Jordan Peterson on Why People Are So Unhappy

so this is something that I think generally people don't think about stuff like this and my next question for you is it seems the more and more in today's society and justice societies in the world today people are more depressed more anxious more suicidal than than ever before is that a symptom of something unusual going on our society is it just people that are more comfortable talking about it now what what is it wire wire someone good question it's a good question I I think at least part of it is the complexity of our society it isn't certain how the future is going to lay itself out and it isn't certain that what you knew in the past is going to be sufficient for you to to move forward into the future so there's lots of opportunity but it's very complex and it's not easy to keep up in our world you know like if you look around the world you might think well the happiest people are those were their high standard of living is the highest that's actually not the case right and you think okay but why wouldn't that be the case it's like you want what do you want malaria and death at 40 obviously not but then you think okay what's the price you pay for a high standard of living well that's easy you virtually always sacrifice the present for the future you're always working I mean you guys you know I mean you know you've you're fairly influential and you've got this good thing going but like it could crash at a moment's notice you better keep your eye on it and and and every day you're thinking okay this has to be done and this has to be done and this has to be done and it's so it pays off I mean you have a nice studio and and and I would presume a reasonably comfortable life but it's not like you're not running on a treadmill to keep that going and so that's that's security and it's health but it isn't necessarily happiness and it's certainly not necessarily freedom from anxiety and I would say most people in the modern world weirdly enough have far too much to do you know to career families and a couple of kids it's like man you're you're done that's 60 hours a week of flat out work yeah so and that can be too much and then I also think because our society is philosophically unstable and that's sort of reflected in this polarization is that people are doubtful about whether their lives have any meaning for example you know what's why bother what's the use of it who cares it's like what difference is it gonna make in a million years you know and that's life is hard and if you just have a nihilistic viewpoint then it's easy to be swamped by doubts and and existential angst and all of that and like I think that's a mistake because I think that your life your life can be very meaningful it's proportionate to the responsibility that you take on and you can learn that by watching when you're engaged in the world you know and what works to sort of protect you from feelings of isolation and doom you know and a lot of the lectures I have on YouTube are about exactly that so so I think part of it is the complexity of the modern world yeah I also can't shake the sneaking suspicion that it has something to do with our diet really well you know I saw this we know that obesity is like skyrocket yeah okay so and probably the reason for that it's not exactly certain there might be complicated reasons for it but certainly one of the reasons is that people eat far too many carbohydrates right you know I saw this video from World War two about about and and in in one of the scenes they showed all these men in New York lining up to be inducted and it's like you know 20 blocks of guys with no shirts on standing in line to be abducted every single one of them was boned thin do you everything you think it's the insecurity and the negative feelings that come with being overweight or that no no no I think there's something wrong with what we're eating interesting yeah I mean there's more and more evidence that dietary sensitivity for example is linked to conditions like schizophrenia and so yes watch out for that bread y'all well and also to your gut bacteria turns out what you have a lot of you have about a hundred times more bacterial cells in your body than human cells which is really quite a freaky thing to think about luckily they're quite tiny because otherwise you'd be like a giant amoeba you know but the the gut biome produces a lot of neural chemicals and so it does play an integral role in the regulation of your mood which is also a very strange thing I've been following that just the how bacteria is starting to be like play more in human health like robotics and stuff like this can regulate your mood mmm that's so freaky yeah it is that's for sure yeah well and you know one possibility is that well let's say you eat a lot of carbohydrates and sugar okay so what happens is that you grow bacteria in your gut that I really like carbohydrates and sugar right well so then you think well I'm always having cravings for carbohydrates and sugar it's like you're having the cravings you think well maybe not maybe what's happened is that you know through a Darwinian process you've encouraged the growth of bacteria that really like sugar and carbohydrates ain't that saying bacterias messing with people's mood maybe yes and it's also messing with their cravings that's I mean we're really walking oceans you know like we're big creatures I mean we're not big compared to a like a Douglas fir or or the Sun but like we're pretty big creatures and yeah and we are liquid most of us is liquid and you know if you saturate yourself with carbohydrates and sugar than you you are invaded by the bacteria that live on those things and so that's not necessarily so good for you [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: H3 Podcast Highlights

Views: 1,462,810

Rating: 4.922965 out of 5

Keywords: h3 podcast, podcast, h3h3, h3h3productions, ethan and hila, jordan peterson

Id: P-8XbT97Meo

Length: 6min 5sec (365 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 26 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/GlbdS]

True, the dude probably mixed it with the fact that bacteria are about 100x smaller than animal cells, which is why we are not half-made of bacteria sludge

[u/JerekKruger]

I hate to say this, but in the first 2 minutes Peterson actually makes quite a lot of sense. He then goes off the deep end a little.

As for gut flora, I believe scientists are already turning up links between it and mental health (correlations at the moment, it may be that depression causes the change to your gut flora rather than the other way round, or even that some third factor causes both) and it's a really interesting field. I don't think "it's carbohydrates what done it" is going to be the culmination of study into the gut flora.

Oh and something Peterson is either unaware of, or didn't mention: what event do you think most of those skinny recruits in New York grew up during (and all of them lived through)? That's right, it's the Great Depression.

That's not to say we aren't more overweight today than in the past, it's clear that we are, but the explanation is probably a lot simpler than the evils of carbohydrates - the staple food in much of Europe for the basically as long as we've had civilization has been bread, and in Asia (where they're still mostly slim) it's rice. I suspect that the proliferation of cheap, addictive, easily available and easily consumable calories (think fast food) is the primary cause: try eating 3000 calories of traditional bread in a day, then try eating 3000 calories of doughnuts, one's a lot easier than the other.

Also the sun isn't a creature :o

[u/BensonBear]

Incidentally, another thing Peterson claims earlier in the video is that during World War II, the men going to enlist were bone thin, and he attributes this directly to the fact that they consumed fewer carbohydrates. Unfortunately for this theory, the opposite appears to be true. More carbohydrate was consumed circa 1940 than in more recent times. Relatively less fat and protein was in fact consumed.

[u/evolvedpotato]

He’s so right about the microbiome effecting mood. Eat lots of fiber and fresh fruits and veggies because it feeds your “good” bacteria which will keep you thin and happy. It’s so much more than calories in calories out.

This is a comment. Should we tell them about his diet?

[u/3rdeyesurgeon]

Maybe accurate for him personally if you count the 10 kg of rotting beef blocking his colon

[u/YOUREABOT]

We are not our bodies. We are eternal spirit souls , and when we identify with matter and material pursuits , we are disillusioned and depressed . Chant , Hare Krishna hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare .. Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare.

[u/ubercainwa]

The only people with that many bacterial cells are JP fans.

[u/WilliamHolz]

The Dunning-Kruger is strong in this one.

[u/ThorDansLaCroix]

It looks to me he's starting loosing hair again. What has he been eating?