Scott Godwin - Fitness, Nutrition, Wellness
  • Blog
  • About
  • Bookstore
  • Subscribe for Free
  • Free E-Books
  • Services
  • Best of the Blog
  • Endorsements
  • The 12 Rules of Fitness
  • Models
  • Speaking Profile
  • Contact
  • 3.0 Fitness Personal Training VIP

Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules of Life

7/3/2018

 
I've just finished reading Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules of Life.  Overall, I'd give it a 3.5/5.  In case you aren't familiar with Peterson, he is a professor and psychologist from Canada who has become famous online for standing up to Orwellian Social Justice Warrior bullies who are trying to change language around pronouns.  But that is just his most famous episode.  He is probably the most famous person on YouTube right now, and his integrative teaching on the biblical stories has turned 1000s, maybe millions, back to  traditional religious practice.  

I commend Jordan Peterson and his work for several reasons:

  • Most men in Western cultures have few if any male role models to look up to.  On the one hand there is the stereotypical anti-intellectual macho type who has no conscience, or very little of one, or on the other, more common hand there is the effeminate, consumerist, narcissistic shallow man, who worships at the altar of money and political correctness.  They are two sides of the same coin for their lack of courage or depth.  If they have to choose, men will reject the latter and go with the former, because at least the first has a sense of honor and courage.  Peterson is attempting to rehabilitate the moral and spiritual life of men.  

  • Religious culture in American life is anti-traditional and anti-intellectual and has a disdain for learning, which Peterson seeks to correct.

  • People erroneously view science and religion as incompatible, though they are two different types of knowledge.  Peterson correctly points out that the two CANNOT be compared, because they are two different modes of thinking.

  • Peterson is often pointing out that sin, or evil, is primarily an individual phenomena, not a social one.  It starts with individuals and individual behavior in the context of the group.  The modern movement towards "social justice" is amorphous and removes the impetus from individuals for moral improvement and places it out there somewhere beyond reach.  This is a flawed way of thinking and Jordan Peterson is correct to point this out, before its too late.  The burden is ALWAYS on the individual.  
​
  • Peterson is correct to point out the balance between chaos and order, and this is a helpful paradigm.  All internal moral developments and positive reform requires periods of chaos and order in order to move the needle towards a better future.  He is very good at teaching this.

The 12 Rules of Life (spoiler alert) are:
  1. Stand Up Straight With Your Shoulders Back
  2. Treat Yourself Like Someone You Are Responsible For Helping 
  3. Make Friends With People Who Want the Best For You
  4. Compare Yourself to Who You Were Yesterday, Not to Who Someone Else is Today
  5. Do Not Let Your Children Do Anything that Makes You Dislike Them
  6. Set Your House in Perfect Order Before You Criticize the World
  7. Pursue What is Meaningful 
  8. Tell the Truth- Or, At Least Don't Lie
  9. Assume the Person Your Are Listening To Might Know Something You Don't
  10. Be Precise in Your Speech
  11. Do Not Bother Children When They Are Skateboarding
  12. Pet A Can When You Encounter One on The Street'

I recommend reading the book, though I did get bogged down halfway through.  If you've never read anything like this, you will probably find it fascinating.  Peterson assimilates the work of Carl Jung, and his work on archetypes.  Jung is a psychologist who had an impact on me when I was trying to find my own way.  Many for this same reason have accused Peterson of being a gnostic, and I tend to agree, in that he seems to deny or at least equivocate about true historical religious revelation.  

You get the sense reading Peterson that he is still on his own spiritual journey.  He can't seem to take the final leap of faith, or possibly doesn't have the courage to.  His personal failings are our own failings, or own "loss of nerve." Maybe that's why we like him and can relate to him so well?  Regardless, I empathize with him, and can overlook this, to garner the great truths he is communicating, particularly the religious ones.

There is so much prejudice against religious tradition and teaching in our culture, it is well over into the category of insanity.  I was at a lecture on marriage recently where an economics professor at George Mason University discussed how her non-profit promoting marriage was placed on a "hate group" list by the Southern Poverty Law Center.  So we have seen a complete reversal in values.  Peterson may not be the key to turning around the sinking ship, but I commend him for trying.  

----

Like the blog?  Sign up, and pass it on!
    Picture

      Sign up for my free "3.0 Health" Newsletter:

    Subscribe to Newsletter

    Categories

    All
    Fitness
    Nutrition
    Wellness

    Picture
    Picture
    Watch the
    Movement & Meaning Trailer
    :
    Picture

      Survey

    Submit

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    October 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014

Proudly powered by Weebly