From the clips I’ve seen, this philosopher-as-bullshit-artist’s formula for success often runs thusly whether he’s lecturing or fielding questions:
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Anodyne statement about the need to “get one’s life together” in a way that’s totally obvious to anyone who’s a well-adjusted adult with life experience. Often one of his “rules for life.”
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Just-so story about gender or racial differences explaining why it’s now so difficult for poor oppressed white males to follow this advice despite it being the natural order of things.
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Cherry-picked quoting of impressive study and/or respected dead white male thinker to bolster this view of traditional ways bogged down by feminism, affirmative action, etc.
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“So, if QED all right-thinking people should believe this should we not also give due consideration to…”
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Brief and oblique shout-out to alt-right talking point which is a more extreme version of 2.
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Criticism of a society that won’t give this idea a hearing even though he’s “proved” reasonable people and scientific research support it.
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Self-pitying story about how he’s been 'censored", too.
Someone else called him a “dumb person’s idea of a smart person,” but it goes well beyond that. He is smart even if, like many succesful charlatans, he believes his own BS. He understands that his fans aren’t only poor critical thinkers and ignorant but also that they’re immature and lacking in direction despite an outsized sense of entitlement , which also describes your typical right wing authoritarian follower. That Peterson has found his moment at this particular time is no co-incidence.
