Peterson Vs. Dawkins

A Difference in Interest and Personality

A long awaited discussion, or debate between, famous atheist and scientist Dr. Richard Dawkins and psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson was finally filmed and released earlier this week. It was a lot of fun for me to watch and has made me think about a lot of things, which is what these types of discussion should do. But I did of course get frustrated, and I think I know why.

Dr. Peterson and Dr. Dawkins nailed it when they pointed out a difference in how their respective minds work.

Dr. Peterson is deeply interested in the images, symbols and stories of our ancestors as they collectively point to a value hierarchy that points us in a direction. Dr. Dawkins is incredibly interested in the scientific facts of the material world.

There is a chasm between those two things that needs to be bridged but I don’t know if it can be done by one person alone. I’ve had this same experience with my wife.

Personalities and Interests

I was researching the Funeral Oration by Pericles, who was delivering a eulogy for Athenian soldiers slain in the Peloponnesian war. If you don’t know, this speech by Pericles was in part the template for both famous speeches given at Gettysburg all the way up to speeches written for…