Question: Is Jordan Peterson Worth Your Time?

I’ve written about him once before, University of Toronto professor of Clinical Psychology, Dr. Jordan Peterson. A year or two ago if you had done an online search for him you could have fallen under the impression that his main interest is in provoking transgendered young people, students of Marxism, and professors of Feminist and Women’s Studies. The controversy he sparked in 2016 earned him instant international attention and the biggest internet presence he could have wished for in his wildest dreams.

Today it remains possible to get the impression that his first aim is to provoke “left” thinking folks and to support the “right”. There are a number of YouTube posts of him being interviewed by less “politically correct” show hosts such as Dave Rubin. (Rubin and Peterson have done a world lecture tour.)

However, such first impressions are hard to sustain when you pay attention to what Peterson actually says during his interviews. Besides those, you can view hundreds of hours of his university and tour lectures online.

And then there is his book Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief. If you are thinking of picking it up, be prepared for long discussions of psychoanalysis, history, Carl Jung, Marxism, postmodernism, Frederick Nietzsche and, most of all, the Bible. (As I have written before, I think that Peterson’s treatment of the Bible is very illuminating, but it does need improvement. He appears to read it mainly through the lens of Jung).

Peterson’s second book, 12 Rules for Life:An Antidote to Chaos, has become a best seller. Sales are in the millions, and it is being translated (according to the author) into dozens of languages. It’s a self-help book. Peterson describes it as a call to “responsible and meaningful living” in a chaotic world where life is tough.

Is it any good? Is it worth your time? I’ll try to give you a sampling of 12 Rules which might help you decide for yourself.

The first rule in the book is, “Stand up straight with your shoulders back”. In Peterson’s words:

To stand up straight with your shoulders back is to accept the terrible responsibility of life with eyes wide open. It means deciding to voluntarily transform the chaos of potential into the realities of habitable order. It means adopting the burden of self-conscious vulnerability, and accepting the end of the unconscious paradise of childhood (p. 27 in my copy, 2018, Random House).

Then there is his Rule 10, “Be precise in your speech”. What lies behind this is Peterson’s philosophy of language. He believes that human speech is the most powerful instrument we have for bringing life-affirming order out of chaos.

This relates to his Rule 8, “Tell the truth – or, at least, don’t lie”. Again, Peterson’s words:

If you betray yourself, if you say untrue things, if you act out a lie, you weaken your character. If you have a weak character, then adversity will mow you down when it appears, as it will, inevitably. You will hide, but there will be no place to hide. And then you will find yourself doing terrible things (p. 212).

I talk about this with youth in my practice as a Department of Justice chaplain for convicted young people all the time. They get it. Instantly.

Having read and viewed a good deal of Peterson, I would say that his core advice is this: take stock of your life and the world. See what responsibilities lie before you. Starting with yourself (not others), put things in their proper order. And as you reduce the chaos and suffering in your own life, pay attention to the opportunities that emerge for you to do the same for other people, first those close to you, and then others.

Lacking a truly good example, I’ll say a bit about myself. Some years ago I realized that if I was going to do any good as the pastor of a Church, or as a Christian chaplain, I had to get my own thoughts in order. So, that meant a university degree and training in my church’s seminary.

I have had a lot of experience since in doing the work I was trained for. I’ve made many mistakes, but I have also, I believe, learned along the way. A couple of years ago I was asked if I would develop a simple program of Christian care and worship for the residents of a large mental health facility nearby. No worries. I had lots of tools in my backpack by then. Recently the institution asked me to become a member of its ethics committee. Shouldn’t be a problem.

As it turns out, this is an illustration of Peterson’s Rule 6 in 12 Rules. “Set your house in perfect order before you [try to improve] the world”.

So, I will leave it there. If you think Peterson is worth a longer look, you know where to go.

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