I was unsure about attending this event. Ticket prices were not cheap (I paid £63.65 for a middling Front Circle seat, which did not include a copy of the book) but he is a serious speaker whose thinking is deep and challenging. I've always found him fascinating and articulate when he's been on news items and discussion programmes, particularly when speaking about changes in society and about Offence. Eventually, curiosity won me over. For one thing, it was on a Tuesday, my day off, plus I wanted to know what kind of social freaks would attend (while acknowledging the irony that I, a middle-aged, white male, was going on my own).
Would Woke groups protest the event? Would there be heckling from opponents of his views? (He got banned from Twitter earlier this year). Would there be more audience ejections than at a Kevin Bridges concert?
I'll come back to that.
Before I even got into the venue, I had to contend with the farcical queue. With only one door in operation for the plebs who didn't buy VIP tickets, the queue snaked to the back of the venue then back to the front, then round the other side, folding back on itself multiple times. This was at 7pm for a supposed start of 7.30pm. I suppose that's why they say *timings subject to change.
Eventually, the second door was brought into use for the commoners and security split the queue. This gave me time to study the prospective audience: predominantly male, in their twenties/ thirties, either alone or in small groups. Many were dressed in suits and ties, though there were just as many dressed casually. Not to say there were no females present but they were in the minority.
By 7.35 pm I was inside, only my bladder was now regretting that bottle of Coke Zero I'd consumed earlier so I had to join the queue for the gents, then the queue for a urinal, then for a sink and, finally, for the hand drier. It was a relief (of another variety) to discover the start had been delayed to 8pm.
An announcement made clear that there would be a zero-tolerance policy for heckling, with anyone interrupting or disrupting the performance getting ejected. We had been warned.
Unnecessarily, it turned out. Everyone was polite (bar one individual who gave an unusual misplaced whistle midway through).
Dr Peterson spoke uninterrupted for nearly two hours, explaining his ideas, apparently not from his "Beyond Order" book but from the one he is currently working on. This work involves studying the stories from the Bible, notably the Book of Exodus, with a panel of experts, discussing the meaning behind the stories and looking at why stories are so important to us as individuals and to society and what we can learn from them for today's world.
It is true when he said the average mind is capable of retaining five pieces of new information at a time because much of what he said is lost to me. He started on Betrayal being the worst of the sins as it undermines our deep beliefs, corrupting who we were, who we are and who we will be. He kept coming back to the idea of paying attention to oneself. Say only what you mean and dispense with the lies, as falsehood will only leave you unhappy, as you betray yourself. Only by being honest can you be truly happy. He spoke of the corrosive nature of social media, giving a voice to the extremes of society who, ordinarily in the past, would have been closed down by the voices of reason. He spoke of the terrifying nature of cancel culture destroying people's lives because a small group of keyboard warriors can't see beyond their own feelings.
His answers often opened up new questions, which he then examined, returning to the theme or point he was making.
He does make you think and question and question the question.
I usually write reviews highlighting the audience: the idiots, the inebriated and the different. It's become my modus operandi. Listening to Dr Jordan made me realise that, by doing so, I am setting myself apart, isolating myself from the crowd. This whole blog is predicated on the idea of being the lone voice in the crowd. If I question why, I can see a repeating pattern throughout my life of being the outsider, the bloke on the fringes, never a full member of any clique, removed by choice from friends and family. I use humour as armour and a weapon to protect myself and keep others at arm's length. Is that because of fear or pain or fear of pain? Whatever it is, it's not a good place to be.
However, change has to come from within to be effective. If it is forced upon the person (or society), it derives resentment and opposition and is ultimately ineffective for long-term change.
I suppose what I learned tonight is that I need therapy (as does the world if we've any chance of uniting to beat climate change).
How's that for an epiphany? Well worth sixty-three pounds and change.
Addendum:
For those who believe he is a champion of the InCel community, he made his views quite clear. By highlighting the flaws in their arguments and advocating the need for the individual to look at themselves to attain improvement, he pointed out it is more likely that the individual is in the wrong if everyone else shares the same reaction to them. It's science.
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