Jordan Peterson: commitment

Transcript context

…Here’s another question from a reader: “Are you Christian? And if it takes you a long time to answer that question, doesn’t it mean you are a postmodern Christian?” [laughs] Well, no, I don’t think that you can do a pause analysis and come up with a definitive reason for that. [A pause] [laughter] From a narrative perspective, let’s say, I don’t think that the West has formulated a higher value than the idea that the imitation of Christ is associated with divine value. I think that’s true. Now, what it means that that’s true is unbelievably complicated. The thing about these questions is that you can embed an unbelievably complex idea in a very simple question, and then you can presume that the person that you’re talking to is going to produce a low-resolution answer to that question that actually suffices. It’s not that straightforward when you’re thinking about things in a sophisticated manner. If you asked me, am I a Catholic? No, not a Catholic. I’m not a Protestant in any straightforward manner either. I can answer that question, yes or no. The whole Christian thing . . . My attitude — it’s something I told Sam Harris. If you ask Sam if he’s religious, he’d say, “No.” I’d say, “Well, yes, you are. You just don’t know it.” And I actually believe that’s the case because I don’t think that you have the option of being not religious. You might think that you’re not religious. It just means that you don’t understand how your cognitive structures work very well. So people say, “Well, are you Christian?” It’s like, well, I don’t know what you mean by that, and I don’t think you do either. I’m Christian in a way that’s — I don’t mean you personally. [laughter] But I would say that I am Christian in the deepest sense that I can manage. But I would also say that isn’t what people would typically expect. The way that I think about that isn’t what people would typically expect when they’re answering that question. And mostly, the reason people ask me that damn question is because they want to put me in a box. Then they don’t have to think about what I’m saying. It’s like, I’m not hopping in that box for your bloody convenience. [laughter] What do most other smart people not understand about talent search that you do, having done psychological research work and talent search work for decades?…

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