By: J. Thomas Perdue
There are a lot of self-help books out there, and it seems like every child actor who’s kicked a drug problem and journeyman Major League relief pitcher is eligible for a career as a motivational speaker. But in “12 Rules for Life,” Dr. Jordan Peterson attempts to inspire more than success. He weaves purpose and Being (“with a capital B”) into seemingly simple advices, from “Stand up straight with your shoulders back,” to “Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street.”
Dr. Peterson is infamous now for his forays into Canadian politics. He is a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, and came into the public eye through his opposition to the Canadian government’s Bill C-16, which made gender identity expression fall under discrimination statutes. Peterson, who characterized the bill as anti-free speech, has attracted a large supportive following as well as significant negative criticism.
“12 Rules for Life” is what it is billed as: a list of rules. Dr. Peterson presents each rule with accompanying stories. Sometimes these stories are personal to Peterson and his family, like his time growing up in rural Northern Canada and his daughter’s struggle with juvenile arthritis. Some are based in science and Peterson’s own study of psychology. One such analogy is one that frequently appears in Peterson’s lectures: a comparison between humans and lobsters. He tells of the remarkable psychological similarities between humans and lobsters (I learned that anti-depressants work on crustaceans), and uses them to emphasize Rule 1: Stand up straight. A defeated, discouraged lobster will unconsciously slouch, and humans behave similarly.
The most impactful of Peterson’s words throughout “12 Rules” are his references to spirituality. He spends plenty of time analyzing human behavior throughout, citing philosophers like Friedrich Nietzsche and psychologists like Carl Jung many times. But Peterson also references the Bible, folklore, and even mysticism, demonstrating common themes which leads him to his conclusions. It is in this effort that Peterson is most moving, but it also highlights the weak point of the book.
One of Peterson’s primary goals in “12 Rules” is introducing authority to counterbalance chaos. He chooses several stories and lessons from, say, the Bible, but doesn’t grapple with the legitimacy of Christianity in its historical sense. To clarify, he might offer unmistakable lessons from the New Testament, but shirks on matters such as the divinity of Christ or the resurrection. The same could go for any other religion or story he goes into. To Peterson, those things might not matter much, but it also might stick in the back of the reader’s mind, never to be addressed.
Peterson is most passionate, and most engaging, in Rules 7 and 12. Rule 7, “Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)” is a phrase that encompasses the gist of the entire book. Peterson tells us that life is suffering, and there is no way around that. Parents will die, loved ones will leave, and children will get sick. This is the “chaos” of the subtitle. But doing things like pursuing the meaningful can alleviate suffering and make life worth living. This is not to be equated with happiness, however. The meaning of life, Peterson says, is carrying the largest burden possible.
Within Rule 7, the Imitation of Christ and the horrors of Dachau and the Soviet gulags come up in Peterson’s railing against nihilism. In the audiobook, Peterson is heard fighting tears in this section, reflecting his passion on the subject. These last few points hit the hardest for me. I think Peterson is correct in his analysis that, for example, modern Western humans tend to avoid risks to the point of sheltering themselves into obscurity. He made a point about confronting the monster under our beds, the lingering faults in our lives. This made me think about my own struggle with chronic illnesses and my occasional unwillingness to recognize the problems they bring when they arise.
At first glance, the rules in “12 Rules for Life” don’t seem novel or groundbreaking. Others include “Make friends with people who want the best for you,” “Be precise in your speech,” and “Tell the truth—or, at least, don’t lie.” Tell the truth? I’ve known I was supposed to do that since I was a child. Peterson uses this book to explain why we should act accordingly. Still, some might say they know why they shouldn’t lie, but another of Peterson’s main points is that mankind cannot create its own values. He believes them to be inherent in our beings, and not learned. He uses several examples from aforementioned legends, and also history. The Soviets, for example, sought to eliminate God (or morality, if you wish) and replace Him with the state. He references Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archepelago, showing one of the results of that: millions dead from famine and state-sponsored murder and enslavement.
Peterson is a student of the horrors of the 20th century. He injects heavy subject matter into what amounts to a pretty basic set of rules. To some, “12 Rules” may feel like aggrandizement or a too-serious approach to what could be a happy-go lucky life. To others, it may be what it aims to be: an antidote to chaos. To anyone tired of materialism or hedonistic lifestyles, or just looking for a better reason to clean their room, “12 Rules” may have a lot more to offer than just 12 rules.
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