(September 23, 2018 at 10:59 pm)robvalue Wrote:Sure.(September 23, 2018 at 1:37 pm)PRJA93 Wrote: After reading 12 Rules for Life I can tell people REALLY love nitpicking Peterson's words as they see fit.
The biggest atrocity Peterson is guilty of is, well, saying things that are not all that profound or interesting. But bigoted? Racist? Right-wing extremist? What world are people living in?
Mostly, 12 Rules consists of solid advice. Basically, get your shit together and live a good life. Once again, maybe not the most profound message we've ever heard, but when do self-help books ever really teach us anything we don't already logically know?
If Peterson is guilty of being some charlatan that is ripping everyone off and is just in it for the money, then so is every other self-help author that's ever existed.
I choose not to see the world in such a cynical way.
I think people who write self-help books are generally individuals who think they have information that can be useful to others. I've definitely gotten some use out of 12 Rules and would recommend it to a friend to read. Some people just really need to lighten up.
I'd be interested to know what specifically you have got out of the book, that has made it useful to you.
Rule 2 talks about treating yourself like someone you are responsible for helping. This chapter was interesting because I started to look at how I tend to minimize some of my own problems and mistakes and how I'll sort of let myself "get away with thing" that I'd definitely immediately call out in other people. Sometimes it's easy for us to ignore our own shortcomings and instead look at criticizing other people.
Which bring me to rule 5 (I think, I don't have the book in front of me), which says something like "Set your house in order before criticizing others." This is EXTREMELY important for me to keep in mind. I can often be critical of other people in my life and this chapter was interesting to read because I sort of thought, well, maybe that person or this person IS x, y and z, but what does that matter? I need to fix problems a, b, and c about myself anyway.
Although, with self-help books I think people often get the amount of help they're seeking. This is not to say EVERY self help book says something valuable, because they certainly do not. Some self help books are trash. But if you go into it hoping to learn something, you probably will. There may be dozens of other books that say the exact same 12 things Peterson's book says, but I read it and did find a few things, at least, to be interesting or thought-provoking.
I will admit I'm not a fan of the religious flavor that he puts on some of the ideas, mostly because it's just unnecessary.
If you're frightened of dying, and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the Earth.
