March 2021 - Kyle's Blog

Jordan Peterson’s Beyond Order: Try to make one room in your home as beautiful as possible. (Part 2)

March 31, 2021March 31, 2021Kyle

I’ve been working through Jordan Peterson’s new book Beyond Order (Amazon affiliate link), breaking down each chapter into halves so I can give each a fair treatment. The second part of this chapter returns in part to the original thrust that it appeared to be about, but there’s some interesting twists and turns along the way.

As usual, Peterson’s style throughout this chapter is mixed with anecdotes, philosophy, and a deeper understanding of issues. It draws upon some ways art can be an antidote to alienation.

Jordan Peterson’s Beyond Order: Try to make one room in your home as beautiful as possible. (Part 1)

March 30, 2021March 30, 2021Kyle

I’ve been working through Jordan Peterson’s new book Beyond Order (Amazon affiliate link), breaking down each chapter into halves so I can give each a fair treatment. I found this chapter interesting because it follows Peterson’s tradition of taking an unexpected approach to traditional problems.

Normally, one would expect some focus on aesthetics in a chapter with a title like this, and while Peterson certainly appreciates the idea of aesthetics he does not lay out a particular ideal. That’s probably for the best, though some hints at what Peterson likes (namely the poetry of William Blake) shine through.

The Lord’s Name in Vain

March 28, 2021March 28, 2021Kyle

Yesterday, I went over a chapter of Beyond Order in which Jordan Peterson covered the purpose of rules and tradition.

During this chapter, he mentioned the Ten Commandments as examples of traditions that you should understand to avoid moral error.

The one that I found most interesting and has been consuming my thoughts is the injunction against taking the Lord’s name in vain.

Jordan Peterson’s Beyond Order: Work as hard as you possibly can on at least one thing and see what happens. (Part 2)

March 28, 2021March 28, 2021Kyle

I’ve been working through Jordan Peterson’s new book Beyond Order (Amazon affiliate link), breaking down each chapter into halves so I can give each a fair treatment. You can find part 1 of this chapter through this link.

The power of orienting yourself toward a goal is that it ultimately requires you to integrate parts of yourself that might otherwise never be integrated. Disintegrated parts of the self are dangerous because they lack the direction that a unified person brings to their affairs.

Revisiting 12 Rules for Life: Pet a Cat When You Encounter One on the Street

March 27, 2021March 27, 2021Kyle

Note: This is a repost of a blog series that I started in January 2018. Because this was prior to the blog being syndicated on PeakD, and it was some of my most-viewed content on the old blog. I’m going to be editing these slightly, but I’m also going to be adding my own thoughts as I re-read what I wrote. You can find the original post here.

Wrapping up the 12th chapter of Jordan B. Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (Amazon Affiliate link) feels a little surreal, because I’ve now been going through it for almost a month. It’s been a long journey, and I’ve been trying to apply some of the tips that Peterson gives to my life.

Jordan Peterson’s Beyond Order: Work as hard as you possibly can on at least one thing and see what happens. (Part 1)

March 26, 2021March 26, 2021Kyle

I’ve been working through Jordan Peterson’s new book Beyond Order (Amazon affiliate link), breaking down each chapter into halves so I can give each a fair treatment. I just finished the last part of the chapter on abandoning ideology.

Today I’m looking at the chapter on using effort to get what you want. As expected, it starts simple, but Peterson quickly takes it in novel directions.

Revisiting 12 Rules for Life: Do Not Bother Children When They Are Skateboarding

March 25, 2021March 25, 2021Kyle

For those of us just joining me, I’ve been reading Jordan B. Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (Amazon Affiliate link). The core lesson in the 11th chapter of Peterson’s book is a little different from the title, and I’ll probably spend more time trying to unpack the points rather than giving a blow-by-blow of Peterson’s argumentation.

Jordan Peterson’s Beyond Order Rule 6: Reject ideology. (Part 2)

March 24, 2021March 24, 2021Kyle

One thing that I find interesting about Peterson’s approach here is that he’s not as strict with the definition of ideology as one might think and he devotes relatively little effort to naming ideologies–he specifically focuses on Freud and Marx, though more to show the consequences of certain ways of thinking rather than as a particular critique of either.

Revisiting 12 Rules for Life: Be Precise in Your Speech

March 23, 2021March 24, 2021Kyle

For those of us just joining me, I’ve been reading Jordan B. Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (Amazon Affiliate link). Moving into Peterson’s tenth chapter, the focus on honesty continues; this time with a focus on using precise language to simplify problems so that they can be solved.

Peterson starts this chapter with an overview of how we form concepts; people form concepts based on a sort of emotional utility, not on form and function, as much as we would like it to be the latter. Peterson uses the example of electronics: people will get rid of old electronics, even if they still function perfectly, because they do not do what we grow to expect electronics to do based on our perceptions of others’ devices and what we see in advertisements, life, or opportunities.

Jordan Peterson’s Beyond Order Rule 6: Reject ideology. (Part 1)

March 21, 2021March 21, 2021Kyle

As expected from Peterson, who has given this subject a great deal of thought, there are lots of interesting and novel ideas, even for someone who is familiar with a lot of his source materials and the general field of study. He takes a very humble tone about his own abilities, but there’s a reason he’s so popular and it’s the intellectual caliber he brings to this sort of thing.