The Attack on Faith, Family, & Science | Dr. Phil | EP 430

Tour Info 2024 (0s)

• Jordan Peterson announces his new tour for 2024, starting in early February and running through June.
• The tour will visit 51 cities in the US.
• More information and ticketing details are available on his website jordanbpeterson.com.
• Peterson plans to discuss ideas from his forthcoming book, "We Who Wrestle with God," which will be released in November 2024.

Coming up (40s)

• Peterson emphasizes the importance of self-reliance and not relying on others to fulfill one's desires.
• This self-reliance is crucial for healthy relationships and interactions with others.

Intro (54s)

• Dr. Phil McGraw, a renowned clinical psychologist, joins Jordan Peterson for a discussion.
• Dr. Phil's new book, "We've Got Issues," addresses psychological and social problems in Western society.
• Dr. Phil identifies three fundamental pillars of Western society and psychological stability that are under assault: faith, family, and free speech.
• He proposes 10 working principles to address these assaults, some of which are psychologically and socially valid.
• The discussion revolves around a central ethos and the necessity of principled conception and action for psychological stability and social unity.
• Dr. Phil explains that his new book, "We've Got Issues," highlights the current state of affairs in Western society, which he believes is facing significant challenges.
• He identifies three pillars under attack: free speech, faith, and family.
• Dr. Phil argues that these pillars are essential for a healthy and stable society and that their erosion has led to many of the problems we face today.

Why we focus on faith, family, and science (3m22s)

• Dr. Phil believes that society is under attack, with the family, faith, and science being the primary targets.
• Technology has both positive and negative effects, including the erosion of traditional family structures and the spread of misinformation by fringe groups.
• Dr. Phil criticizes the concept of equality of outcome, arguing that it violates fundamental psychological principles and undermines meritocracy.
• People are increasingly unwilling to speak up against harmful trends, with the number of those unwilling to take risks tripling since 1950.
• Dr. Phil believes that the nuclear family is the necessary minimum social arrangement for raising children and that fragmenting the family below this level leads to societal breakdown.
• Free speech and thought are not the same, and critical thinking requires dispensing with foolish ideas, which can be painful.
• Compassion for short-term consequences leads to allowing foolish things to propagate, causing long-term catastrophe.
• Morality involves not rewarding bad behavior and supporting conduct that is valued, even if it causes emotional disruption in the present to prevent worse things in the future.

Acknowledging what we do, do not, and are not meant to know (10m37s)

• There are things we know, things we don't know, and things we can't know.
• Faith comes into play when we acknowledge our limitations.
• Just because something can't be observed or measured, like faith or thoughts, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
• We can't measure faith like we can a broken leg or depression, but we can observe its effects and make inferences.
• Faith can provide comfort and meaning for many people.
• The speaker, Dr. Phil, sees no conflict between his Christian faith and his scientific approach.
• He believes that God has given him gifts, talents, and free will to use and that he should do everything he can to help others.

When Jesus met the Pharisees, the central principle (15m28s)

• Jesus was confronted by the scribes, Pharisees, and lawyers who sought to trap him into making heretical statements.
• They aimed to damage his reputation and have him arrested.
• One of his opponents challenged Jesus to identify the primary commandment among the Ten Commandments.
• Jesus stated that the Ten Commandments are manifestations of an underlying unity of moral conceptualization.
• He emphasized two central themes:
  • Aiming at what is best for God and aligning oneself with the highest possible aim.
  • Treating others as one would like to be treated, promoting harmonious unity.
• Jesus derived these principles from an analysis of the people's comments and feedback.
• The central point of orientation in these principles is equivalent to God and is the basis for faith.

We manifest proportional realities to fit our damaged personal truths (18m45s)

• Dr. Phil discusses the decline in passion and conviction among individuals due to fear of being canceled or attacked, which he believes is a result of the attack on free speech, faith, and family in society.
• He proposes ten working principles to address these issues, emphasizing the importance of having a personal truth that aligns with one's actions and beliefs.
• Dr. Phil highlights the current mental and emotional crisis among young people, attributing it to the comparison of their personal truths with others, leading to feelings of anxiety, depression, loneliness, and suicidal ideation.
• He draws on his personal experiences of growing up in a chaotic and often violent home to illustrate the impact of a damaged personal truth and the importance of self-repair.
• Childhood trauma, such as sexual abuse, can hinder a person's ability to treat themselves with dignity and respect, which is crucial for healthy parenting and providing a healthy environment for children.

“My father never said he was proud of me” (29m58s)

• Dr. Phil shares his personal experience of not hearing the words "I'm proud of you" from his father despite his achievements.
• He emphasizes the importance of self-healing and self-validation, stating that sometimes individuals need to give themselves what they wish to receive from others.
• Dr. Phil observes a lack of willingness among people to stand up for their values and be heard, attributing this to intimidation caused by fringe factions weaponizing certain ideals.
• He suggests the need to fortify individuals and treat others with dignity and respect, but stresses that this can only be done when individuals have a strong sense of self-worth and self-validation.

Be who you are on purpose and live with intention (32m38s)

• Be intentional about your actions and decisions rather than just going with the flow.
• Own what you say and do, and don't be afraid of criticism.
• Treat yourself and others with dignity and respect, regardless of background or beliefs.
• Shopify is a global commerce platform that helps businesses of all sizes sell online.
• It offers a range of features to help businesses grow, including an easy-to-use checkout process and marketing tools.
• Shopify is offering a $1 per month trial period for new users.

If you’re an immature hedonist… (35m33s)

• Treating people as short-term means to personal ends is a characteristic of immature hedonism.
• Narcissistic psychopathy is the extreme expression of immature hedonism, where others are seen as opportunities for immediate self-gratification.
• Another alternative to treating people with dignity and respect is treating them as pawns to exercise power over them.
• Hedonism and the drive for power emerge as replacements for a unifying principle, such as the belief in God.
• Dr. Phil suggests that the 10th principle aims to avoid treating others as means to short-term ends and worshipping power.

Negotiate toward everyone's best outcome (38m5s)

• Narcissists don't learn from their mistakes and can't generalize from one situation to another.
• Sustainable reciprocal altruism is not stupid self-sacrifice.
• If a deal is not based on principles of universal justice, it will devolve into counterproductive bitterness.
• When making a deal with someone, it's important to consider what would maximally motivate both parties.
• In a marriage, it's important to avoid forcing, compelling, or manipulating your partner to do something they don't want to do.

Consciously choose which voices in your life deserve attention (42m36s)

• Consciously choosing which voices deserve attention is related to being who you are on purpose.
• It involves making informed decisions about which voices to pay attention to, rather than simply giving attention to the loudest voices.
• This includes considering conversations with yourself, with God, with people outside your bubble, and with those who challenge your confirmation bias.
• It requires intentionality and avoiding the exploitation of others.
• Balancing personal interests with serving a higher order good is important.
• Making an informed decision about which voices to invest in is crucial.
• College graduates may not possess the same qualities and attitudes as they did in the past due to potential exposure to intellectual rot in elite universities.
• Adjustments may be necessary in terms of which voices to listen to and what things to give weight to as the world changes.

Who are you? Getting past the default answers (47m35s)

• Default answers to the question "Who am I?" are immature and based on instinctual whims and drive for power.
• A more mature understanding of self involves being intentional and operating on purpose, rather than being controlled by short-term desires or avoidance of pain.
• One way to discover who you are is to imagine caring for yourself as if you're valuable and ask yourself what you would need and want in a manner that would be best for you.
• This can help you develop a vision of what your life would be like if you were deeply who you are in a sustainable way.

Why your sexual identity is not “who you are” (49m58s)

• Sexual identity reduces someone to a one-dimensional biological drive seeking immediate gratification.
• The question of "who you are" is complex and requires deep reflection.
• People often identify with labels and occupations, but these do not fully capture their multi-dimensional nature.
• True identity involves beliefs, passions, and a sense of purpose beyond work and labels.
• Passionate pursuits give life meaning and purpose, turning work into something enjoyable.
• Aligning one's work with a higher calling or purpose brings fulfillment and sustains meaning in life.

Base your secular thoughts on empirical fact (54m7s)

• Integrating conscience with calling is essential for higher realization.
• Verifying thoughts with facts and rationality prevents delusional enthusiasm.
• Rejecting science and rewriting biology based on personal beliefs should be opposed.
• Acknowledging dark times in history, like slavery, helps prevent their repetition.
• Lent is a 40-day period of prayer, fasting, and giving leading up to Easter.
• Hallow's Pray 40 Challenge focuses on surrender and includes meditations on "He Leadeth Me."
• A priest's story of becoming a prisoner and slave in the Soviet Union exemplifies ultimate surrender.
• The Pray 40 Challenge provides lent music, Bible stories, and prayers for a deeper faith connection.

It’s incredibly difficult to breach a well structured delusion (1h1m14s)

• Delusional verbal representations are internally consistent and can develop a consensus, becoming a fad or social contagion.
• Conscience calls us to speak when the consensus has become delusional.
• Confirmation bias causes people to dig in their heels when presented with evidence that contradicts their beliefs, even if it's scientific and objective.
• The story of Exodus indicates that when people are deeply entrenched in their beliefs, they may reject even divine intervention.

Why change is so hard: “after tyranny waits the desert” (1h5m50s)

• Leaving a tyranny doesn't lead directly to a promised land, but rather to a desert.
• Treating delusions with rational argumentation alone may not be effective as it presents individuals with a sense of emptiness or lack of direction.
• Religious transformation can be an effective long-term cure for addictive behavior, partly because it provides a community focused on something other than the addictive behavior.
• Deconstructing delusions without providing a more comprehensive and coherent belief system may not be sufficient in helping individuals overcome their delusions.
• The burden of proof in legal cases is often not solely on the prosecution.
• To effectively defend someone, it is important to present the jury with an alternative explanation for the events in question.
• People need a coherent belief system to avoid becoming incoherent.
• When higher forms of identity collapse, people default towards narratives of power or instantaneous gratification.

The difference between questioning and deconstructing (1h9m30s)

• Questioning involves replacing insufficient narratives with better ones, while deconstructing aims to destroy belief systems.
• Questioning leads to growth and understanding, while deconstructing can be perceived as destructive.
• It's important to approach questioning with the intent to build and replace, rather than merely destroy.
• Questioning should be done with respect and understanding for others' beliefs.

We don’t all use the same currency, Chris Voss and negotiation techniques (1h13m5s)

• Chris Voss, a retired FBI negotiator, suggests that the best way to get hostages out of a hostage situation is to understand why the hostage-taker took the hostage in the first place.
• People are motivated by different things, and if you can understand what is important to someone, you can better negotiate with them.
• For example, a teenager may want a later curfew because they want to be more independent, but their parents may want them to be home earlier for safety reasons.
• If both parties can understand each other's motivations, they can negotiate a compromise that works for everyone.

Bottom up learning, parenting, and relationships (1h16m28s)

• Bottom-up learning and voluntary agreement are more effective than top-down approaches based on force.
• Learning is more effective when individuals actively engage in the process rather than passively receiving advice.
• Allowing individuals to solve their own problems helps them develop the knowledge and skills to handle future challenges.
• Overcontrolling children may prevent them from developing the independence and problem-solving skills they need to succeed.

We screwed up during the pandemic, “hell, Lassie could figure this one out” (1h20m57s)

• The US government spent $5.5 trillion during COVID-19, with $4.4 trillion going into checking or savings accounts.
• People were paid more not to work than to work, leading to a paralyzed supply chain.
• Many lifelong businesses were wiped out due to mismanagement during COVID-19.
• There has been a rise in mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, and loneliness, especially among young people.
• Schools were shut down for extended periods despite evidence of the negative impact on students, particularly those from low socioeconomic backgrounds.
• The mandated reporters, such as teachers and counselors, were not present to report signs of child abuse, leading to a drop in referrals.
• Schools were shut down without a clear plan for reopening.

Meritocracy vs. the fringe, the psychopathy of virtualization (1h25m44s)

• A meritocracy rewards actions and patterns of attention that lead to valued outcomes and punishes failures.
• A proper meritocracy rewards behaviors aimed at long-term harmony established voluntarily with others and punishes those that aren't.
• The fringe, often pursuing power and short-term hedonistic self-gratification, has become noisier and more dominant.
• Virtualization enables psychopathy by decoupling actions from consequences, incentivizing attention-seeking behaviors without fear of repercussions.
• Virtualization reveals who people are rather than creating heroes or psychopaths.
• Keyboard bullies and road rage exemplify the anonymity-enabled expression of hidden tendencies.
• Anonymity allows people to express themselves without fear of immediate consequences.
• Virtualization has unintended consequences, including enabling people to behave in ways they might not otherwise.

The obvious contagion effect of transgenderism (1h31m15s)

• There has been a significant increase in transgender activity, particularly among girls.
• The rapid spread of transgenderism suggests a contagion effect.
• Psychogenic epidemics have historically affected young women, making them more susceptible to social influences.
• The current focus on transgenderism among young women is evidence of a social epidemic.
• The psychological community has shown cowardice and enabled the spread of this epidemic.

It’s more than just silence, the medical establishments complicit and lying (1h34m6s)

• The American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Medical Association, and Academy of Endocrinology have all endorsed transgenderism without sufficient evidence of its long-term safety.
• These organizations are complicit in the spread of transgenderism and have failed to protect the public from potential harm.

Governments are creating social contagions via progressive policies (1h36m30s)

• Dr. Phil warns that Canada's euthanasia program will be extended to the mentally ill and minors, leading to a romanticization of suicide among young women.
• He explains that people with depressive temperaments often believe they are a burden to others, which can lead to suicidal thoughts.
• Dr. Phil questions how individuals with severe mental illness can give informed consent for euthanasia.
• He criticizes the lack of common sense among academics, doctors, and experts who support pseudo-science.

Why are academics, doctors, and experts backing pseudo-science? (1h39m38s)

• Dr. Phil expresses his frustration with the Ontario College of Psychologists threatening to revoke his license due to his statements.
• He highlights the challenges faced by individuals who challenge mainstream narratives, including anonymous denunciations, expensive lawsuits, and the risk of losing their right to practice.

Dr. Phil is a danger to the mainstream narrative… good. (1h41m11s)

• Dr. Phil believes he is seen as a threat because he discusses topics that make people uncomfortable.
• He is willing to debate anyone on topics he is qualified to discuss and backs up his arguments with extensive research.
• Dr. Phil has been shadowbanned and had videos taken down, which he believes is an attempt to silence him.
• Despite attempts to silence him, people are increasingly getting their information from YouTube and social media, where Dr. Phil has a large following.
• On April 2nd, Dr. Phil will launch Meritt Street Media, a 24-hour network that is expected to reach 75-90 million homes.
• Dr. Phil is willing to take a position on controversial topics, which some people find threatening but others find refreshing.
• He has received hate mail and death threats for his strong stance on issues such as Hamas and Israel.

Balancing ego with purpose (1h46m6s)

• Dr. Phil emphasizes the significance of using one's platform responsibly and selectively, speaking only when driven by a clear purpose and passion.
• Concerned about society's current state, he feels compelled to address the decline of critical thinking and free speech in universities, considering it crucial for the nation's future.
• Dr. Phil expresses gratitude for engaging in a meaningful conversation with Jordan, appreciating the refreshing nuances of their discussion.
• He acknowledges the support of viewers and listeners and extends his appreciation to the Daily Wire Plus team and film crew for facilitating the event in Florida.