this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2025
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Joe Rogan, Shapiro, and j Peterson is what you called pseudo-intellectuals
The problem with this world is that a lot of people enjoy EVERYTHING on a surface level.
I keep getting reminded of my "gamer" years when I played league of legends. When I started, I was clueless and bad. And I found a YouTube channel which made fun educational videos.
Initially I learned a lot but over time, I realized how bad the advice was at times, which changed my consumption of the content. At the end, the content didn't teach me anything and the suggestions of the creator seemed to be focused on messing with bad players and not actually playing good.
I started to watch better players and learned more from them.
To me, fans of these guys stopped at the first step. They want educational content but they don't actually want to learn and so don't actually think about the content and can't outgrow it.
Rogan, Peterson (and probably even Shapiro, I dunno) do give good info or advice once in awhile, but it's not anything that you couldn't get somewhere else without all of the baggage.
I agree. E.g. Peterson published a self-help book that was successfully marketed to young man, unlike most self-help books. And most self-help books are very replacement and often kinda bad
To me the problem is content vs entertainment.
Joe Rogan has no content. He is not an expert, but somehow he is able to make the podcast, populated by morons, enjoyable by it's audience. So if a person has to choose between Rogan, with a pseudoscientist in it, or a PhD, which is extremely prepared but does not know how to present his knowledge (either overcomplicated for the general masses, or plain boring), 90% of the people will watch Rogan.
Going to your LoL: the most successful streamers where not the best players, but the pros who manage to keep the chat entertained.
Another example are university professors: the most knowledgeable are usually not the best teachers, because knowing a subject and presenting it are two completely different skill sets.
That's the sad reality of today online content
They grew up being told the answer and these guys specialize in telling people “the answer”. The issue is they are frequently providing the wrong answer.
Shapiro and Peterson both have post graduate degrees. Peterson actually taught at a university level. They are intellectuals they are also just wrong about many of their opinions
Edit: I get hating benny shaps but this is easily verified
“…He then attended Harvard Law School, where he studied under liberal law professors Lani Guinier and Randall Kennedy.[10][11] In 2007, Shapiro graduated from Harvard with a Juris Doctor, cum laude.[12]”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Shapiro
Shapiro only has a B.A.
Peterson is fully qualified to talk on psychological markers for alcoholism, and a broad range of clinical psychology, and not much else.
They are both (educated) bullshit merchants, not intellectuals. Intellectuals are honest.
Ben Shapiro has a JD. Like I said he’s educated. He’s just wrong about a lot of things
“He then attended Harvard Law School, where he studied under liberal law professors Lani Guinier and Randall Kennedy.[10][11] In 2007, Shapiro graduated from Harvard with a Juris Doctor, cum laude.[12]@
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Shapiro
Meh, JD is an entry-level law qualification: "in Canada, it is considered a second-entry bachelor's degree." [Wikipedia] In any case, it's a professional qualification, not an academic one.
That is absolutely incorrect. A JD is a juris doctorate and is considered a postgraduate degree in the United States. There are some places where law degrees are granted at the bachelor's level, but not the US. You're making the same mistake as the Rogan crowd here by looking at a surface level, single sentence from Wikipedia (which is referring to the Canadian system btw). The law degree itself is only "entry level" because JD holders have to pass a licensure exam (the "professional qualification) before they are allowed to be practicing attorneys. There are quite a few people who have law degrees, but don't take the exam because they intend to use their law degrees in other ways.
Ok fair enough. I am not familiar with the American academic legal system. I do not appreciate being likened to the "Rogan crowd".
The fact about it being a professional qualification rather than an academic one stands, then, I take it?
Exactly. Peterson taught psychology at a university (and even the quality of his lectures have been brought into question, but we'll ignore that), and that somehow makes him an authority to talk about global warming and how all climate scientists are wrong because you can't model something like that, it makes him an authority to talk about the nazis and how Hitler was actually guided by the people as he spoke only what they reacted positively to, he's also an authority on economics when he says how the famine in the Soviet Union was caused by the communists killing all the smart and disciplined farmers, etc etc.
How can anyone seriously listen to a guy who said that women who complain about sexual harassment while wearing makeup are hypocrites is beyond me.
This is nice read on the topic: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2018/03/the-intellectual-we-deserve