So, a major shift that has happened in the past decade or so is that there has been movement away from troubling oneself with complexity. At the forefront of this movement is Jordan Peterson, who sees the problem from a psychological viewpoint, but not from a philosophical one.
The situation itself is very interesting to me. Complexity, as a philosophical facet of meaning, has been foisted on the public, some might argue. The edifice of poststructuralism and postmodernism does not seem to do society as much good at all, other than fuel confusion and infighting. From a psychological point of view this is highly problematic. (I, myself, was tiring if complexity, since it never seemed to have an end, but only allowed others to hide behind a few foggy notion of my own historical reality in order to attack me.)
But here's the rub. Due to a general intolerance of what is perceived as “postmodernism” (let's not even debate if this is the correct name at this point) complexity, as such, as been blacklisted. From a philosophical point of view now we have a problem. Psychology want to take it upon itself to label complexity as “grandiosity”. In doing so, it expects to get rid of the problem of “postmodernism”.
Ok, this is not a small problem. I've looked into it, and found that the ramifications of this choice are enormous. There is also a structure here: the broader majority actually have no use for philosophy, so their own psychology is better served by notions that embrace simplicity. So it is that those who feel that they have no use for philosophy defend themselves from the clumsy complexity of college graduates, along with the real complexity of meaning that exists beyond the ken of basic, popular psychology.
The institute of psychology, however, now feeling renewed vigor, immediately steps in to label those who feel some complexity in life as “grandiose”. It's false from the point of view of philosophy, but completely the right things to do from the point of view of the needs of the majority (since they don't actually need philosophy and feel confused by it, as evidenced by the surfeit of confused college graduates over the past couple of decades).
I, myself, was in another way completely confused by this turn of events. Why was something treated as grandiose just because it was complex? I couldn't get my points across no matter how hard I tried, and found myself questioning whether they were too complex to meet the criteria for human understanding. It didn't add up that more difficult thoughts ought not to be conveyed, since this higher level of complexity merely meant a wider net for reality. But I found myself constantly stymied and forced to attempt to express myself in a range that was much narrower than my needs.
In terms of philosophy versus popular and institutional psychology, it was philosophy that came to my rescue. Or, rather it was a very careful read if Nietzsche's Will to Power that clued me in to what was actually happening. I could understand it in terms of a rift developing between popular needs and values and those who actually needed philosophy to make sense of their lives.
So, in conclusion , JP as a leader of the masses, or more general populace, is right. Or right so long as Nietzsche’s views are right. There ought to be a limit to what levels of complexity the masses should endure. (On this they both tacitly agree ). In Nietzsche ‘s view, philosophy ought not to be spread around, but should be for those who need it. The majority do not need it. When philosophy, as complexity, enters the popular terrain, it only makes things worse. (Whether or not one agrees with this, the material reality of this consensus is demonstrated in just how many followers JP has accrued.)
To add another personal note, this sense of Nietzschean elitism with regard to philosophy doesn't entirely sit well with me, but I've had my own sense of complexity persecuted and run to ground to such a high degree that for my own personal safety and sanctity of mind I am obliged to side with it anyway.
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