An Antidote to Chaos
Jordan B. Peterson · 2018 · Self-help
Read
Jordan Peterson, a clinical psychologist, offers twelve rules for living a meaningful life in a world he sees as a constant tension between order and chaos. Too much order becomes rigid and oppressive; too much chaos leaves people lost and anxious. His answer is voluntary responsibility: facing life’s suffering directly and taking on burdens that give it purpose.
Each chapter opens with a simple instruction, such as standing up straight, telling the truth, speaking precisely or comparing yourself only with who you were yesterday. He then develops it at length through evolutionary biology, psychology, stories from his clinical practice, religious texts, myth and literature. Readers tend to find the practical advice clear, and the long philosophical detours either rewarding or hard going.
Key insights
- Compare yourself with who you were yesterday, not with someone else today. Small improvements measured against your own past are achievable and motivating.
- Look after yourself as you would someone you are responsible for helping. Many people tend a pet or relative more diligently than themselves.
- Put your own house in order before criticising the world. Fix what is within reach, such as your habits and conduct, before blaming larger forces.
- Choose meaning over expedience. Repeatedly taking the easy, short-term option tends to cost you long-term purpose.
- Be precise in speech. Naming a vague problem clearly makes it smaller and manageable, while leaving it unspoken lets it grow.
Read it if you want demanding, old-fashioned advice about responsibility and meaning, and enjoy long detours into myth and psychology.