Discovering Jordan Peterson and his "12 Rules for Life"

The first time I heard the name Jordan B. Peterson was at a girls sleepover. My friend asked if I knew this man called Jordan Peterson, my response being “no”, she then provided me with a strange fact about him: “He thinks that if you tidy up your room it will fix everything”. The first word that came to my mind was “bullshit”, but I prefered not to blurt that out and kept my interest. I asked her how this was possible and we proceeded to watch this video together where he explains his theory of how a tidy room can basically fix all your life problems. After this, we watched another couple of his videos, mostly lectures and interviews. I can easily say that, at the time, I thought I got a strong glimpse on his outlook on current social problems and life in general. This guy did not have popular opinions, and I think that’s why I got irritated and repelled by him in the first place. (Don’t worry, I will have gotten rid of this narrow-headed thought by the end of this article.)

A few weeks, or maybe months later, during a regular visit at the bookstore where I was looking for the book that would potentially change my outlook on life, I came a cross “12 Rules For Life, An Antidote to Chaos”. By Jordan B. Peterson. What a coincidence it was to have came across this book written by this psychologist which I dissaproved most of the opinions of. But wasn’t I looking for the book that would bring me “change”? What change can I ever encounter or experience in my life I were to reject ideas, ideologies, thoughts unknown and unfamiliar to me? Also, I like to think of myself as an avid enjoyer of exposing myself to all kinds of different things and thoughts, so I guess this was the time and place to do so . Long story short, I bought the book.

Reading it was a rollercoaster. Not an emotional but an intellectual one. I once again experienced the pure joy of learning, and presently observed myself grow out of the person I was before being exposed to a refreshing new school of thought. I guess one of the best gifts someone can give to itself is the opportunity and the courage to expose onself to the unknown and the unordinary. That’s how you make the most out of everything, and also life. Staying inside your box is just too boring and toxic. Anyways, my so-called enlightement is not the topic of this article.

To talk about Jordan B. Peterson, let me first introduce him to you if you haven’t heard of him already. He is a clinical psychologist who is currently teaching at Toronto University. He’s become famous after a video of him debating (I question my choice of words since the discussion escalates so quickly to not be classified as a debate anymore) with trans activists at a protest he organized on Bill C-16, a law who had just passed at the time in Canada. This bill, simply explained in Jordan Peterson’s point of view, disregards completely the freedom of speech. Yet I’d like to state that this explanation is purely pased on Jordan Peterson’s opinions and does not paint the whole picture, therefore I’d like to put a link of this video if you’re curious and interested to know more.

https://youtu.be/O-nvNAcvUPE

Back to the book, which is called “12 Rules to Life, An Antidote to Chaos”, Peterson thoroughly explains the so-called 12 rules by making connections with extraordinary stories, phenomenons from a wide set of sources and by incorporating his craft knowledge as a clinical psychologist.

I'd like to list the 12 rules for you tou have a glimpse:

Rule 1 Stand up straight with your shoulders back

Rule 2 Treat yourself like you would someone you are responsible for helping

Rule 3 Make friends with people who want the best for you

Rule 4 Compare yourself with who you were yesterday, not with who someone else is today

Rule 5 Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them

Rule 6 Set your house in perfect order before you criticise the world

Rule 7 Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)

Rule 8 Tell the truth – or, at least, don’t lie

Rule 9 Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t

Rule 10 Be precise in your speech

Rule 11 Do not bother children when they are skate-boarding

Rule 12 Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street

The element that stands out the most about this book, is his prominent intelligence and talent, as a psychologist, in making connections between historical events and ideologies, and –simply and bluntly- Being. He makes many references to religious events and religion itself; the story of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, the Old Testament, Jesus Christ, God and so on. While on the other hand, he references famous philosophers, psychologists and writers such as Nietzsche, Jung, Freud, Dostoyevski and Goethe. The cherry on the top, I’d like to say, is the usage of his personal experience as a clinical psychologist and as an individual (sessions with patients, his own personal life etc.) in making these 12 rules as relatable, real, meaningful and purposeful as it is to the readers.

I’d like to elaborate more on the ideas and explanations that I found to be enlightening and thought-provoking without giving you any spoilers(?) since I strongly advise you to read this book. First of all, Peterson’s portrayal of Being, as in the state of existing, is something worth spending time to think on. Throughout the book, this portrayal gets deeper and takes on dimension as the rules are laid out. I, personally, enjoyed very much the parts where he criticisized nihilism and poked holes in it’s core belief. I mean, how boring and ignorant it is to run away from all responsibility and distress in life by labeling it all as “pointless” and therefore indirectly agonizing our own existence and human experience. Everyone was a nihilist, or had nihilistic thoughts, once in their lifetime, but having read this book (hopefully) erased all trace of this useless ideology from my thought system and initially my brain. Here’s how it happened: Peterson expresses clearly that life is suffering, but this pain isn’t without purpose, and is essential to complete the passage from “chaos” to “order”. Overall, nihilists may be thinking the right things, such as viewing existence as pain, but it cannot paint the whole picture and it’s certainly not the endpoint. Hence, his portrayal of Being relatively rejects nihilism, therefore declassifies it as a source and an ideology in describing Being by pointing out it’s inconclusiveness and it’s loose ends.

Moving on, the “chaos” and “order” I mentioned in the previous paragraph are also notions worth emphasizing. Peterson describes life as a cycle of chaos and order, passing from one to another continously in order to grow and proceed as a human being. Picture these two notions as a Venn diagram, there’s one circle for chaos and another for order, and their union (chaos+order). The “in between” union part is where you do all the growing and changing and the mastering of self. It’s an emotinally and physcially challenging zone to be in, and I’ll tell you why that is. “Chaos” is overwhelming; anxiety, depression, distress, discomfort, vulnerability, fragility, uneasiness lies within. It’s a zone in which you are out of control and being pushed in to the unknown. Now let’s take a look at “Order”; the zone where you find peace, security, stability, control, happinness, compassion, so basically flowers and glitters and all that. Why is it that anyone would want to be in “chaos”? Quick answer, they simply wouldn’t want to. However, the physcial and mental obstacles life throws upon you are all part of that “chaos”, and there is a pretty low chance for you to avoid that for all your life. Try escapism a few times, but it will lead you to constant misery (which is also chaos). Inevitably, you fall in the pit of “chaos” when it’s time to sort out your life. The discomfort “chaos” brings is a motivating force for an individual to get up and feel the urge to fight in order to rescue itself from this pit. The time you spend inside the pit depends on you, but however short or long, getting out of it makes all sensations “order” brings meaningful and rewarding. The state of “order” you experience means everything’s back to “normal” again, the comfort you get from emotional security and peace is firmly established. Yet you have improved, because the “chaos” that caused you distress is fixed and you’re at an advanced stage of “order” which is different to the one before. Finally, to explain the “in between” zone consisting of the union of “chaos” and “order”, Peterson sees it as the state of being in which you have mastered the art of “chaos” as well as “order”. It is a place for personal growth. This recurring theme of chaos and order is referenced in approximately every aforesaid rule in the book, since it’s a valid and rightful equation in explaining the cycle of life. In addition, Peterson explains this concept fluently with finesse and gives you a fresh point of view in knowing where you stand in life.

Having touched on the core concepts in this book, I choose not to give away any more of his wisdom and ideas since it wouldn’t do them justice to explain them in my own words. Peterson lays out the 12 rules of life so elegantly and perfectly, with his intelligent manner in analyzing events and smooth writing. I would hate to rewrite his words, also I wouldn’t do his ideas justice if I decribed them in mine, so the only solution is for you to read this book!

The reason I had the urge to write a piece about this book, in my opinion, is my amazement in Peterson’s character and ideas. A persona I had huge prejudices about wrote a book about establishing 12 rules in order to be happy in life, and –by chance- I happen to find that change in these rules. Good for me I guessJ I’ve once seen in several online forums and comment sections this hypothesis that you either love or hate Jordan Peterson, I find this awfully true, because if something is about to bring this much change to your life you’re more than right to be reluctant to accept it.