"If a Man does not read, then he has no advantage over the man who can't read" - Mark Twain

“One glance at a book and you're inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you.” ~ Carl Sagan

saw this last year and started reading, i have read 16 books so far

I swear Jordan Peterson has done more for young people than anyone else. He’s had a huge impact on my life. God bless him

“I do not recall all the books I have read any better than I can recall all the the meals that I have eaten, even so they have made me”

“Most of the people listening to this podcast are preoccupied” As I listen, staring on my bed, doing nothing.

"You must be willing to be a fool to advance." This hit me hard as a first generation college student in engineering. I'm surrounded by brilliant people, and it can be intimidating to try and challenge yourself as doing so makes you vulnerable to mistakes, which is very frowned upon by peers. In my engineering club, I've made some significant mistakes and I was grilled hard for being incompetent by superiors and peers. In retrospect, it motivated me to become better. I didn't see it in this light until I thought about what Peterson said.

"Obviously, I won't be good at the beginning" This is something that is so common sense yet we forget

I listened to 12 Rules of Life on Audible while playing COD. I finished it in 2 days and realized I play too much COD.

Last year I started cleaning my room This year I already read 4 books. *lobster power intensifies*

It's almost unbelievable that this used to be Ethan Klein.

I think my favourite quote ive ever heard was "A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. A man who doesnt read, only lives one".

It's funny how KZfaq itself don't know their importance and instead favor the trashy, absent-minded videos equivalent to junk-food.

Interviewers, like this guy, should never interrupt Jordan Peterson. It's like stopping an ATM machine from giving you free money.

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." - Joseph Addison "Formal education makes you a living, but self education makes you a fortune." - Jim Rohn

I read 3 books worth of KZfaq comments a month. Does that count?

1. All great leaders are readers. (Not all readers are leaders.) 2. The expert in anything was once a beginner. 3. Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice. - Anton Chekhov

The way Jordan Peterson explains what KZfaq is in today's world and the use of reading and listen to podcasts just made think 'wow'. Cause it never occurred to me to see it like the way Jordan has described. I feel like my way of seeing the world has broaden and this is why I enjoy listening to podcasts, reading books and watching certain parts of KZfaq. Thank you Ethan, Hila and Jordan for broadening my mind.

just found this Jordan Peterson today already watched about 4 hours of his content on youtube. this is one wise guy

To read, one must have a disciplined mind. This is the problem. I believe that the downfall of humanity today is the negligence of teaching the importance of discipline to our children. Never mind responsibility ,accountability and sacrifice.

Reading is my favorite thing to do. Everything about reading is enjoyable to me. The excitement of buying a new book and looking forward to sitting down and getting lost in the story.

Jordan Peterson used to talk to KZfaqr's with less than 2k subscribers. For a public intellect his humility never seizes to amaze me, and that's what sets him apart.

My thing is, when I read back-to-back books for a few weeks, I am able to construct my thoughts much faster and clearer than when I go through periods of not reading. Reading (and not listening to audio books) somehow allows me to put my thoughts together at a clarity level that I love and need.

I started reading books at April and so far I've read and finished 4 books which are Atomic Habits > Can't Hurt me > The Monk Who sold his Ferrari > The 80/20 Principle. I'm currently Reading Rich Dad Poor Dad and I'm planning to read next is intelligent investor. I have applied everything in what I read and it has changed me truly. So many has changed and probably the biggest change I have ever had in my life in sleeping at 7:30 pm and waking up at 3:30AM and making my bed everyday. Thank God a fire lit inside of me to change during that 3rd week of april and I am so happy at where I am at right now.

"A book is like a portrait as opposed to a photograph." Such a beautiful way to describe it. Books are so much more intricate and mentally enriching than podcasts or videos.

I've learned more from Jordan in one week than I have all semester in college.

This makes me so sad to see in 2021. Just seeing how angry and aggressive Ethan has become. I can't watch his podcast anymore and I use to love his conversation with people like Jordan.

In 2022 I read 16 novels. Amongst which where Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, And Quiet Flows the Don (Highly recommend), Doctor Zhivago, Les Miserables, Notre Dame de Paris, Les Travailleur de la Mer and Pride and Prejudice. All amazing books. Ever since I made a habit of reading consistently, I now find myself almost numb to TV and movies. Except for really great movies like Papillon (1973), No Country for Old Men (2007) etc., it just pales in comparison, and every time I pick up a new book, I am instantly more captured and intrigued. It's also awesome to look at my bookshelf that is getting more and more respectable. It's cool to look at all of those books, all of those pages, all of those sentences and words and know that I have consumed them all. That they have taken part in me.

I'm listening to this podcast while exercising. I'm 27 and I've never enjoyed exercise (besides swimming) but I've been motivated recently by Peterson and some of my favorite KZfaqrs. I'm trying to sort myself out. Hopefully I can stay motivated.

Reading is vital. Do it. Be enriched.

Wow so glad Ethan took down this dangerous rhetoric. People might have actually been to better their lives, wouldn’t want that.

It's sad how Ethan makes fun of him nowadays when they were friends.

Reading develops one's own personal comprehension and analytical abilities, to say nothing of vocabulary, so I wouldn't say it's on the level of listening more passively to a podcast, audio book, lecture, etc. There's a greater level of interaction with literature that accentuates the actual content of the book. Not to devalue discussions, films, and other more passive media. They're valuable, and they are more accessible. But I think reading simply cannot be replaced if you're looking for a means to improve yourself mentally.

The fool is the precursor to the savior

Back when Ethan didn’t completely trash this man

I read 12 books in 2019, this year I’m hoping to read 20

The weird thing I have found about reading is that when I read, I struggle to remember what I read exactly. But when a conversation comes up on a topic discussed in that book, I remember it like a charm. Kind of like that point in the book skipped my conscious perspective and went straight into the subconscious realm.

3:55 Notice how he said “high quality” and then instantly reiterated to say “demanding.” What a humble fellow.

*"Most of people who listens to the podcast* *are preoocupied."* Im reading comments, and so are you XD.

I love this guy. Super smart, full of common sense and everything he shares has so much value.

Listening to this while taking a shit and he compliments me about it hehe

I'm disappointed. Wish Peterson would have touched on some of this - - The neurological benefits of reading are significantly different than those of listening to a verbal discussion or story. - If you're listening to a podcast or anything while doing something else, benefits are limited by distraction. - Reading allows pauses for reflection, thought, and integration of knowledge, while listening requires suspending much of that so you can keep up with the discussion. - Reviewing a point or a piece of information from written material is easier because a page or a chapter can be marked, while reviewing a point from a recorded verbal discussion is much harder. - If you want to discuss a point you'd read, you can access the source for reference. If you're discussing something you heard in a podcast, chances are you're only going to share your impression of what was said. - And, finally, podcasts are a useful part of Peterson's marketing. Not that there's anything wrong with podcasts and YT videos, and these mediums do afford wide, wide public access to his material. Which is good. But, yeah, his answer to that question was a bit self serving.

"If you want to have a good time - go to college. If you want an education, go to a library." Frank Zappa

"truth is like poetry, some people hate poetry"

There's nothing quite like reading a book. It's one of the joys of life, I just couldn't imagine depriving myself of such a thing. Sure you could listen to an audiobook but it wouldn't be the same. Sure being able to listen while you're doing something else could be useful, but with a book you are fully immersed and focused on the text. You can paint the world and characters in your mind, with voices that only you can hear. And there's something particularly satisfying about being able to part with technology for a moment, and connect with this thing which is made from wood/earthy materials, and by flicking the pages you can smell the history of it. In an age where we're bombarded with technology all around us, I treasure a book as my escape out of this world of flashing lights and electronic voices.

‘Reading for pleasure has always been a minority occupation.’ And he elaborates on it, MIND. BLOWN. What he says about KZfaq videos and podcasts trumping radio and television in every which way is fascinating Also, when he puts KZfaq in a historic perspective and calls it a Gutenberg revolution…

I love reading. The act of flipping thru pages of knowledge and collecting these books on my shelf is awesome. Audio books are also possibly equally as great. Their almost like extremely sophisticated podcasts, usually narrated by awesome voices, and my job allows me to listen to those while I work. In the past 4 months I've listened to almost 400 hours of podcasts, read 5 books, and recently got into audio books, having listened to 1.5 of them so far.

“You must be willing to be a fool” beautiful insight I apply this to a new job it’s so easy to be worried you aren’t good enough. Reality is you can’t expect to be great right away. So powerful!

The importance of KNALEDGE!

I can not stop listening to this man, so much sense in all his words.

Reading is so much deeper than what Peterson depicts it to be. The mechanism behind reading is something he should have talked about, surprised he didn't. Reading comprehension is so important!

I disagree that audio books (and by extension podcasts) are just as beneficial as reading, at least on average. It's too easy to passively listen to a podcast absent-mindedly. I guarantee most people aren't retaining much information. Reading requires active engagement and in a world of dwindling attention spans, that alone makes it more valuable in my book.

I swear, you could talk to JP about anything and he'd still take it to a deeper level

I went a whole school year, (This previous one, actually) without reading. It destroyed my motivation, it dampened my vocabulary, it made me seem and feel stupid. This may just be my case, but I think reading is necessary for some people to function efficiently, and be happy. I personally love finding books that I KNOW I will learn from. Fiction books are fun, too. Not going to lie, I owe my knack for reading for unlocking and maintaining my quick thinking, linguistic skill, and other such things related to words. Since 9 months ago, I owe Jordan Peterson for helping me unlock my more educated perspective, and my stern, objective outlook on things, such as politics. I've been able to abstract things so much more heavily than ever before in my life, thanks to him kind of giving a how-to on it in a lot of his lectures. Reading is only beneficial in my eyes, depending on how you look at things, being the one reading.

I starting to listen Jordan when I was looking for podcasts in order to improve my listening skills in English. Then i learned and keep learning so much more. Thank you professor!

Really miss the old H3H3. Back when they weren't woke drama chasing dimwits, I really respected and looked forward to their content

I’m doing my masters of literature. Pro tip: if you can’t read the difficult book (don’t care, don’t understand, no time) there is a guy with a doctorate on KZfaq lecturing on that book. Many times I supplement my reading of a book with a KZfaq lecture. You might be able to replace your reading of a book with a KZfaq lecture.

I love how we live in an age where 67 people can actually dislike a video showcasing the importance of reading. Unreal.

I love reading and I’m amazed that people don’t do it more. Aside from travel I can’t think of anything else that has enhanced my life so greatly and cost me so little in return.

The fact the far left tried to make this man a villain is insane lol.

Thank you Jordan Peterson. Your lectures, book, discussions, and honest opinions made me smarter and more enlightened.

About half a yeard ago I stopped using my smartphone to watch videos and browse fb. I am 25. This helped. I've always read lot of books untill Ive gotten a laptop when I was 18. I started wating videos and spending my time in front of a computer. Thanks to my fiancee who is a huge book freak, ive gotten back to reading. I am so glad. My brains functions better. I feel more clever. Reading is awesome.

I’ve truly found the power of reading even if you take it in audibly truly inspirational. The power of pursuit of knowledge is such an important tool.

Honestly reading and listening to books is the best thing I've ever done, when I'm at the gym, driving or in work I'm listening to a book. When I get some time to myself in the house and the baby is asleep I have a book in my hand. It's seriously the best thing anyone can do for themselves

EXTASSENTIAL CRISIS

"So you're saying..." oops wrong interview

Reading and Writing can be ones of the best brain trainings. I LOVE IT

JP’s unlocked a side of me I would have never guessed was within .My entire life I’ve struggled focusing or even caring about my education. Now I have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, and new information in part of this mans lectures.

Educational research into reading as a cognitive task would disagree with the notion that listening to podcats or audio books is AS EFFECTIVE as actual reading. The cognitive activities that the brain performs WHILE READING are leaps and bounds above those performed while listening (still an important skill to be sure). Unfortunately, people who are listening to podcasts and/or audiobooks are often doing something else as well, which converts the listening to an associative task from a cognitive one. When that happens, the brain isn't doing nearly as much developmental work as it does when actually reading. And reading for pleasure, reading narrative structure as opposed to informational texts, gets the brain working even harder. It builds worlds, creates visuals, voices, analyzes characters and plot structures in order to make inferences and predictions. It connects emotionally with the characters, eliciting empathy and apathy for them throughout the course of the story. These are skills we absolutely need to have to navigate the complexities of human society. Reading is absolutely fundamental and can not be adequately replaced with podcasts and/or audiobooks.

It’s a pleasure to listen to that man speak. I might not agree with him on everything but that’s exactly what I’m looking for, to challenge my belief system. He is right you must absolutely know how to think and why you are doing what you’re doing.

This is so helping, thank you for great work & effort

Reading gives you the opportunity to talk to people you would never get a chance to meet in person! Smarter, more capable, and even dead people. You get to get inside their minds and reap the benefits of what they’ve shared!

I listened to the entire "fall and decline of the roman Empire" all of it. And 200 other books on audio books. Yeh, i would have NEVER have done it if i ACTUALLY had to read them

As a musician, I love to listen to podcasts when I drive. It allows me to get a break from the music and learn quite a bit when driving to and from gigs. But I also love to read when I find time. I get more depth out of reading for sure, because I can pause and process as I go.

I love reading. As a reader, I have def super gotten into audiobooks while on the road as a great way to pass the time. My fav audiobook recommendations: - Richard Harris's Cicero trilogy - Anything Terry Pratchett, I top recommend Going Postal, Carpe Jugulum, and Unseen Academicals - Anything Louis L'Amour, top recommend the Sackett books 🙌😊

Listening and learning from this while grocery shopping. He is on point.

I’m sitting in front of Jordan Peterson, How can I sound smart ? Damn I’ve come up with the perfect line - “Almost no one is reading PER CAPITA, is that an EXTISSENTIAL crisis?”

Part of the fragmented attention span is caused by multitasking, i.e. listening to a podcast while doing other things. Physical books are different - they demand you to stop doing anything else and deliberately maintain focus on that one thing. You master your focus. Do it long enough, and you'll become sharp.

the way he made me realise what youtube is just made me feel wonderful. he just me with a beautiful bomb that youtube is next level of learning. im glad i live in era where i could listen to this articulate amazing human being. get well soon man.

I wish H3 was as good now as he/the podcast was here

Guess I’m old-fashioned, still love plain ol’ books.

could listen to jordan all day

I listened to the Golden Voice Audiobook while travelling. It's honestly a fascinating story, and its made even more powerful because the reader is the same man who lived through it, has regrets, fears, etc. Having audio in some cases might be more effective when the topic is something that actually happened.

completely hooked to each and every word like a child.....he has some magic in his words

I listen to this podcast when I go to bed...I look forward to it!

Bloody hell, this Ethan Klein compared to the hollow shell he is now.

So they knew Dr Peterson and his work before they denounced him and removed their podcasts of him. Ethan , the man against people being sheep has become a shepherd

One of the positive aspect internet leverages is democratizing the intellectual materials so that there are various ways to learn. I personally have the difficulty of reading books until the end of chapter because I incline to trip up halfway through. Now I can have the combination of reading book and listening to the same audiobook,which enable me to digest effectively.

A 3-hour Joe Rogan podcast is not a supplement for a dietary lack of classics.

I love and respect JP ON AN UNPARALLELED LEVEL. He is so humble also.

Dr Peterson is a joy to listen to, I don't understand how or why he is targeted by people?

Readers are leaders, and those, who journal, stay in perfect peace. audioi,written or video journals. Audio books are great for the visually impaired. Voice recorder apps and recording mics on laptops, are great to record your heart and brain dumps.

I like to listen to JP lectures in the background when I'm cleaning my room

In high-school i used to read 400 page books in two days... When i first got to college i couldn't read as much anymore, and things felt quite off. Now I'm slowly going back to it, only reading things i really enjoy, and i haven't been happier in a while. You can entertain yourself in many ways, at this day and age. But reading is such a fulfilling way to do it!!

ayyye y’all forgot to take these highlights down haha

I love reading. I totally agree with Jordan on importance of reading. I began about two years ago and so far have read over a dozen books by now, and I can confidently say it changed me for the better.

If you are starting a new career and feel like a fool, take peace in the fact that Jordon Peterson felt like one when he started lecturing! We're so grateful he didn't stop!

I'm so happy I got introduced to the pure fountain of wisdom which Jordan Peterson is.

It depends on the person's purpose. I read everything to boost my knowledge or improving self-awareness. To me, doesn't matter of information source how does come to me through YT, podcasts or books. I only care about the content how much is useful for me. I used to read a lot, then I stopped it because I couldn't manage my time efficiently while I was studying at college and working at the same time. At that time, I explored podcasts and audiobooks. I think they are incredibly beneficial to utilize your occupied time to convert to feeding your knowledge effortless. Especially when you got to read a book, and you noticed that the book is bad, pointless, horrible how much made me pissed off, nobody can imagine. So, YT and podcasts can't consume time as well as books. I wrote this comment based on self-improvement sources. However, reading is one of the best meditation activities will never be replaced by new media platforms. You can get the same benefit from other sources as well, but it doesn't mean that you can completely ignore the power of reading.

Peterson has some good points about how it’s hard to answer the books vs youtube-like materials debate, but overwhelmingingly what he said about books giving you the greatest depth is true. And without that depth we’re fucked. I will explain briefly below: In the book Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman explains this very well. He says a culture of hyper-literate, typographic-oriented people like the ones who lived in America from around 1600-1900 had a much higher quality of conversation. Pre-president Lincoln (involved in politics nonetheless) used to get into hours long debates with contemporaries that were superbly structured and very cerebral. People used to attend these debates all day like they were sporting events. Nothing like our political conversations today, or at least the ones that are proffered by mainstream sites that need to keep a quick rhythm to them, thus never getting too deep into any topic and focusing mostly on the partisan anger that accompanies these conversations so as to get people riled up on cheap thrills. No counterarguments, no real addressing of specific claims, none of it. In this way, podcasts are a good return to long form discussion but I don’t think they really capture the spirit of heavy inquiry in totality because they’re not disciplined in the way that books NEED to be. In a good, academic book there is a POINT. There needs to be an argument, there needs to be rebuttals against potential counterarguments, it all has to build on itself. Podcasts can have a good topic going and then drop it if they want, no harm no foul. It’s more impressionistic as an art form, and thus, less prone to disciplined conduct. Podcasts show that people miss thinking, that we in some ways want a return to healthy, typographic culture. But in order to get there people need to be prepared to study hard and READ good, well-thought out books on important topics. Or else we’re fucked and we just have fragmented, potentially unsubstantiated bits of information that we’re lobbing at each other. And as for Peterson saying that people are watching his lectures, and that it’s like the invention of the printing press, this may be true as a cultural phenomenon but it’s not the same in terms of quality. For Peterson to have the equivalent of a good “book” in his lectures would require a full multi-hour talk that really went through the issues and made an actual argument that had separate branches. His videos aren’t like that, they are truncated summations of general philosophical work and such (good ones definitely, but that’s besides the point). The videos getting those views are not long videos. They are nice appetizers but fundamentally, in order to get into the real meat of the material, things have to be longer form, and that’s where books come in, because the medium is built for that. Depth can be achieved over KZfaq or TV in theory but the medium just does not encourage that level of robustness. Videos of long-form debates do exist on KZfaq and TV (and have for many years) but they NEVER attract NEARLY the level of equivalent viewers that good, lengthy books did back in colonial America. Because that was their culture, sitting down and reading. And now this is our culture, sitting down and clicking. A real debate on socialism vs. capitalism gets maybe 30k views max, whereas Steven Crowder “schooling” some uninformed college kids with a few repeated facts gets millions. The medium of KZfaq and TV does not encourage lengthy discussion, especially one devoid of theatrics. Our culture is now largely driven by superficiality, as a result. In some ways, it’s extra hard because we not only have to become better educated, but we have to reverse a culture that overwhelmingly begs us to stay dumb and sedated. It’s a really hard sell. Hopefully we can find our way out of this, and podcasts are a good start, but we need to be prepared to be REALLY challenged if we want depth to our conversations. Hit the books, there is no better way to actually learn about an issue. Or if books are fundamentally going out of fashion, we need to make sure that our videos have more depth in order not to lose our cultural mind. Because as things are going now, it’s really not doing so good and will likely continue to get worse.