
Why Can't People Hear What Jordan Peterson Is Actually Saying? - jseliger
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/01/putting-monsterpaint-onjordan-peterson/550859/
======
mr_overalls
Newman's more-or-less continual invocation of the Straw Man Fallacy is
reminiscent of the favored debating tactic of notorious anti-evolution debater
Duane Gish: the Gish Gallop.

Gish spewed such forth torrents of falsehoods, that the evolutionist didn't
have a prayer of refuting in the format of a debate. Gish didn't address
objections raised by his opponents, repeated the same arguments in every
debate even after they were soundly refuted, etc.

In other words, both Newman and Gish subvert the very discussion structures
that they're supposedly engaging in, using fallacies, distractions, appeals to
popular biases, and outright lies to put on a show for a specific audience.
There is no interest in truth, only the furthering of an agenda.

Newman is engaging in a dishonest public spectacle, failing at the most basic
function of an interviewer (to understand the interviewee), and I believe that
any honest intellectual should refuse to be interviewed by her.

------
Herpa
The spinning in mainstream media is extreme. This is especially a problem
nowadays as attention spans are short and only very few people will look into
people's actual statements. Furthermore, the selective word use e.g.
"controversial" for someone who does not follow the narrative of the news
outlet is highly effective in influencing how we feel about that person. Once
brand marked with the gateway word, all the negative connections to this word
solidify and the association will be more or less permanent and spreads.

~~~
eesmith
Controversial is such a wishy-washy term to use as your example. In newspaper
speak it mostly means people disagree or don't like something. Here are some
examples:

"Slow iphone? Apple will let you turn OFF the controversial feature that
reduces iPhone speed" from [https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/5368260/apple-
iphone-slow-feat...](https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/5368260/apple-iphone-slow-
feature-turn-off/amp/)

"Grieving Father Wants National Recall of Controversial Guard Rail" from
[https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Grieving-Father-
Wan...](https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Grieving-Father-Wants-
National-Recall-of-Controversial-Guard-Rail-470590493.html) .

"Amid boos and shouts, Elwood panel recommends controversial business park in
Will County" \- [http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-
southtown/news/c...](http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-
southtown/news/ct-sta-will-county-business-park-
st-0119-20180118-story,amp.html)

"Church of England braced for 'controversial' vote on using Methodist
ministers" from [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/20/church-england-
br...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/20/church-england-braced-
controversial-vote-using-methodist-ministers/amp/)

"Texas Teacher Defends Her Controversial No-Homework Policy: 'Eat Dinner as a
Family, Read Together, Play Outside'" from [http://people.com/celebrity/texas-
teacher-defends-her-no-hom...](http://people.com/celebrity/texas-teacher-
defends-her-no-homework-policy/)

"Controversial designer Hedi Slimane takes the helm at Céline" from
[https://nypost.com/2018/01/22/controversial-designer-hedi-
sl...](https://nypost.com/2018/01/22/controversial-designer-hedi-slimane-
takes-the-helm-at-celine/amp/) .

If "controversial" is the gateway term you think it is, then it's so overused
and applied to so many divergent cases as to have no power.

E.g., based on the article about Hedi Slimane, what are "all the negative
connections to this word" that you imply may happen, and what is the narrative
being pushed?

