Opus 2022-119: Hard Lines

I caught Jordan Peterson in a question and answer time at Caius College in England.  The more I listen to Peterson the more aware I am that not only is he a genius but he is a genius with some holes in his background.  That does not mean we ignore him, just listen with discernment.  In the follow up at Caius College he was responding to a question and relating it to some of the suffering his daughter went through.  He was commenting on how hard it is to be a parent when your child is suffering.  It is often a hard balance between coddling and forcing to grow up.

He said something that I thought was good.  I am paraphrasing but I think I got the points:

Keep in mind the distinction between “you must in spite of this” and “you can’t because of this”

As I said, it is often a hard distinction.  It is also a good point for us to think on.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-098: A Good, Flawed Idea

I recently finished Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas.  About the same time I was watching a video from Prager U with Dennis in discussion with Jordan Peterson.  It was a good combination but I always get a little testy in the way some people interpret the Bible and theology.

The topic came up involving Adam and Eve and the Fall.  Christian Theology teaches sin entered the world at that point and refers to Jesus as the Second Adam because He had victory over sin.  Then they started waxing philosophical.  I can’t remember which one brought up the idea but they agreed that sin did not come from eating the apple.  They claimed that sin already existed in Adam and Eve or they would not have had the ability to disobey God.  

This is the kind of topic I would really enjoy examining over dinner or coffee.  It is not something that can be resolved by two people who are not a part of the Christian family.  They have a point but they miss the point.  One of the aspects of being created in the image of God is the idea of free will.  If you have free will you have the ability to disobey God, to sin.  If you do not have a real choice then you cannot exercise free will.  When I go to a Mexican restaurant I usually don’t have to decide if I am going to over indulge in Cheez-Its.  It isn’t a choice.  Not pigging out on Cheez-Its is not a matter of free will.  There is a difference between ability to sin and the act.  Sin did not become a reality until the action gave birth to it just as I don’t gain weight until I eat those delightful little crackers.

I like both Peterson and Prager.  Both are men of great depth but I have the feeling they can have conversations with normal people like myself without being patronizing or insulting.  I will continue to explore what they have to say but I will continue to refuse to accept what they say as the final word.

That comes from the Bible.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-096: Say That Again

In the third lecture of his Biblical Series Jordan Peterson talks about the necessity of a body and how the lack held back AI development.

“One of the primary reasons that we still don't really have autonomous robots—although, we’re a lot closer to it than we were in the 1960s—is because it turned out that you actually have to have a body before you can think.”

This came to mind as I was looking to throw out some old magazines.  I had looked through them but only read a few articles.  It seemed a waste.  But is it?

I like getting physical magazines.  I like physical books.  I can read on line and the Kindle but it just isn’t the same.  I had not read all of the magazines I received but if it were on line the chances are I would have never even looked at it.  Does this relate to what Peterson was saying?

That makes me wonder how much thinking can be done when the source of information is digital.  How much real contemplation can you invest in a medium that could be altered at any time without notice.  I have posts that I make based on the book of Proverbs.  I write them as part of an ongoing commentary I keep on the book and what I put on line is shown in a different font and a date posted.  Every once in awhile I come across a bit of poor grammar or wrong choice of word and I change it in my files.  It is easy.

Have you ever been in a conversation and you quote something the other person said and their response is either, “I  never said that” or “That is not the word I used”?  Generally you do not have a recording of the conversation but you remember it well.  How do you discuss important issues with people who keep editing their memory?

I think traditional print sources are important.  Word processors are convenient but I still find it helpful to print things out for reference.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-084: We Are All Geniuses

One of the things I like is when egg-heads have marvelous “insights” that every parent could come up with if they thought it was worth writing a book about.  Here is one shared by Jordan Peterson in his third lecture of his Biblical Series.

“One of the things I really like about Jean Piaget, the development psychologist, was that he was so insistent that children act out and dramatize ideas before they understand them. Merlin Donald, who is a psychologist at Queen’s University, wrote a couple of interesting books along those lines, as well, looking at the importance of imitation for the development of higher cognition in human beings. The notion that we embody ideas before we abstract them out, and then represent them in an articulated way, is an extraordinarily solid idea. I really can't see how it could be any other way. If you watch children, you see that.”

He then goes on at length how this is demonstrated by children.  I would guess that his audience is made up of childless individuals who never had brothers or sisters.  My reaction is, “Well, duh.”

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-062: Peterson: Renaissance or Post Modern

I have been dipping my ears into Jordan Peterson.  At this point I have two observations:

He is a Renaissance man in the field of knowledge.  I watched the short video that was labelled as the one that made him famous.  I watched an interview with GQ magazine and an interview with Skavlan, a Scandinavian talk show host.  His grasp of the literature and research in areas he speaks to is just short of awesome.  He knows his stuff in the areas that he knows his stuff.

He is also a Post-Modern man with all the gaps in knowledge that go with that status.  His basic foundation is still that of a liberal.  He uses references and sources that are part of the anti-Christian academic environment.  To his credit he is still studying and thinking but it is an uphill battle.  Most of what I have seen is from several years ago.  I sense he is growing.  Time will tell.

My hope is that he is really seeking truth that he is open to learning.  

I am not afraid of what he has to say.  He is either very stimulating or very boring depending on whether he is actually following the truth or repeating the things fools have fed him.  If given a chance, truth will win.  I am currently slowly working through a series of lectures had made on the Bible.  There is a lot of psychobabble that makes sense to him and his fellow psychologists but he tends to allegorize like a modern day John Bunyan.  I keep listening because he comes up with some insights and witty remarks.  I find the short videos rather boring.  They are supposed to be the clever use of videos with his words running over them.  The long lectures and interview give him more range to nuance and explain.

We will see how long I keep listening.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-054: Finally Too Far?

People seem to be listening to Jordan Peterson.  I tried watching a few of his short videos but don’t find them satisfying so I am trying to listen to some of his longer conversations.  They take a lot of time so I parcel them out.  Currently I am listening to a conversation between Peterson and Joe Rogan (#1208).  

Peterson was commenting on how people in business are more socialized than academia.  I think his explanation for the academics was that they can evaluate each other based on their published research.  He called it science.  He said business people are much more socialized.  They need to constantly be socializing to find out whom they can trust.  

Business people need to develop a relationship with their employees and customers.  If they make the wrong choices in employees then they fail.  If the customers find the businessman cannot be trusted then eventually they fall from their positions and go broke.  I think of the ways in which companies have lowered the quality of their products and I have found other sources.  Multiply that by a few million and you have serious money.

This made me think of the major players in our culture, the social media gurus.  They have betrayed the trust people had in them.  The masses are slow to wake up to this because they are already so woke, but the day will come when they say, “Hey” and admit to themselves they have been lied to and manipulated.  Will these corporate giants fall because of it?  It is interesting that we are currently seeing some significant losses in the stock market and in usage.  Is this an indication that people are feeling betrayed or just a blip in the market?  Only time will tell.

People don’t mind being lied to when you tell them they look good today.  I think that they have a little different response when they realize that the actions of the government and crony capitalists are slowly eroding their liberty and freedom of choice.  Please note that I say “crony capitalist” not “capitalist”.  The first is an agent of fascism the second is someone who sells stock in their company.

Markets work if they are allowed to.  Get involved in the process.  If you are tired of being lied to by Facebook and Twitter then look for alternatives.  I can’t give you much advice on that because I have almost no involvement with either one.  If, on the other hand, you want advice on the best Bible translation I can help you.  

homo unius libri