I have a personal rule that states “Everyone is the number one authority on what they actually think.” If someone tells me that they want something, I believe them, and evaluate their behavior independently. The alternative is believing that people can read other people’s minds. I can’t read peoples minds, and if the recent rash of false racism accusations are any indication, nobody else can either.

In Maps of Meaning, Peterson suggests that “A belief is true if following it produces a consistent result in the natural world.” In this sense telling a young man that wealth and success lead to love might be “true advice” since most people will react to the advice in a helpful way.

All this talk of dominance hierarchies and love is a bit like telling children there are ghosts in the woods so they won’t run off and get lost. Once they get older they are better off knowing that the truth is more complicated. Obviously, lesbians can’t both be above each other in a dominance hierarchy. Sometimes women switch from “cool” wealthy men, to less wealthy nerdy men. There’s no single explanation for any of this.

Life will definitely be better for just about everyone who cleans up their room, eats their broccoli, and does their math homework. Life will also be better if we find a way to discuss discuss the opposite sex without making generalizations that too broad to be true. It’s frustrating when people tell me that my sexual urges are really just conditioned reflexes imposed by “the patriarchy”. They aren’t. I imagine women feel the same way when they hear people talking about what they REALLY want.