Months 3 and 4
The third book the budding book club read was too long to
delve into in just on month. We read The 12 Rules for Life, An Antidote to
Chaos by Jordan Peterson. Before this choice was made, we didn’t know that
there has been some controversy around this author. Some said he is sexist, but
I honestly didn’t investigate the concerns and just wanted to listen (in my
case) with an open mind. Dr. Peterson is a professor of Psychology in Canada
(no I am not going to give you his resume), and formerly of Harvard. He is
originally from some small town or city in Canada where it gets really cold and
miserable for more than half the year.
Anyway, he came up with a list of 12 Rules that people
should live by and filled in the chapters with anecdotes and examples from his
life, his friends’ lives, examples from contributors to his list that he
elicited from an online forum. He made some pretty convincing arguments and
showed himself to be a bit of an overachieving philosopher: someone who could
really be interesting at dinner parties, but also someone who made you ready to
go home as soon as dessert was finished. At least for me, someone who gets over
stimulated easily in social situations. Your brain will get full quickly. This
is why it took my group two months to digest it all. If being able to digest
all of it was even possible.
The rules have interesting titles such as: Stand up straight
with your shoulders back; Do not let your children do anything that makes you
dislike them; Tell the truth or at least don't lie; Be precise in your speech. Certainly
good advice and the stories add a lot of richness that illustrate why these
concepts are important to living a good life. It was difficult arguing with
many of these although I have heard some criticisms about his views on gender.
Having been someone who needed a lot more caretaking after having children than
I got, I agreed. When you are the one having children, it is up to your partner
to step up and fill in where you are unable – though temporarily – so you do
not also have to take care of your partner who feels set aside upon the arrival
of a baby. It just made sense to me and I might feel differently had I adopted
a baby and wasn’t in the vulnerable post partum state of mind and body many
years ago.
Many concepts were complex and I know of several moments
where I thought Dr. Peterson’s concepts intersected with Brene Brown’s and I
thought, “a whole other book could be written at this point,” but more
information kept coming to me and the thought came and left. I may go back to
it, and see if I still think so after more reading. There is also a more in
depth discussion of The Book of Genesis than I ever had in college that was a
completely different take on the story of creation. Mind blown. Being allowed a
glimpse into the way someone thinks who is a thinker, researcher, lecturer, for
a living is fascinating for me, an observer of people on a close up basis. He
does, however, read his own audio book, and let’s just say that not everyone
has a good voice for dictating. He has a bit of an accent, being Canadian, and
can sound like a big old nerd. However, knowing it is his voice lending itself
to his ideas gives it a flow I have found hired voice actors don’t always
provide when reading more technical material.
In short, following, integrating and living these rules will
help humans live a less chaotic life. The book club continues to work on being
people who stand tall, pet cats, being good listeners, letting kids take
reasonable risks to become independent.
General Rating - A
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