Jordan Peterson

Canadian clinical psychologist and a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, whose main areas of study are in abnormal, social, and personality psychology, with a particular interest in the psychology of religious and ideological belief and the assessment and improvement of personality and performance.

Peterson's first book, Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief (1999), examined several academic fields to describe the structure of systems of beliefs and myths, their role in the regulation of emotion, creation of meaning, and several other topics such as motivation for genocide. His second book, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, was released in January 2018.

In 2016 Peterson released a series of YouTube videos criticizing political correctness and the Canadian government's Bill C-16, "An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code". The Act added "gender identity and expression" as a prohibited ground of discrimination, which Peterson characterised as an introduction of compelled speech into law, although legal experts have disagreed. He subsequently received significant media coverage, attracting both support and criticism. Peterson is associated with the "Intellectual Dark Web".

Peterson married Tammy Roberts in 1989. They have one daughter and one son.

Starting around 2000, Peterson began collecting Soviet-era paintings, displayed in his house as a reminder of, he argues, the relationship between totalitarian propaganda and art, and as examples of how idealistic visions can become totalitarian oppression and horror.

In late 2016, Peterson went on a strict diet consisting only of meat and some vegetables to control severe depression and an auto-immune disorder, including psoriasis and uveitis. He stopped eating any vegetables in mid-2018.