12 Rules to Life: An Antidote to Chaos, By Jordan B Peterson
A new segment, it is all relatively new so please stay on board the sail boat whilst I navigate us through the waves.
The first book of the year.. that rolled on through the Christmas break, so let’s say first book completed this year, a controversial read via Canadian clinical psychologist Jordan B Peterson’s “12 Rules to Life: An Antidote to Chaos".
As listed, the book itself provides life advice through essays on abstract ethical principles, psychology, mythology, religion, and personal anecdotes.
And that brief did not lie.
Outline of the book:
Stand up straight with your shoulders back
Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping
Make friends with people who want the best for you
Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today
Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them
Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world
Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)
Tell the truth – or, at least, don’t lie
Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t
Be precise in your speech
Do not bother children when they are skateboarding
Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street
The reading is chopped up into chapters with each rule being explained in true Peterson style.. an essay. Broken down with substances as examples, the theory of a lobster to the infamous “Gorilla Test”. the upbringing that ignores sex differences between boys and girls, to the lack of respect to the values that build Western society.
The longest right turn with peak hour traffic at a roundabout in history, takes a while to get around it, but you get there and it all makes sense whilst heading off into the sunset.
It was a very long, but beautiful read.. and if you want some ideas to help work yourself out in modern day, maybe this could be one for you.
Have a read.. and let me know what you think!
SBG
