Written by Nauman Abbas
12 Rules For Life is a book written by Jordan B. Peterson who is a prominent psychologist and a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. This is his second book after Maps of Meaning, which was published earlier in 1999. The book falls into the category of self-help as it advises on how to live life with its primary focus on the concepts of order and tradition. Jordan B. Peterson is also a YouTube intellectual with an audience of millions from all around the world. The following review is not a summary of the novel, but rather tells you why you should consider reading it with some critique here and there.
Personally, despite all the criticism the book faced, especially with the biblical sources that Jordan B. Peterson uses to make his arguments, I will say that the book is a good but a difficult read. It initially began as a response to a question on the online forum Quora, “What are the most valuable things everyone should know?” His response to this question as of now has been “upvoted” by 11.7k readers. After receiving such an overwhelming reaction, he decided to write this book which finally was published in the year 2018.
It is no wonder, however, that his response quickly got the attention of the readers as they were short and precise like a headline. For example, “tell the truth” or “don’t avoid something frightening if it stands in your way and don’t do unnecessarily dangerous things.” In his book, he summarises all these points into 12 final rules explaining why he thinks that these rules should be the most valuable. In everyday life, most of the people aim for happiness as a primary goal for their life, but Peterson argues that happiness for its own sake is a pretty worthless ambition. We believe that after we achieve a certain milestone we’ll be happy, but in reality, that happiness is only temporary. This he believes is due to the faulty value system that we possess. We put value on the things that are not worth any value which at the end leads to depression and anxiety.
So Peterson proposes that a way out from this defective cycle is to have a set of rules that lay out the ground for believing and dealing with things. This concept is not new as we see it in the books by Stephen R. Covey, but what’s different is that Peterson goes deeper by exploring human history, philosophy, and theology in trying to establish his 12 rules. He states that “order and chaos” are the two primal constituents of the world of experience and everything that he proposes in the book is through this lens. These eternally contradicting forces that are always at odds with each other and are as old as the world itself is probably the reason that he even neglects his own advice “beware of single cause interpretations and beware the people who purvey them”. This is not the only rule you’ll see him breaking. He composes sentences in such a manner that at first glance they sound like deep wisdom, but at second thought, they are truths that are clumsily expressed. For instance, “In Paradise, everyone speaks the truth. This is what makes it Paradise”. These kinds of sentences are in direct violation of his own rule 10 that is “Be precise in your speech”.
He also tries to balance the two, but at the end, he comes to the conclusion that human’s function best in an order or structure. As humans are pack animals, they cannot be left to their own devices. This is quite understandable as in daily life things like scheduling or setting up a time table helps in being creative and more active. The best thing to like about this book is that it begins with small changes like “improve your posture” or “clean your room”, which Peterson believes will cause a ripple effect and eventually have a positive effect on the other areas of your life.
But at the end, these are his rules and you may or may not agree with them. I took away a lot of things from the book and it was interesting for once to go behind the scenes of our core problems and to look into mythology and theology for their origins.
12 Rules For Life is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
What does everyone in the modern world need to know? Renowned psychologist Jordan B. Peterson’s answer to this most difficult of questions uniquely combines the hard-won truths of ancient tradition with the stunning revelations of cutting-edge scientific research.
Humorous, surprising, and informative, Dr. Peterson tells us why skateboarding boys and girls must be left alone, what terrible fate awaits those who criticize too easily, and why you should always pet a cat when you meet one on the street.
What does the nervous system of the lowly lobster have to tell us about standing up straight (with our shoulders back) and about success in life? Why did ancient Egyptians worship the capacity to pay careful attention as the highest of gods? What dreadful paths do people tread when they become resentful, arrogant, and vengeful? Dr. Peterson journeys broadly, discussing discipline, freedom, adventure, and responsibility, distilling the world’s wisdom into 12 practical and profound rules for life. 12 Rules for Life shatters the modern commonplaces of science, faith, and human nature while
