptual usefulness of philosophy into the practical world. I think Peterson does a pretty good job in embodying such a concept.
it's so nice to listen to these lectures and realize the quality of your life has been exceptionally good. The self doubt of youth replaced by the confidence only years of experience can instill. This is true growth.
I started listening to your lectures this past Fall. I followed what has happened to you and watched several times the debate on November 19th on' bill C16 in Canada. I admire you and see you as a hero. I can talk a good game, but you have stood up for what you believe risking everything: your job, your clinical license, friends...everything. This bill is 'a virus' - it's not benign. As you have pointed out - we are all capable of signing up to be a Nazi prison guard.
“Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth.” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment
This is the best articulation of the fundamental argument that has evolved throughout human civilization and is relevant now more than ever. If one wants to understand Jordan Peterson one has to grasp these concepts and their underlying assumptions.
One of the great things about these lectures is that Peterson makes the writing that was almost unreadable when I was in undergrad accessible. Now, when he mentions somebody like Kierkegaard, makes the topic interesting, and then makes you want to go learn more about that philosopher. Incredibly fascinating.
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” - Marcus Aurelius I love Roman history but the best thing it ever gave me was the thoughts of men like this.
A fascinating perspective on a major reason for suicide. As an athiest, nihilism is a definite factor in forming my thoughts of existence. My contemplation of my wonderful (lucky) memories of childhood, family, young adulthood. And middle age have shown me life is precious and worthwhile despite suffering.
There is something powerful about these lectures in hindsight, and the fact that they resonate true (fortunately or unfortunately) in current 2022 as I comment. Please preserve them and continue to make them publicly accessible. They reverberate the material that Dr. Peterson has in his books, current lectures, current interviews, current content, etc. These lectures reveal the compelling consistency and clarity of his communication style (even before Powerpoint slides, bruh). A peek into the origin stories so to speak, lol. Like seeing the genetic foundations and building blocks of his legacy. Mahalo again for the legacy!
I have a Masters degree in philopsophy, I wrote a memoire on Nietzsche's philosphy, and I can tell you that Jordan Peterson is so smart and that he has such an authentic and personal way of understanding things... It's beautiful.
Ricardo Alatorre Gtz. de Velasco He’s brilliant, right? He had me delve into Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, Solzchithzin (spelling?) and many more great thinkers. i’m so glad that has caught on and become so popular. I was into him about five years ago and still going strong. 😊👍🏼👍🏼
I see you in there
@gary grine I do not think to embrace Nietzsche is to think as he is quite against rationalism of the Greeks , for him it is all about the power of the will. For Nietzsche reason is a tool that man uses. In the Revaluation of Morals , he is quite explicit that values did not come from reason but from those who had the stronger will.
Yes I want to have this attitude and it be EZ lol well it already is for me that's a flex
You obviously went to a lousy school.
I can't believe we all get to, essentially, take these classes for free. Thank you so much, Dr. Peterson.
Isn't it amazing?
There’s gonna be a quiz…your life.
@@darillus1 The library.
@@JohnnyArtPavlou the library isn't free, it just typically doesn't cost the patrons to pick up a book and read. it also doesn't set up anything approximating a proper educational environment. generally they like those places quiet.
if you want me to seriously take your opinion, use more than two words. otherwise it's worth as much as it took to write. you aren't nietzche, smokey the bear.
Even at that, the level of interpretation, from this collection of philosophical insights - such a valuable resource! Very well presented
only down side of these lectures Is now I cant watch any other lecture by a professor without comparing it to these ones,Peterson has set the bar so high I can barely tolerate listening to anyone else😕
I know - hes ruins you for anyone else. Lol
Black Market Goodness have you watched or listened to Rick Roderick? Quite a good social philosophy professor delivered with the same kinds of passion!
exactly what i was thinking
romiustexis Daniel Bonevac is excellent as well.
I can relate to that. ;)
I am a simple blue collar worker at a metal finishing shop. and you are a blessing on my life, Mr. Peterson. I am glad that you are here.
@@gracejaklik2617 i barely finished high school and im addicted to these lectures.
Become the best blue collar worker at a metal finishing shop around your town, and you'll be so valuable for everyone around you
@@mikolajochocki2810 Thanks for your encouraging words, friend. I hope things are going just as well for you!
Your job doesn't define you. You are here and these lectures are illuminating.😺
@@gracejaklik2617 some of us like to be simple man. Calling yourself a simple man is not degrading.
I've been seeking highly intellectual mental health advice all my life and I've finally found it. Thank you for creating this account. Knowledge of this caliber being available for free is amazing to me. Thank you.
It's a damn good thing U of T doesn't prohibit his uploading these.
I think I thought I thunk?
@@tinfoilhatter , is your criticism based on religion? Or do you think that there is no value to be found in trying to understand how or why a person might be motivated?
As far as I understand both fields, psychiatry is concerned with examining brain structure & chemistry with the goal of "tweaking" try and produce a better outcome for the individual.
Psychology, in contrast, is more concerned with analyzing motivation and helping the individual to strategize and develop a plan to better harness (or change) their motivations and decide how to make choices more likely to result in better outcomes for that person.
(Again, just a summary of both fields as I understand then right now.)
Dr. Peterson seems to have dedicated his life to raising the standard even higher, by crusading to strengthen the individual to the point that they reach for the better and more valuable goal of not only making things better for themselves now & themselves in the future, but also for better for their family & their community (also now and in the future).
Before I ramble on longer, another thing to consider is that this lecture is the 12th in the series, so not the best place to start.
If your hesitance is based on a religion, look up Peterson's interviews on the Joe Rogan Experience, then consider looking up Peterson's youtube series on the psychological significance of the Biblical stories.
That's many hours of youtube, but flippantly dismissing the depth of thought and priceless advice in these free youtube videos based on a hesitance to critically examine human nature and what makes us tick is nothing short of tragic.
Hope that helps, and best of luck to you.
@@tinfoilhatter horrible, ignorant comment!
@@tinfoilhatter respect man.. have a great day! 👍
It's 4am in India. . . I just moved into my new apartment and am listening to your lectures while unpacking my life. . . It's illuminating. It makes me stop every now and then and contemplate everything I've done so far. . . Thank you very, very much.
What are you up to now?
@@rktsnail all kinds of stuff 😏😉
@@lunarnodes728 How have you benefitted from Jordan P. during these past month since you posted this comment? Love and blessings to India from Germany. And happy belated Divali.
@@lunarnodes728 that’s fucking awesome to hear.
How is the new apartment?
1:05:30 "truth is not merely established by consensus" - JPB ... i wish more people would hear that
very important point, thanks for the reminder
Michael yeah! Socrates taught me that shit, yo.
Ooooh don't go quoting Hitchens or the radical left will discredit your thought as confounded like Heidegger ahaha just kidding (not really) that's actually one of my favourite quotes of his
Irony. Do you see what you are doing there? Being consensual and all?
@Michael Who thinks that truth is established by consensus?
I've sat in hundreds of lectures. Peterson's are the only ones I've heard where students applaud at the end of the lecture. I applaud right alongside.
I like clapping at computer screens as well.
Big fan of his, but to say that his lectures, after sitting down in hundreds of others, are the only ones you’ve heard where students applaud at the end, is bullshit.
Well ive never heard it in university or high school, except when people are invited to hold a speech
You should see Walter Lewin
@@geo.ies93 I'm talking about University and College lectures- classes. No need to be rude.
Trying to pause Peterson’s lectures is so difficult. It’s like watching a steady stream of brilliance and it feels almost wrong to interrupt lol
Roughly speaking
That's why the ads irritate me so much haha
That's through the same thing happen to me he's a excellent professor
@@shawnk9512 I swear I was just about to say the same.
@@vickiezaccardo1711 use adblock
I love your silences and pauses, not many of my professors stop and think about what they're going to say,
Affectation, I would call it. A deliberate attempt to appear to be improvising that which he has already fully prepared. Pretension is another word that springs to mind.
I believe he is actually thinking how to phrase what he wants to say. I highly doubt he is attempting to appear to be improvising.
Well maybe they didn't want to hurt your feelings.
@@illywhacka that's exactly what I thought too
@@illywhacka Of course he knows what he is going to say beforehand, he is a professor and he prepares his material before the day class. Why would that be pretentious? He has probably taught that class many times, so he is surely digging what to say from memory.
this lecture is insanely good.
Black Tortoise: Genbu bhh
so good he gets a mother fuckin applause
Wow! This dude sincerely cares about saving the world from complete annihilation one student at a time. He is PEACE ON EARTH.
actually its 100 million at a time
SJA Why bother saving it when it's made of arbitrary injustice and suffering though?
Thank you for saying this. And you can tell it’s working. Not by telling us we’re perfect as we are but by telling us we’re not and we/you/us can do better as individuals. I believe we can and we will.
This was the first Peterson UA-cam video I watched, searching for someone talking deeply about Dostoyevsky. So much has transpired in these years since. Ive learned so much through you and the people you introduced me to. God Bless you and your family Mr. Peterson.
"We must experience nihilism before we can find out what value these values really have." Wow. You don't appreciate heaven until you've seen hell. Sure, Nietzsche suffered from syphilis and it may have affected his mind later in life, but you have to admit his observations were profound! Love you Dr. P!
53:30
“Now... one of the things I’ve been thinking a lot about lately... lately being the last 10 years, I suppose”
Dr. Peterson never ceases to make me laugh to myself in the middle of the deepest streams of thoughts. So refreshing. Gotta love it.
First off, let me just say what a brilliant lecture; seriously, as someone who has sat through hundreds of seminars and lectures only one philosophy professor has managed to captivate me as thoroughly as you. With that being said, I am for the most part ignorant to the philosophy you've discussed in this video. Despite my ignorance of formal philosophy, I found that in my youth my mind gravitated to pseudo-philosophical trains of thought. It is at this point that I should mention I am afflicted by, as you brought up in example , chronic illness. So I feel that presenting my approach to life ought to hold some value for prospective psychologists watching this video. The nature of reality for those afflicted with chronic illness is very different from someone who only experiences physiological discomfort in an oscillatory manner. It is one thing to know that some days of your life will be uncomfortable - it is another thing entirely to know that every day will be filled with discomfort. The realization that your life will proceed in this manner undoubtedly leads to an aberrant psyche ; not necessarily a depressed psyche - but aberrant nonetheless - something I am fully aware of. A thought that almost invariably eventually enters every chronically afflicted persons mind is "will i ever be happy again?" Now as one would expect this is a major point of mental divergence between individuals - it goes without saying that some people simply cannot reconcile that this is now their reality - others choose to ignore it. I admittedly fall into the first category of individual simply because I find ignorance more discomforting that pain. But despite my lack of happiness I find comfort in purpose. You see, it is was a sad day that I realized that I won't ever REALLY be happy again - but it is was a liberating day when I realized that I may influence the happiness of others. It is in this thought that I found comfort and purpose - granting others what I cannot find myself. Again, this scenario is specific to myself, but I truly believe that is is necessary for psychologists in modern society to move away from the dogma that anyone can find happiness. Individuals in positions such as myself need to realize that happiness is not the ultimate goal in life - to be rather blunt I could as you suggest huff a line of cocaine every two hours and be perfectly happy. In this way happiness is very shallow - what lies beneath it is personal fulfillment and this is defined by a persons values. Well, what are a persons values dictated by? For the large majority of individuals value is dictated by consensus - in other words what society tells the individual is valuable. It goes without saying that if society tells me that happiness is the most valuable thing in life, something I may never attain, I will naturally fall into a state of depression - I cannot attain that which is most valuable to me. So it is my belief that it should be the job of psychologists to help shift these values away from happiness toward values that are more attainable. I am not suggesting that psychologists abandon the notion of happiness altogether as it is a continuum not binary in nature - but I am suggesting an approach that makes it OK not to be happy. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on this matter.
What a beautiful perspective. I admire this.
I agree with your perspective. I also think that happiness is a very subjective state, some ones definition of happiness is not mine, some times even contradictory to mine. Some studies state that very ill people identified them selfs as happy and perfectly healthy and wealthy people didn't. So happiness is a very intimate assesment. You my friend sound like a very intelligent and aware person that found his purpose and I applaud you❣️
+1
You write very well, and what you say is very interesting, especially about happiness being not what it seems, and fulfilment being more meaningful. I'd like to suggest though that what a person values is not 'what society tells them' but that values are acquired through imprinting; a very different process that occurs in a limited time window and comes from immediate experience, not 'being told'. This basic feature of human life gives potential for all sorts of systems, some that will work and some that will fail. If your childhood brought pleasure in some ways (dopamine hit) then those ways become things to aim for - in your case helping others, but not everyone would see value in helping others, especially psychopaths! Jordan went on to have a nervous breakdown - in this lecture he is visibly having to work hard, and not really finding answers. Moving from philosophy (19th century) to evolutionary psychology is I think what is needed to make progress.
Truly enlightening. The way this man teaches is touching. Every 5 seconds I'm pausing the video to reflect on something he says. The world needs more people who can teach like this.
we have one professor in my college that teach like this...
we never dare to miss his class
I'm 41 years old. Listen to this man. When I was 20 I knew everything and it was everyone else that was wrong. Find purpose, contribute, be steadfast in your understanding but never be resolute in your ability to adapt.
I’m 32 and I think the same thing. Right now I’m grappling with the Dostoevsky idea that even though you might physically get away from your decisions that are wrong, you will still pay for it in the end and you can’t escape it. That idea will make you think before you do anything let me tell ya.
I'm 24 and just graduated from college. I just wanna ask how to find purpose in life cos I feel so clueless about life. I've been through abuse and depression and thought of committing suicide. Now Im trying to develop a new life cos I see the potential of time and life but I also see other people's achievements and tbh it's hard to compete with them given that I don't have any particular skill or deep knowledge on anything. I am trying to find a field to cling onto, but the options are so many and I just don't know which one to choose. I still have depression even though I've given up committing suicide. It's just hard for me to feel the joy or spark on anything so that I don't even know what I like or care anymore, besides the will of continue and finding.
I can't believe that after 24 years exploring this world, I'm still a lame person who doesn't have a clear self-identity and a good amount of experience on anything.
@@陳查理-c2c read mans search for meaning by victor frankle. I’ve dealt with abuse and nihilism in the past as well and his book helped me immensely in understanding my position in the world and how doing my part for those around me is of utmost importance.
@@aronapple7760 thank you for the recommendation!! I will definitely read the book.
@@陳查理-c2c sorry can’t relate directly to your specific background, but would like to be helpfull to you nonetheless. I’d suggest reading slowly the book of Job and investigating the exact reason for the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth
took me close to 5 hours to go through the whole thing as I had to constantly pause and contemplate what has been said. truly brilliant. Dostoevsky is the goat.
He makes people want to read Jung, Nietzsche, and Dostoyevsky
And study the existential psychologists....like Dr. Rollo May
Everyone should
Thankfully I was required to read Dostoyevsky in school.
This may be the single most important aspect of JP's rise over the past 5+ years.
Idk about Jung. He did turn me on to Carl Rogers though. The further he gets away from psychodynamics and closer to biology and cognition, the more I appreciate psychology.
I wonder if he has lectures on phenomenology since he's been talking about it more recently. Heidegger, Hegel, and Husserl are all really "fun" and it'd be cool to hear his take on them.
I'm an engineering student but you are by far the best professor I ever had (virtually)
I’ve been an MA counseling psychologist and also later on trained in management as an MBA & worked for the betterment of people all my life (I’m 72) and wish I had a teacher as great as Dr. Peterson! He’s the best!
this is honestly a beautiful lecture
Minute 33 onwards, blew my mind. I literally uttered similar words roughly an hour prior to listening to this.. It gives me peace and assurance to see JP talking about this.
Prof Jordan, lecture after lecture you are elegantly answering some heavy questions that have been killing me for almost 10 years. My breakfast tasted fantastic this morning. I missed that feeling. From a fellow human being, thanks for pulling out of that f*$#&ing cold and dark cave. Cheers!
+Yassine Benajiba This is exactly how I felt
Hey I hope you are feeling good even now
Can't say I'm going through the same things
But dark period sure. I wanted to know what b lectures seemed profound to you? Can you tell me
Thanx
@@kritikasingh7992 Hi, feeling much better since then. To me it was the part either in this lecture or the previous where he talks about "why do anything at all?" which was a crippling question for me for years. I guess at the end, at least for me, what this did for me is to start acting in the world and doing creative things rather than keep digging. The lecture was freeing to me because I always had the feeling that it was something with my and my life that needed fixing but ended up being more a sense of being lost and confused that can be cured by doing creative work .. seems we are built this way and you can choose to see it as something that needs fixing or as a drive to keep doing things you enjoy working on.
@@yastradamusthis was beautiful thank you hopefully I can better too
agree totally with this
These are the questions I struggled to solve many years ago. They were the inevitable conclusion of our civilization. I have found meaning and purpose since then. I now see that our civilization is now dealing with this with recent events. Prof. Peterson saw this before many. These words are more important now thaan ever for every person to come to grips with.
That ending is so badass.
Just nodding with a grave expression while the class claps.
Here in 09/2021 absolutely floored with gratitude that these lessons are provided free of charge. Don't take that for granted. Imagine the price of this class when taught in a university.
Thank you, Dr. Peterson!
This professor is kinda awesome.
The Shaolin why do you want to talk like a gangster would be also an interesting lecture :P
Tomi o.g. has entered the lexicon of the youth.
Source: am youthen
Kinda awesome? More like kinda classist, liberal, hate speech grazie nermany
aakkoin lol what?
Lol was he still relatively unknown when you wrote this? Amazing how much has changed in 2 short years.
I've been looking for someone to express my life condition for the past 5 years like that, and I'm so happy that I found this video.
Since romantic rejection coupled with health issues came to surface, my entire 5-year course can be described perfectly by what you said, from the "why me?" question to me struggling to get into a career to avoid being a drifter playing video games and not finding any point in socializing until my forties. My recent struggles is "trying to like something I find boring" since in the first 5 minutes of learning that something I face constant yawning and mind wandering. I tried to combat that with discipline and tools like habit trackers, but it's as you say it. Not even the conscious awareness that failing to do so will lead to even further financial breakdown fixes it. It's something from my values and beliefs that makes me averse to it, and I have to find it if I want to have any hopes of acting before it's too late (one might argue that it's already too late for many things but meh).
I'll read the "notes from underground" and the other book recommendations. I pirate books a lot even if I know that it's not the right thing to do. I wasn't always prone to reading books or intellectually curious. It happened as a consequence of my health issues and my constant rejection. It's just like you said in another lecture, that learning comes when you realize that what you have to work with doesn't really achieve the results you want. And I really want to pull myself out of this shithole I'm into, while I'm intellectually honest, and I come to believe that being excessively critical and curious can also be a bad thing.
+Jordan B Peterson A reply from the man himself! Thank you very much, sir. Will do!
+Jordan B Peterson man I took a look at it, and it looks awesome, I just bought it, and am super excited to get started!
And the lectures are very good, even though I find myself drifting in and out.
***** I am finding it hard to absorb a lot of the information. Partly because I tend to do other things, while having his lectures go in the background, but.... keep at it, and don't let your Freudian urges distract you from the lectures (;
Oh there's nothing Freudian about it. ;)
I usually claim that I'm bored but I don't think it's that simple. Distracted, scattered, hard to focus, to much that requires my attention. I never have the time to catch up with anything, least of all myself. Dunno. Depression? I did get that "diagnosis" and nothing has changed, so that might be it. Is that how depression manifests itself?
this is beautiful. you can feel his passion for the subject especially through his expression at the end of the lecture. I am mesmerised by his intellect, creative understanding and oration. Amazing
This lecture speaks to my core. i've come full circle. Started last year searching for lectures on Existentialism and came across Professor's lectures. today i watch with more meaning to it, than ever.
This lecture is so packed with information, it’s literally mind boggling....
Holy shit, you're good at teaching.
Precisely why the left wants him censored.
@@Raiko01 : Begs the question. Who is starting these silly character assassinations. People who run with scissors are rarely the people who make the scissors...
Can confirm. Am 30, drifting, and it is pretty unpleasant. Trying to summon the Will to conquer the world still. I've still got a good shot at it! :)
Have you looked at Saturn's Return?
You try marijuana ?
Mark snow
S a m e. I feel like I'm trapped in a matrix I didn't sign up for, thus want no part in.
I hate trying to build castles on a foundation made of sand.
Mark Snow i
that's your problem. i'm 30, drifting, and perfectly happy. i create as i speak, money finds me whenever i need it, i haven't got a care in the world. i'm not anxious to 'make something of myself' like i was at 24 when i really was miserable. my room and person are always clean. i basically live on £14 a day and earn on average about £30. i have no need for progress, no need not to stay exactly where i am for another 50 years or so and die whenever
A genuine pleasure to watch and listen. His intellectual energy, genuine belief in what he s talking about with a deep sense of its great value along with his performance to elucidate it simply, truthfully, and honestly is inspiring. I fail to see how anyone cannot seek out copies of Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, Jung, Tolstoy, etc. and reacquaint themselves with these great authors. I would also not leave out another great author-Dr. Jordan Peterson.
I have truly felt that I have learned more valuable and genuine knowledge from these videos than the schoolwork I have studied over the last 2 or so years. Thank you Professor.
The only thing missing from this was a mic drop at the end. The best lecture on these subjects I've had the pleasure of enjoying. Thank you. :)
I live in the United States and have been shut out of the higher education because l can’t afford it and choose not to go into debt for the rest of my life paying off student loans. So l turn to UA-cam for college and university lectures. I’ve listened to thousands of hours of lectures by professors on every subject imaginable . Professor Peterson is one of the best l’ve heard in terms of psychology , psychoanalysis - hands down!
Same, trying not to be resentful about being more than capable of doing higher education, but shut out by circumstance. It's especially bad when I meet a rationalist materialist atheist that occupies that high position.
All of us lower caste work to keep society running so they can squander the highest place and spit on the walls (painfully constructed) that keep them safe, comfortable
Sounds great. Just keep learning and stay passionate.
The intellectual exercise of questioning everything is my primary coping mechanism
It's like I'm only compelled to action when I'm completely overwhelmed
Not a great way to live
This level of understanding is beautiful to hear.
Jordan "it's no joke'' Peterson
Audio Garden Let me guess...you watch Joe Rogan? 🙄
And why the hell not?
You know
Its not obvious lol
Ok you got me I'm dying over here
What a gifted and dedicated teacher
Almost seems like Peterson is reluctant to reveal what he knows about human nature. This pains him and he's given his life to find a method of connection.
It's much appreciated.
He is right at the beginning at the age and goal thing. I have spent time in rehab, and saw, the people older than 30 struggle more to stay stable than younger people. That was one of the best motivation for me to stop using opiates before i reached 30. And taking the addiction part out of it, and replacing them with all kinds of destructive behaviour, It is, what i heard from a psychologist, a real problem to learn people in their 50's to change their behaviour. Each year counts he said, and now i am a bit older, i realised he was right al along.
Jordan is so sincere and so intelligent. Really a noble human being. Devoting himself to decoding the human experience.
Great lecture, Prof. Petersen! Wow, some real depth on UA-cam....how unusual.
I had to quit my university studies a few years back when I got burned out and depressed, subsequently diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I have misssed it, even though I don't think I could do it again - not at this point, anyway. Listening to your lectures really take me back and I love it, these are the things I am interested in and there's no reason why I shouldn't "study" it if only for my own pleasure. Thanks!
Five years since I watched this video for the first time and wow what a five years it's been.
Thank you Dr Peterson.
I am completely thankful for these. He speaks to every level of existence. Biological, philosophical, emotional, historical, political, psychological. Religious. It’s just completely fascinating.
Those claps in the end say it all. I have been to so many lectures in my life, but never did I ever hear students clapping out of sheer respect. I hope more teachers love their subjects so much as this one so that what comes out of their mouths is profound, complex and extremely interesting.
It's amazing to think that there is an even greater depth of knowledge that he possesses behind every idea he brings forward for contemplation. The way in which he effortlessly expands on his thoughts, using precise language, is truly remarkable.
Jordan Peterson; thank you for sharing your knowledge and wisdom.
I am hopeful that, with the guidance and education of people such as yourself, we can achieve a more rational society that promotes human flourishing. 🙏
Ive listening to Mr Peterson's these lectures every night this week. Awesome.
I don't even know where to begin to express the deep respect and honor I have for this genius of a man....please don't ever die, I'll try not to either so i can learn as much as I can from you, you wonderful wonderful teacher!!
Amazing how he puts all this together.
Could this be the the best lecture ever covering the meaning of life and the views of some of the greatest writers and thinkers?
Thank you for posting! His passionate and intelligent lecture is like caviar for the mind. Such a treat and rich challenge.
He explains such profound ideas with such great intensity. He has great lectures.
This is my favorite video on UA-cam.
So greatful for this human. He seems to take on a lot of suffering with the knowledge he possesses. Noble man thank you for enlightening me.
I’m thankful, just being able to hear this level of dissertation it’s beyond what I could ever imagine. Thanks for even go deeper including other intellectuals to discuss to you. I’m actually learning.
I'm a big fan of your teachings. given the time, I have no troubles listening to three or four hours of your lectures without my mind wondering as a general rule. I didn't believe that you could impress me any more than you already have.
I was completely wrong.
This lecture resonated with me on a personal level far more than anything else in your works that I've listened to. You managed to articulately weave an academic tapestry that portrayed my personal journey into the void that is a destructive and empty nihilistic mindset. My cultivation of an indomitable way of being because strength, anger and dominance was the only thing that seemed to let me feel anything. My self created implosion that sent me into a six month battle with the most crushing depression I'd ever known and my pivotal moment where I knew I had to pick myself up or I was going to die.
I envisioned a better way and I used the lessons I learnt during my long night in the wilderness to recreate myself as I wanted to be. I taught myself what it felt like to be human again, something I hadn't experienced since I was a child. I did all that but never forgot my previous lessons. I learnt to love hardship, personal suffering, and high levels of stress because it forces me to grow, because I get to test myself. What once fed a great emptiness inside me now inspires me.
This lecture gave me an unusual sense of pride. It somehow gave my experience an intellectual layer of validity.
There are not many people in this world that manage to incite a great deal of admiration from me, but you get it in droves my good Sir.
As a psychology student on a distant learning course, these have become my proxy lectures. Amazing, I've never felt so connected and excited by my chosen area of study. Amazing may not be quite strong enough - I'll have to work on my adjectives.
The greater lesson, beyond the ideas and thoughts of some of greatest philosophers referenced by Peterson in this lecture, is the flow of perfection, meaning, purpose and funtion of an educator--Jordan Peterson is an example of perfection of an educator and edcuation, that can only be described as beautiful.
You walk away from a Peterson lecture with a understanding of the nature and science and intentions of great thinkers, but in awe of Peterson’s delivery of such critical awareness’s.
The most powerful sensation of truth you’ll attain from a Peterson lecture is gratitude.
Thank you, JP
Beautiful lecture. Your explicit presentation of theese profound themes, guides my mind with progression to "the next step " of "comprehension", and thus fills me with peace. Thank you.
The beautiful clarity of Petersonian solid reasoning enlivened by Peterson doing what he seems to love best, teaching his subject matter to the next generation.
A pleasure to watch.
as someone who was raised by a buddhist matriarchy in my family, ive always questioned existentialism to the point of nihilism and read some works but never fully understood why i was so depressed. now after having watched your videos, i can understand why my life was so fractured, and i dont want to blame anyone or myself, only to forgive myself for being so distraught with my surroundings. its time for me to be less depressing with the whole "life is suffering" motif in buddhist tradition, but to question why that is so, and how I can make a difference to this world as a subsequent. Thank you Doc.
I have a scenario question and "what if theory":
Doctor Peterson, this maybe a farce I believe the reason many men who watch your videos not only were deprived of responsibility, but have no responsible paternal figure due to overprotective mothers, divorce arrangements, and child settlements.
my question is where is the responsibility of the maternal figure for women who have undergone their respective family's divorce or overextending father, and respective child custody? or is the groundwork for being a mother fairly laidout. or is that a territory/question we don't want to cross/ask.
Well single parent households on average are more likely to produce children with problems then two parent households.
Andrew you are right that the maternal figure is not enough. I see continually how my 3 year old grandson needs a masculine model. And I seet single mothers ignore that yearning and are irritated by any masculine drive which defies their authority. But all the same frustration I believe is a great spiritual teacher and not necessarily a passport to trauma if you retain confidence in yourself and a deep search for truth
The depth of this lecture has really helped me fill in some gaps in my thinking. I’ve only just woke with a sense of shame of my past. The link between nihilism and depression and suffering is revealing for me.
It's the resigned bowing of the head and mournful nod at the very end
make this art.
Its an incredible gift to US ALL to have the ability to sit up under this incredibly gifted teacher. I am in awe each time. Thank you whomever is responsible for all these lectures being easily accessible. Its changing lives!
I drifted for years , and enjoyed it immensely, until around 35 I ended up in rehab, an opiate addict, with a child on the way, a terminally ill father and no life or money or friends left. 8 years on I have a couple of psych degrees and work as a psychologist therapist in a rehab, which is a very meaningful job. I'm a good father and have a decent women. Life taught me the hard way, but i learnt big time. I wouldn't change a thing. My life has been many ups and downs , this has taught me the hard way, but I think in a way book learning alone could not of. Btw Peterson has been a big part of my reinvention and I also tell a lot of folk in rehab to check him out and many do love and benefit from his work like I do. Cheers Mr P 😁
The best things in life are free. Thank you Dr. Peterson for posting your awesome lectures on youtube and sharing with the world.
Peterson is a well spoken man. I wonder if he knows that he even reach people that are not intellectual and that English is not even their first language! Great teacher Dr Peterson.
I've been going through an existential crisis for about 12 years now. I've been trying to get across to my VA treatment team this very thing, i.e. "I see the meaning of life as suffering, therefore, why go on living?" And I do have VERY philosophical leanings. I study this stuff and psychology relentlessly. I was a nominal Christian for 18 years and it did me very little if any good, other than giving me a little, perhaps misplaced, hope that there was an ultimate meaning in life, ultimate Justice, and a never-ending pleasant afterlife. My dogmatic literal belief in the claims of the Bible were shattered beyond repair about 8 months ago. Since then, I've continued to listen to you, Dr. Peterson, as well as Alan Watts' talks on UA-cam. It's helping a lot. I'm an inpatient at the VA Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program in Leavenworth, Kansas currently. I listen to you every day here. I'm so proud of you that you are ACTUALLY helping people put their lives together and find meaning and purpose in life. It's helping me too. I've attempted suicide 3 times, only to be found by someone "miraculously" and taken to a hospital. My hope is that I can find a new reason to keep living...to find a new identity. Thank you for everything you do. And, by the way, I really loved your remark about making no apologies for being an "evil capitalist." Hilarious. $300K-400K per month? NIIIIICE! I love it. You deserve it! If anyone does, it's you. Ayn Rand would have loved you too, I think.
How are you doing?
Dr. Peterson thank you so much for uploading these vidoes!! I've been vocally supporting your current situation and then stumbled on all your beautiful powerful brilliant lectures and I couldn't be more grateful! Thank you!
This is how you approach a four way intersection and pick all four at the same time.
Something that I got agains this type of educational approach is that it lacks response, but it is superb to raise questions and poke your brain for further mental development. It is quite certain that every one got some pearls of wisdom.
This gentlement is truly a river of wisdom.
A better psychology and a better philosophy professor than the ones I endured in college.
This was the most comfortable, interesting but serious thing ive ever heard
Dr Peterson, thank you for putting your lectures up, I'm finding them fascinating and am listening to all of them. I read some of the authors you talk about when I was in highschool but I was never able to draw all of these conclusions and practical applications and my professors never offered much context either. I'm a medicine student from Slovenia.
That was a blast...saw myself (as atheist...slightly nihilistic and possibly a portion depressed at times) in those fundamentals and I think they were absolutely right). I recently made the journey back to religion, etc....and find myself impressed with some of the fundamentals same as Peterson, who also described it as something that adjusted some opinions in him as well in recent years.
I think we all...before going ballistic into nihilism...should at least watch back and make some sense out of why we or our ancestors lived increasingly successful and with some lesser distress as it now manifests in society.
Lack of meaning in life is a big one and we will implode...with no room for talking, discussing, etc. This is already happening and its scary.
In a way, I'm glad the Canadian statists went so far as to try and compel speech by the force of law. Had they not, the intellectual field cannon that is Jorden Peterson might not be sounding and firing on the cultural battle fronts in the way he is, and only be experienced by those in his classrooms. God (or the universe, take your pick) bless this guy for taking on the hassle of celebrity and engaging the snake oil selling enemies of the shared western tradition.
One of his very best lecturers. The lectures from years 2014 and 2015 show a better than usual eloquence and passion.
*W O W* --- can't remember any other lecture going so so deep to the core of things that should matter to all of us. Truly exceptional. I agree with most of the ideas presented here; and also the way you connect them. I'm also thankful that the lecture added some depth to my own interpretation of the world.
It occurs to me, at about 30 minutes in, that the philosophers stone is a symbol for the hope of embodying the conceptual usefulness of philosophy into the practical world. I think Peterson does a pretty good job in embodying such a concept.
Those who like JP might also like Daniel Bonevac's Course on ideas of the twentieth century. Nice complement I think.
it's so nice to listen to these lectures and realize the quality of your life has been exceptionally good. The self doubt of youth replaced by the confidence only years of experience can instill. This is true growth.
I started listening to your lectures this past Fall. I followed what has happened to you and watched several times the debate on November 19th on' bill C16 in Canada. I admire you and see you as a hero. I can talk a good game, but you have stood up for what you believe risking everything: your job, your clinical license, friends...everything. This bill is 'a virus' - it's not benign. As you have pointed out - we are all capable of signing up to be a Nazi prison guard.
“Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth.”
― Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment
I read somewhere, that if there was a superman,, an ubermensch..he'd be the saddest being on earth.
One of the most insightful and important lectures I have ever listened to. Thank you!
This is the best articulation of the fundamental argument that has evolved throughout human civilization and is relevant now more than ever.
If one wants to understand Jordan Peterson one has to grasp these concepts and their underlying assumptions.
Beautiful way of expressing such fundamental issues and ideas. thank you very much
One of the great things about these lectures is that Peterson makes the writing that was almost unreadable when I was in undergrad accessible. Now, when he mentions somebody like Kierkegaard, makes the topic interesting, and then makes you want to go learn more about that philosopher. Incredibly fascinating.
BRILLIANT!! I need to start drinking whatever this professor is drinking.
+tebogo leshabane Pepsi! The choice of a new generation!
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”
- Marcus Aurelius
I love Roman history but the best thing it ever gave me was the thoughts of men like this.
A fascinating perspective on a major reason for suicide. As an athiest, nihilism is a definite factor in forming my thoughts of existence. My contemplation of my wonderful (lucky) memories of childhood, family, young adulthood. And middle age have shown me life is precious and worthwhile despite suffering.
God, it's so nice to be growing new dendrites at my age listening to this profound man on UA-cam. This is a true gift of the "Information Age".
That was absolutely brilliant. Thank you so much Professor!
There is something powerful about these lectures in hindsight, and the fact that they resonate true (fortunately or unfortunately) in current 2022 as I comment. Please preserve them and continue to make them publicly accessible. They reverberate the material that Dr. Peterson has in his books, current lectures, current interviews, current content, etc. These lectures reveal the compelling consistency and clarity of his communication style (even before Powerpoint slides, bruh). A peek into the origin stories so to speak, lol. Like seeing the genetic foundations and building blocks of his legacy. Mahalo again for the legacy!
the biggest question is how does this guy possess a never ending can of soda? just joking, great lecture!
Product placement.
It looks like Pepsi, Professor.
That isn't a can of soda. It's a weapon to destroy civilizations. (This will make sense when you watch the next lecture.)
Makes me sad that he's so much into water these days.
You earn one if you kill the soda dragon
This is my favorite lecture by JP