Rook Recommendation: 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson
I
was pleased when the book club I belong to selected this book for our
next meeting, because I had just published an article entitled “The
Rules for a Long and Happy Life”
(Americanthinker.com/articles2018/5/the_rules_for_a_long_and_happy_life)
and
was interested in what Peterson had to say. There are no similarities
at all. If you know the difference between strategy and tactics, I
would say Peterson’s rules are strategic while mine are tactical.
He is philosophical where I am practical. That said, this is a
wonderful book. I am encouraged that it has sold a million copies, as
my fear is this is yet another great book that will not be read or
even understood by those who need it the most, especially
as it requires a lot of cognitive focus. That,
alas, includes many of the pundits who are attacking it. I doubt they
understood it, or perhaps even read it, the state of the media being
what it is. Peterson may have only 12 rules, but he presents a long
and wide-ranging discussion of the
foundations of each
of them. As a clinical psychologist, he brings not only his own
experience into their formulation, but also quotes from many of the
giants in the mental health field. He discusses religion a lot, which
doubtless is one of the reasons he’s under fire from the left, but
while Christianity get a lot of ink, he ties the Bible
stories to many other religions, from Taoism to the beliefs of the
ancient Egyptians. His
discussion of both child-rearing and standing up for your self could
be stand alone pieces. He critiques the beliefs of both the Left and
the Right, but it is, naturally the Left who seem to have taken most
umbrage,
particularly at his argument that all human societies, regardless of
the form of government, have dominance
hierarchies. In fact all animals do, as he demonstrates with
lobsters, a species that was old when the dinosaurs appeared. This,
of course, hits those who believe in the perfectibility of humans and
the possibility of utopia, where they live. I
especially
appreciated
what he
had to say about organ
transplants.
I was Dx with pulmonary fibrosis in 2006 and
on
12/23/13, I had a right lung transplant. I spend 1.5 hours every
morning and again every evening managing it. But I'm alive and for
the last year back to work 20-hours a week at the VA, interviewing
vets and writing their life stories for their records and families. I
know several transplant patients who have died because
as Peterson points out, they didn’t do what they needed to do to
stay alive.
This includes a couple who didn't stay with the program, including
one i know didn't go to PT or take his meds. As a Marine buddy and
fellow patient said, "He's doing it his way, not the VA way."
Peterson
offers the best explanation for non-compliance by transplant patients
that I have heard.
I
cannot do justice to such a wide-ranging book in a short review. I
urge you to read it.
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