The first time I met Jordan Peterson was on September 12, 2004, at the home of two mutualįriends, TV producer Wodek Szemberg and medical internist Estera Bekier. Instead facilitate our goals and make for fuller, freer lives. Many fields as he illustrates and explains why the best rules do not ultimately restrict us but Similarly, in this book Professor Petersonĭoesn’t just propose his twelve rules, he tells stories, too, bringing to bear his knowledge of Need them, thereby making them easier to understand. Legislators or administrators might it embeds them in a dramatic tale that illustrates why we One neat thing about the Bible story is that it doesn’t simply list its rules, as lawyers or Old Hebrew story makes it clear how the ancients felt about our prospects for civilizedīehaviour in the absence of rules that seek to elevate our gaze and raise our standards. Judgment, we are quick to aim low and worship qualities that are beneath us-in this case, anĪrtificial animal that brings out our own animal instincts in a completely unregulated way. But the story of the goldenĬalf also reminds us that without rules we quickly become slaves to our passions-and there’sĪnd the story suggests something more: unchaperoned, and left to our own untutored Nobody, not even God, tells me what to do, even if it’s good for me.
After all, God didn’t give Moses “The Ten Suggestions,” he gaveĬommandments and if I’m a free agent, my first reaction to a command might just be that Should we be judged according to another’s rule?Īnd judged we are. Restrictive, an affront to our sense of agency and our pride in working out our own lives. If we are spirited souls, if we have character, rules seem So rules there will be-but, please, not too many. “I got Him from fifteen commandments down to ten!” “I’ve got some good news … and I’ve got some bad news,” the lawgiver yells to them. Unbridled, and have lost all control as they dance wildly around an idol, a golden calf,ĭisplaying all manner of corporeal corruption.
Wilderness for another forty years, to purify them of their slavishness. Regulations for four hundred years, and after that Moses subjected them to the harsh desert They’d been Pharaoh’s slaves and subject to his tyrannical Mountain, after a long absence, bearing the tablets inscribed with ten commandments, and finds People don’t clamour for rules, even in the Bible … as when Moses comes down the Rules that don’t take our unique, individual situations into account? And given that our brainsĪre plastic, and all develop differently based on our life experiences, why even expect that a few Rules? More rules? Really? Isn’t life complicated enough, restricting enough, without abstract Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street Do not bother children when they are skateboarding
Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient) Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today Make friends with people who want the best for you Stand up straight with your shoulders back Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping
12 Rules for Life shatters the modern commonplaces of science, faith and human nature, while transforming and ennobling the mind and spirit of its readers. Peterson journeys broadly, discussing discipline, freedom, adventure and responsibility, distilling the world's wisdom into 12 practical and profound rules for life. 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 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. Humorous, surprising and informative, Dr. 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. What does everyone in the modern world need to know? Renowned psychologist Jordan B.