#448 – Jordan Peterson: Nietzsche, Hitler, God, Psychopathy, Suffering & Meaning
Episode publishedPodcast: Lex Fridman PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
Transcript preview
Preview only
The following is a conversation with Jordan Peterson, his second time on this, the Lex Fridman podcast. And now a quick few second mention of his sponsor. Check them out in the description. It's the best way to support this podcast. We got a sleep for naps, ground news for a nonbiased news aggregator, better health for mental health, and element for delicious, delicious electrolytes. Choose wisely, my friends. Also, if you want to get in touch with me, go to lexfreeman.com/contact. And now onto the full add reads. I try to make these interesting, but if you skip them, please still check out ou
Yeah. Well, here's a big influence on me stylistically and, like, in terms of the way I approach writing. And also many of the people that were other influences of mine were very influenced by him. So I was blown away when I first came across his writings. They're so they're so, intellectually dense that I don't know if there's anything that approximates that. Dostoevsky maybe, although he's much more wordy. Nietzsche is very succinct, partly because he was so ill, right? Because he would think all day. He couldn't spend a lot of time writing and he condenses writings into very short, well, th
Taking each sentence seriously Mhmm. And deconstructing it and really struggling with it. I think underpinning that approach to writing requires deep respect for the person. I think if we approach writing with that kind of respect, you can take Orwell. You can take a lot of writers and really dig in on singular sentences.
Yeah. Well, those are the great writers because the greatest writers, virtually everything they wrote is worth attending to. You know? And and I think Nietzsche is in some ways the ultimate exemplar of that because often when I read a book, I'll mark one way or another. I often fold the corner of the page over to indicate something that I've found that's worth remembering. I couldn't do that with a book like Beyond Good and Evil because every page ends up marked. And and that's in marked contrast, so to speak, to many of the books I read now where it's it's it's quite frequently now that I'll
So if the words spring to the visual full visual complexity, and then that can then transform itself into action. That's that's And
change in perception. Enter because Change in perception. Yeah. Those are both relevant. And it's an important thing to understand because the classic empiricists make the presumption, and it's an erroneous presumption, that perception is a value free enterprise, and they assume that partly because they think of perception as something passive. You know, you just turn your head and you look at the world and there it is. It's like perception is not passive. There is no perception without action ever, ever. And that's a weird thing to understand because even when you're looking at something, lik
What about not just profound thinkers, but thinkers that deliver a powerful idea? For example, utopian ideas of Marx or utopian ideas. You could say dystopian ideas of Hitler. Those ideas are powerful, and they can saturate all your perception with values. And they they focus you in a way where there's only a a certain set of actions.
Yeah. Right. Even a certain set of emotions as well.
And it's intense, and it's direct, and they're so powerful that they completely alter the perception, and the words spring to life.
Keep exploring with a free account.
A free account preserves the short preview. Upgrade to Pro for the full transcript and episode chat.