Peterson believes that in the Book of Genesis, the serpent in the Garden of Eden represents chaos. Neither too much chaos is good (it can be overwhelming) nor too much order (it can become tyrannical) the ideal is balance between them. This duality is deeply embedded in human culture and even in the brain’s structure. Rule 2 is “Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping.” First, Peterson further defines Chaos (unpredictable, unexplored territory) and Order (stable, familiar territory). Such posture symbolizes a person’s willingness to meet the demands of existence, or Being. Peterson says that standing up straight with one’s shoulders back can go a long way toward helping someone-even “a loser”-change the way they feel and are regarded in society.
People with low social status tend to have less serotonin and live a more stressed existence on the other hand, people who feel secure in their status are more confident and prepared for the unexpected. This dynamic can also be observed in human society. Meanwhile, “loser” lobsters, whose serotonin is low, skulk around and startle easily. Dominant lobsters, who win fights over territory, have different brain chemistry than submissive lobsters: their high serotonin levels prompt them to strut aggressively. Rule 1 is “Stand up straight with your shoulders back.” In this chapter, Peterson considers lobsters’ behavior as a model for human behavior. He offers his 12 rules as the best guide he has to walking that border, hoping that as individuals learn to live well, humanity will collectively flourish, too. After reading lots of myths, sacred texts, and other literature, he identified a “divine Way”-the border between order and chaos-as the path to building character and discovering meaning in life. The book started as a list of 12 sayings in response to a question on the website Quora: “What are the most valuable things everyone should know?” While studying 20th-century history, Peterson, a clinical psychologist, had come to believe that life’s meaning has to do with developing one’s character in the face of suffering, not primarily with happiness. Jordan Peterson begins by sharing the origin of 12 Rules for Life.
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