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3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
The book does indeed offer valuable points, however at times they can be shrouded in mythology and biblical references, which is not for everybody.
Peterson often talks in rather abstract concepts which is something to get used to. Towards the end of the book I cannot help but note some biting remarks towards women which I am not sure how to feel about, however overall the messages of the book are worth a read.
Peterson often talks in rather abstract concepts which is something to get used to. Towards the end of the book I cannot help but note some biting remarks towards women which I am not sure how to feel about, however overall the messages of the book are worth a read.
tl;dr: skip to The Verdict
“12 Rules For Life: An Antidote to Chaos” presents a deceptively simple set of life rules, and explores how they’re not quite as simple as they may seem.
There’s a fairly enigmatic quality to the book. Miraculously, it manages to be both a fancy cocktail and a singular homogenous liquid at the same time. Peterson’s swirling mixture of concepts presents the reader with a rich palate of Psychology, Philosophy, Religion, Mythology, Science, Pop Culture and a dab of Politics. He expertly draws principles gleaned from each into a coherent singular theme.
Holistically speaking the simple yet profound concept that subtly unites this cocktail is Stoicism. Stoicism can be defined as: The ability to contain ones emotions and act in a productive manner.
Thereby, the ‘Antidote to Chaos’ would (in its simplest form) be his modern interpretation of Stoicism. Stoic Philosophy is one of the primary themes of Ancient Greek Philosophy, the concept is also comparable in certain other World Philosophies. Notably, stoicism is a key tenet often associated with the concepts of order, authority, and masculinity. Concepts that are commonly seen to be implicit in Peterson’s work.
THE CASE FOR
As mentioned, ’12 Rules’ has a certain degree of complexity inherent in its method. It does, however, provide the reader with a deeper reward; once the layers are unravelled and reflected upon. There is often a poetic nature to Peterson’s writing which is enriching. Each life rule has a broad scope and a degree of universal utility. Formulating 12 universal rules for life, that are also so deeply philosophically grounded, is in many ways a commendable achievement.
From a practical basis these are principles that are easy to apply and congruent with common sense. However, so many of these are principles that people simply do not adhere to, on a regular basis. Perhaps because too many are just not consciously aware of how truly important the underlying principles are.
For example, if we take the first rule - ‘Stand Up Straight With Your Shoulders Back’:
To some, this might appear to be a perennial statement that is so well worn as not to be worth saying. However, sometimes it’s the unremarkable things we already know which are of most importance. The fact is too many falter at this simple task. Most of all, a mantra such as this is more than just a practicality to Peterson, it’s an analogy for how to tackle life in general.
Peterson invokes his now renowned (and often misinterpreted) ’Lobster Dominance’ analogy to dive deeply into this concept. From a Psychological perspective I’ve seen a few others in the field commend Peterson for his conception. As more are starting to believe posture is a highly undervalued mechanism for maintaining and improving psychological wellbeing and physical health. Interestingly, the push for greater movement/step counts is closely linked to the fact that people often fall into bad posture when not moving regularly.
At times Peterson reaches an admirable level of insight — when reflecting upon various concepts such as suffering, meaning and happiness. These are not easy topics to write about credibly, while at the same time leaving the reader with a sense of enrichment. Peterson, to his credit, manages this deftly through much of the book. Notably, his ability to deconstruct nihilism, and the emptiness which often plagues the modern human outlook, is commendable.
THE CASE AGAINST
While ’12 Rules’ is a very deep and thoughtful book it does have some notable imperfections. Predominately, these relate to the manner in which the book is written and edited. While the book is impeccable in its grammatical and logical consistency, it feels like perhaps a little additional editing would have improved the general readability — especially considering this is a modern title.
Peterson is a very articulate and precise person, and clearly someone with an immense intellectual capacity. As such it feels like sometimes he was torn between writing a scholarly and rigorous thesis style work; and the alternative of producing a more accessible piece of ‘popular’ literature. Greater conciseness and simplicity in presentation would certainly have given the book more clarity in certain parts.
There is noticeable contrast between the parts of the book that are most fluent and engaging versus the parts that are less accessible. Occasionally, it feels like Peterson’s writing style strays into the Biblical complexity of construction that it references and dissects.
There is a definite preference for Philosophical exploration over practical simplification. I sense this is at least in part due to the desire for credibility and rigour, as touched on above. Peterson often seems to wants to let the reader go on their own journey, within the context of the book, rather than driving home a lot of explicit summaries and simplistic explanations. This may be seen as a strength and a weakness.
Consequently, a slight issue ’12 Rules’ has is that some may be left struggling to fully appreciate the true power and utility of the set of rules he has produced. Thus their place as universal motto’s for flourishing may inadvertently be missed or misinterpreted in a less positive manner.
THE VERDICT
Ultimately ’12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos’ certainly succeeds in addressing the premise of the title. This deep reflective work is worthy of much praise for the preciseness and the integrity of its approach, it is both enlightened and profound.
It is a book that, overall, can service the reader in a number of powerful ways. Though, I would have to admit it might not be the easiest book for some to tackle.
While his writing often has a certain richness to it, I believe a future edition of the book would benefit from a slight revision, involving some studious editing and refinement.
The fact that Peterson draws quite deeply from various disciplines, such as religion and mythology, while relating them to modern scientific perspectives is integral to how different readers will absorb the book overall. Again, this is both a strength and a weakness, as his analysis of various scripts, at times, makes this book more difficult to engage with. Though ultimately its rewarding for those willing to invest consciously to the task.
For the sake of this review I’ve chosen to focus exclusively on the book at hand, rather than Peterson's notoriety. It’s easy to conflate a self development perspective exclusively to a particular political doctrine, but to do so often alludes to the preconceived biases of the one passing judgement. The very limited overtly political elements which are found in the book are far from controversial if interpreted in context. Peterson speaks to the individual on a psychological and philosophical level, not to the masses on a political level — at least in reference to this book.
Peterson is worthy of praise for what he has set out to do and for what he has achieved. Any imperfections are ultimately dwarfed by the positive impact the book is able to provide overall.
I would suggest to would be readers that: they approach the book like a trek up a mountain rather than a stroll in the park. With that said the view from the top is rewarding, the journey is fulfilling, and the summit is majestic.
“12 Rules For Life: An Antidote to Chaos” presents a deceptively simple set of life rules, and explores how they’re not quite as simple as they may seem.
There’s a fairly enigmatic quality to the book. Miraculously, it manages to be both a fancy cocktail and a singular homogenous liquid at the same time. Peterson’s swirling mixture of concepts presents the reader with a rich palate of Psychology, Philosophy, Religion, Mythology, Science, Pop Culture and a dab of Politics. He expertly draws principles gleaned from each into a coherent singular theme.
Holistically speaking the simple yet profound concept that subtly unites this cocktail is Stoicism. Stoicism can be defined as: The ability to contain ones emotions and act in a productive manner.
Thereby, the ‘Antidote to Chaos’ would (in its simplest form) be his modern interpretation of Stoicism. Stoic Philosophy is one of the primary themes of Ancient Greek Philosophy, the concept is also comparable in certain other World Philosophies. Notably, stoicism is a key tenet often associated with the concepts of order, authority, and masculinity. Concepts that are commonly seen to be implicit in Peterson’s work.
THE CASE FOR
As mentioned, ’12 Rules’ has a certain degree of complexity inherent in its method. It does, however, provide the reader with a deeper reward; once the layers are unravelled and reflected upon. There is often a poetic nature to Peterson’s writing which is enriching. Each life rule has a broad scope and a degree of universal utility. Formulating 12 universal rules for life, that are also so deeply philosophically grounded, is in many ways a commendable achievement.
From a practical basis these are principles that are easy to apply and congruent with common sense. However, so many of these are principles that people simply do not adhere to, on a regular basis. Perhaps because too many are just not consciously aware of how truly important the underlying principles are.
For example, if we take the first rule - ‘Stand Up Straight With Your Shoulders Back’:
To some, this might appear to be a perennial statement that is so well worn as not to be worth saying. However, sometimes it’s the unremarkable things we already know which are of most importance. The fact is too many falter at this simple task. Most of all, a mantra such as this is more than just a practicality to Peterson, it’s an analogy for how to tackle life in general.
Peterson invokes his now renowned (and often misinterpreted) ’Lobster Dominance’ analogy to dive deeply into this concept. From a Psychological perspective I’ve seen a few others in the field commend Peterson for his conception. As more are starting to believe posture is a highly undervalued mechanism for maintaining and improving psychological wellbeing and physical health. Interestingly, the push for greater movement/step counts is closely linked to the fact that people often fall into bad posture when not moving regularly.
At times Peterson reaches an admirable level of insight — when reflecting upon various concepts such as suffering, meaning and happiness. These are not easy topics to write about credibly, while at the same time leaving the reader with a sense of enrichment. Peterson, to his credit, manages this deftly through much of the book. Notably, his ability to deconstruct nihilism, and the emptiness which often plagues the modern human outlook, is commendable.
THE CASE AGAINST
While ’12 Rules’ is a very deep and thoughtful book it does have some notable imperfections. Predominately, these relate to the manner in which the book is written and edited. While the book is impeccable in its grammatical and logical consistency, it feels like perhaps a little additional editing would have improved the general readability — especially considering this is a modern title.
Peterson is a very articulate and precise person, and clearly someone with an immense intellectual capacity. As such it feels like sometimes he was torn between writing a scholarly and rigorous thesis style work; and the alternative of producing a more accessible piece of ‘popular’ literature. Greater conciseness and simplicity in presentation would certainly have given the book more clarity in certain parts.
There is noticeable contrast between the parts of the book that are most fluent and engaging versus the parts that are less accessible. Occasionally, it feels like Peterson’s writing style strays into the Biblical complexity of construction that it references and dissects.
There is a definite preference for Philosophical exploration over practical simplification. I sense this is at least in part due to the desire for credibility and rigour, as touched on above. Peterson often seems to wants to let the reader go on their own journey, within the context of the book, rather than driving home a lot of explicit summaries and simplistic explanations. This may be seen as a strength and a weakness.
Consequently, a slight issue ’12 Rules’ has is that some may be left struggling to fully appreciate the true power and utility of the set of rules he has produced. Thus their place as universal motto’s for flourishing may inadvertently be missed or misinterpreted in a less positive manner.
THE VERDICT
Ultimately ’12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos’ certainly succeeds in addressing the premise of the title. This deep reflective work is worthy of much praise for the preciseness and the integrity of its approach, it is both enlightened and profound.
It is a book that, overall, can service the reader in a number of powerful ways. Though, I would have to admit it might not be the easiest book for some to tackle.
While his writing often has a certain richness to it, I believe a future edition of the book would benefit from a slight revision, involving some studious editing and refinement.
The fact that Peterson draws quite deeply from various disciplines, such as religion and mythology, while relating them to modern scientific perspectives is integral to how different readers will absorb the book overall. Again, this is both a strength and a weakness, as his analysis of various scripts, at times, makes this book more difficult to engage with. Though ultimately its rewarding for those willing to invest consciously to the task.
For the sake of this review I’ve chosen to focus exclusively on the book at hand, rather than Peterson's notoriety. It’s easy to conflate a self development perspective exclusively to a particular political doctrine, but to do so often alludes to the preconceived biases of the one passing judgement. The very limited overtly political elements which are found in the book are far from controversial if interpreted in context. Peterson speaks to the individual on a psychological and philosophical level, not to the masses on a political level — at least in reference to this book.
Peterson is worthy of praise for what he has set out to do and for what he has achieved. Any imperfections are ultimately dwarfed by the positive impact the book is able to provide overall.
I would suggest to would be readers that: they approach the book like a trek up a mountain rather than a stroll in the park. With that said the view from the top is rewarding, the journey is fulfilling, and the summit is majestic.
Probably the best book I've ever read, first time I finished it though...
I lost it once, I've listened to it once , not a fan of audiobooks, with all my love of Peterson's reading.
This time I've managed to read it all the way throught.
Thank you Prof. Peterson.
What will you do with your pen of light?
I lost it once, I've listened to it once , not a fan of audiobooks, with all my love of Peterson's reading.
This time I've managed to read it all the way throught.
Thank you Prof. Peterson.
What will you do with your pen of light?
I went in knowing I dont see everything eye to eye with peterson. But from what I had heard he seemed like he had some interesting ideas. I am not religious, and am an athiest. (Which peterson denies is possible, but somehow I manage. Of course this is the same guy that denies that career women can be satisfied with their lives, so he seems to have an imagination problem as far as I can tell). But I used to be christian and study the bible, so I am sometimes interested in hearing what christians have to say, maybe get a bit of protestant work ethic programmed in. I'll listen to life advice from people of many religions. I thought I could do that with peterson because until the book he seemed to have a literary and academic way of talking about the bible and its metaphors and archetypes. So of course I expected to hear some bible stuff and some psychology stuff and some metaphysical stuff. But this book in points was a bit too much like going to church for me. Kept breaking my suspension of disbelief. In the end, I was just getting a tad too bored and found that it was just impossible for me to focus on it; I gave up halfway through.
Peterson explains at the beginning that it was inspired by his answers to questions posted on Quora; so it originated as web content that has now been expanded to fill the length of a whole book. It is much longer than it needs to be, although there are some good parts but, for the same reason, there's also quite a lot of unneccessary bits.
Some rules [for example, Rule 1: stand up straight with your shoulders back] are well-explained and hold-up logically. Some [such as Rule 7: pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)] are rambling analyses of biblical scripture with no apparent relevance. I enjoyed reading his personal anecdotes and I think he should write his memoirs at some point. But the rules that make sense [like Rule 10: be precise in your speech] are obvious and he spends too long explaining even them. I did learn some useful things but, most of the time, I was wondering what the fuck he was talking about.
Some rules [for example, Rule 1: stand up straight with your shoulders back] are well-explained and hold-up logically. Some [such as Rule 7: pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)] are rambling analyses of biblical scripture with no apparent relevance. I enjoyed reading his personal anecdotes and I think he should write his memoirs at some point. But the rules that make sense [like Rule 10: be precise in your speech] are obvious and he spends too long explaining even them. I did learn some useful things but, most of the time, I was wondering what the fuck he was talking about.
Just finished and still mulling it over. On the whole I enjoyed it a lot. It was helped by listening to the author's narration; at several points you could tell he was getting emotional and that added to the impact of his words. It's just a pity that he veered off into gender politics in the Rule 11 chapter—Do Not Bother Children when they are Skateboarding. It's not that I don't disagree with him, it's that it seemed to stand out as not quite in keeping with the chapter heading and he was just looking for somewhere to slot in his views. It didn't quite fit. I did, as a former skater, enjoy listening to him describing the street skating around Toronto or wherever it was!
The highest impact moment for me was in Rule 7—Pursue what is Meaningful (Not what is Expedient). It moved me to tears and prompted me to send a screenshot to a friend that I think would get a lot of out of this chapter if not the whole book.
This is probably the book I've got the most highlights in this year. So much stood out to me as being meaningful and worth returning to. His adherence to the bible fits with my current worldview and philosophy, as too does his love of Dostoyevsky. As for Solzhenitsyn, I've had Gulag Archipelago on my TBR for a while now and have bumped it up for a definite read in 2025. I have the nice hardcover anniversary edition.
The more anecdotal parts of the book really helped to keep me engaged, like when he talked about his friend Chris (RIP) or went through the horrific story of his daughter's health issues.
Will I follow up with Beyond Order? Honestly, I feel like diving straight in to keep it going, otherwise it'll slip down the TBR and possibly right off the bottom.
The highest impact moment for me was in Rule 7—Pursue what is Meaningful (Not what is Expedient). It moved me to tears and prompted me to send a screenshot to a friend that I think would get a lot of out of this chapter if not the whole book.
This is probably the book I've got the most highlights in this year. So much stood out to me as being meaningful and worth returning to. His adherence to the bible fits with my current worldview and philosophy, as too does his love of Dostoyevsky. As for Solzhenitsyn, I've had Gulag Archipelago on my TBR for a while now and have bumped it up for a definite read in 2025. I have the nice hardcover anniversary edition.
The more anecdotal parts of the book really helped to keep me engaged, like when he talked about his friend Chris (RIP) or went through the horrific story of his daughter's health issues.
Will I follow up with Beyond Order? Honestly, I feel like diving straight in to keep it going, otherwise it'll slip down the TBR and possibly right off the bottom.