IMPROVING Jordan B. Peterson's "12 Rules For Life"

Jordan Peterson's "12 Rules For A Life" is a self-help book based on the 40+ rules he once wrote for Quora years before. The book received both criticism and praise, yet many obvious criticisms haven’t been made. For example, isn’t 12 rules (and later, 24) far too many? What should people do with boundaries as they get older? Is male/female the same thing as masculine and feminine? Why SHOULD a human being feel “confidence” for doing the bare minimum, such as standing up straight? How is self-esteem REALLY earned?

In this video, poet, critic, and novelist Alex Sheremet tackles these questions and revises Jordan B. Peterson's rules into a more useful list: 1) Twelve rules is far too many; 2) Walk every day, and walk a lot; 3) Cook for yourself; 4) Make yourself untouchable; 5) You are the standard, but others polish it; 6) What if all you criticize is you?; 7) Not happiness, but wisdom; 8) Don’t bother kids

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Timestamps:

0:00 – 12 Rules is just too many

01:48 – Patron show preview – vacation reading – propaganda in the Soviet edition of Vladimir Vysotsky’s “Nerve”; Mark Twain’s “Pudd’nhead Wilson” is underrated; assessing Constance Garnett’s translation of Leo Tolstoy’s “Death of Ivan Ilyich”; our Minneapolis documentary on Bruce Ario’s life and work

03:38 – Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life; Alex’s First Rule for Life: 12 rules is just too many; Jordan B. Peterson would ideally have 50+ rules; as you get older, you should DISCARD rules

07:28 – improving Jordan Peterson’s first rule: stand up straight with your shoulders back; Alex’s rule: Walk every day, and walk a lot; how Peterson sneaks in normative statements into his descriptive statements; Jordan B. Peterson is advising very superficial, image-based solutions; why you should EARN your confidence; Jordan Peterson doesn’t really discuss exercise or diet

12:57 – Jordan Peterson’s second rule: Treat yourself like someone you are tasked with helping; Alex’s rule: cook for yourself as often as possible; don’t be adult who can’t cook his favorite meal; there is no evidence that an adult Jordan B. Peterson knows how to cook

19:38 – Jordan Peterson’s third rule: choose friends who want the best for you; Alex’s rule: make yourself as weird and untouchable as possible; attracting better friends, as opposed to hoping to choose the “right friends”, is smarter

26:03 – Jordan B. Peterson’s fourth rule: compare yourself to the person you were yesterday, not someone else; if you have talent, this rule especially applies to you; Alex’s rule: you are the standard, but others polish it

29:45 – Jordan Peterson’s fifth rule: don’t let your children do anything which makes you dislike them; parents need to be more introspective about their emotions

32:12 – Jordan Peterson’s sixth rule: set your house in perfect order before criticizing the world; perfection is impossible, so what is Jordan B. Peterson hiding from?; Peterson and hypocrisy

37:53 – combining several more of Jordan Peterson’s rules into Alex’s sixth rule: what if all you criticize is actually you?; James Baldwin on the use of racial slurs

39:51 – combining Jordan Peterson’s rules about pursuing meaning and telling the truth; Alex’s rule: pursue not happiness, but wisdom; the individual is valuable only because they make a social contribution; why Jordan B. Peterson cultivated a reactionary audience; how Peterson misuses Dostoyevsky’s “Notes from Underground” & “Crime and Punishment”

46:30 – Jordan Peterson tries to show off his knowledge of cats; Peterson’s penultimate rule: “don’t bother kids while they are skateboarding”; Jordan B. Peterson views boys and men as innately more heroic/worthwhile

Tags: #jordanpeterson #rulesforlife #success