He is such a disappointment to me. Early Peterson was just a clinical psychologist who actually gave a shit about men’s mental health. You could filter out his religion and actually get something out of it. Then he turned into… something else.
I think this is right. I always thought of him (when I thought of him at all) as a mostly apolitical self-help guy, then I noticed that he'd become a kind of villain for the left so I looked into it and he really does seem to have gone off the rails at some point.
There's some kind of radicalizing feedback cycle at work with guys like Peterson --to name only one prominent example-- and I'm not sure that it's simply that they were always assholes to begin with. You see a similar dynamic with Elon Musk; it's almost like they take personal offense at any criticism and instead of thinking about it, they just double down.
Some of it is just inherent to being rewarded for certain things. You don't have to consciously choose to go that way, but whenever you stray that direction you get social and financial feedback.
The problem as I see it is the kids ain't alright and men in particular are struggling with this shifting dynamic in the world. He saw it, as do many of us, but Jesus Christ did he fly off the rails once the pronoun debate started.
Transphobia reliably causes brainrot. It's weird how much faster and harder the effect seems to be relative to other bigotries, but look at Graham Linehan and how he burned his life to the ground.
Yes, around a decade (or a bit more) ago I also found him interesting, based on a few short youtube videos or things I’ve read. Was never a fan, but as some other comments mentioned, young men were/are looking for these types of belonging and guidance.
Then I of course grew up, formed my own opinions of the world, and the same time he went further and further to the unhinged side, so yi can’t take him seriously anymore.