Iranian Brain Drain, The Humanity of Jordan Peterson, and the Psychology of Religious Thought

Intro

In this episode of Auxoro, Zach talks to Iranian musician Maziar about Iranian brain drain, their policing of the Internet, the erasure of individual liberties, and other ways its politics are failing in the climate of the 21st century. Maziar also talks about internet freedom, the problem of political sanctions, and The Rise of Jordan Peterson (2019), the documentary Maziar and his wife produced. Naturally, they also discuss funny funerals, which is a pretty good band name.

Key Takeaways

— Iran is denying families the ability to publicly mourn their lost loved ones in the wake of the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752.

“It’s all about control...but people aren’t stupid.” - Maziar

— Iran is failing to cultivate its intellectual and artistic capital.

“When your freedoms are taken away, they’re kind of taken away bit by bit, so you don’t notice.” - Maziar

— There is talk of moving Iranian internet to an “intranet.”

— The anonymity of the Internet is deceptive, for citizens and the government.

“Just like you’re on there tweeting, the government is on there, too, with their Spies.” - Maziar

— Maziar’s Jordan Peterson documentary casts him in a particularly human light.

“[Jordan Peterson] was always kind of the life-changing professor.” - Maziar

— Our work should transcend the short-term.

“Is this better for my CV or my eulogy?” - Maziar

— When we catastrophize our enemies, we make them inhuman.

“When watching the Democratic debates, I think about who I would want to have a beer with.” - Zach

— Jordan Peterson, Milo, Bannon, Sam Harris—they all get lumped together.

— Speaking in binaries is a good way to tell stories and simplify concepts.

The Loss of Trust in the Iranian Government

— Their bungling of the plane crash in January was embarrassing, and resulted in many of Iran’s own citizens starting to lift the veil.

Iranian Brain Drain

— The fact that people are willing to live somewhere else to pursue a great life is not a good sign for your own country’s institutions.

— Intellectuals were Iran’s #1 export in the 1980s.

— The purported “intranet” will allow a stronger crackdown on individual freedoms across the internet for Iranian Internet users.

The Affordability (and Cost) of Freedoms

— Maziar has dealt with Pepe trolls as a result of his Jordan Peterson film.

— People are not as free online as they think they are.

The Humanity of Jordan Peterson and the Fame Monster

— Zach was moved by the mundane shots of Peterson drinking coffee in Maziar’s documentary.

— Maziar’s wife has followed Peterson since his early days, and successfully approached him about conducting some interviews, which morphed into something of a friendship.

— Maziar’s original story was about following Peterson’s friendship with this man from Vancouver Island, Charles Joseph.

— They knew about Peterson’s academic profile, so they wanted to make the documentary in the “in-between”: the human, the intimate.

Our Catastrophic Enemies

— Maziar captured people who dissented with Peterson in the documentary to tell a more complete picture.

— When we do this, we created a world of binaries, and we struggle to break it. We tend to make them larger than life.

“It’s like when we think of Jordan Peterson, we see him shooting swastikas out of his eyes.” - Maziar

— The night before screening The Rise of Jordan Peterson, the ShapeShifter Lab in Brooklyn reneged on their offer to screen. They cited feeling “unsafe.”

— Another cinema in Toronto initiated talks to screen the film, but after discussing a potential Q+A following the film, they decided against it, again saying they felt unsafe.

— We need more conversation to stop the conflation of danger with discomfort.

The Value of Discussion

— Universities should foster free discussion and not ostracize counter opinions.

— When the issues cross into how you identify, it can be really hard to hear.

The Psychology of Religious Thought

— In Netflix’s Messiah, the bias is never given up, which is similar to the approach Maziar took with the Peterson documentary.

“Is he a messiah, or is he a charlatan?” - Maziar

— The sense of community for religious people is genuine and authentic.

— The balance of the literal against the implied or metaphorical sometimes has fatal consequences across the spectrum of religious thought.

— Jordan Peterson’s musings on religion have spurred Maziar to investigate his own religious background.

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