One of my colleagues who read 12 Rules for Life said it was “basically 300 pages of common sense”. Some of my friends refused to touch the book because of the reputation of its author, Jordan B Peterson. So how did this philosophical self-help guide sell millions of copies around the world? Being inquisitive, I decided to reserve judgement until I’d read it myself, and given everything I’d heard prior about 12 Rules, I was pleasantly surprised by the time I reached the end (very quickly, too, it must be said).
If you just read the titles of the chapters (each is one of the titular rules), you’d either be very confused or think my colleague was right. But behind statements like “be precise in your speech” and “tell the truth – or at least don’t lie” are essays exploring the Bible, philosophy, and Peterson’s own experiences as a psychologist and a human. I won’t be following the rules like commandments, but as I read the book I could feel it unravelling long-held thoughts and convictions and helping me make sense of my own behaviours.
The lessons of 12 Rules are all grounded in near universally-held logic and beliefs: get your own estate in order before criticising others, act confident to become confident, take time to enjoy life’s small pleasures, focus on self-improvement rather than envying others’ achievements, and so on. The difference is that Peterson is able to hold a psychological lens to these mantras, explaining why certain behaviours are intrinsic to our species and how to become more concscious of and alter your own to positive effect.
While I don’t believe the book has anything but good intentions, I can see how some short passages could conflict with some people’s political and ethical beliefs (including my own in some cases). But I would urge anyone putting off reading 12 Rules for this reason to push past it. After all, we have the cognitive function to criticise the things we hear, and you don’t have to agree or disagree with 100 percent of what an author says. Peterson’s political arguments won’t sway non-believers, but I dare say it would be a hard task to read this book and find nothing of personal value in his psychological musings.
Stack Stubs 