Anja answers “Why is Peterson getting so much hate?”

Todd Kman asked this question about 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos:

Why is Peterson getting so much hate?

Anja He can use language in an eloquent way, which conceals how unscientific and subjective his viewpoints often are. I studied both Psychology and Neurosc…moreHe can use language in an eloquent way, which conceals how unscientific and subjective his viewpoints often are. I studied both Psychology and Neuroscience and see that much of what he is preaching is too far fetched for the real scientific community. When he talks about archetypes and lobsters, he is talking about his subjective ideas, which he usually arrived at by thought, I believe. Just because he throughs some half-baked evolutional speculations in there and names a few neurotransmitters, (even though I get the impression that he doesn't know much about how the brain actually works, which is fine but then he shouldn't pretend like he knows), it's still highly subjective and speculative. It is totally fine for an academic to write a 'popular science' book for the general public but it is highly unscientific to portray your beliefs and world views as scientific consensus. His content coming in an eloquent rhetorical packaging does not lend it any objectivity. In summary, my main issue with him is: He uses his academic position to preach his personal world views about subject matters outside his area of expertise and tries to sell this as scientific rigour. So if you enjoy the book and it gives you good advice on how to live a better life - good for you. I'd just suggest not to take his 'scientific' theories at face value. (less)

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Gauis Phalanx "he doesn't know much about how the brain actually works",

Do you?, why I did not heard your name as one of the Nobel prize winner, if you are such an ...more
Sep 29, 2021 03:19PM · flag

Dennis This review purports to offer a critique of a book that, to many readers around the world, stands as one of the most influential and profound works of This review purports to offer a critique of a book that, to many readers around the world, stands as one of the most influential and profound works of our time. Yet it commits the very faults it accuses the author of—namely, dismissiveness, subjectivity, and an undercurrent of intellectual condescension. The reviewer makes sweeping statements about the author's supposed lack of scientific grounding, while ironically providing no specific counter-evidence or alternative interpretations—just generalized academic skepticism.

The reviewer claims to have studied Psychology and Neuroscience but fails to engage meaningfully with the core concepts of the book. Instead of addressing the symbolic resonance of archetypes or the metaphorical function of the now-famous lobsters—which serve as illustrative devices rather than empirical claims—they reduce them to "subjective ideas," ignoring the long intellectual tradition of narrative, myth, and comparative biology that supports them. One wonders whether the reviewer expects every great thinker to confine themselves to a narrow, peer-reviewed cage, rather than venture into the philosophical terrain where true insight often lies.

The accusation that the author uses "half-baked evolutional speculations" reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of how metaphor, interdisciplinary synthesis, and conceptual bridging work in public intellectual discourse. Great thinkers have always drawn connections across fields—consider Darwin, Freud, Jung, or even Sagan—not because they claim expertise in everything, but because they recognize that wisdom often lives in the intersections.

The reviewer’s closing concession—that the book may provide helpful advice for life—is telling. Despite all the objections cloaked in academic authority, they cannot deny that the book speaks powerfully to the human condition. Perhaps the real discomfort lies not in the book’s supposed lack of rigor, but in its ability to inspire readers outside of academia to think, act, and find meaning.

In short, this review reads less like a reasoned critique and more like a defensive reaction to a book that dares to transcend disciplinary boundaries and resonate with millions. A book doesn’t become “the best in the world” through sterile objectivity—it earns that status by changing lives, stirring debate, and enduring where lesser works are forgotten. ...more
May 31, 2025 05:51AM · flag

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12 Rules for Life

by Jordan B. Peterson

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