Ratings40
Average rating3.7
The companion volume to 12 Rules for Life offers further guidance on the perilous path of modern life. In 12 Rules for Life, clinical psychologist and celebrated professor at Harvard and the University of Toronto Dr. Jordan B. Peterson helped millions of readers impose order on the chaos of their lives. Now, in this bold sequel, Peterson delivers twelve more lifesaving principles for resisting the exhausting toll that our desire to order the world inevitably takes. In a time when the human will increasingly imposes itself over every sphere of life—from our social structures to our emotional states—Peterson warns that too much security is dangerous. What’s more, he offers strategies for overcoming the cultural, scientific, and psychological forces causing us to tend toward tyranny, and teaches us how to rely instead on our instinct to find meaning and purpose, even—and especially—when we find ourselves powerless. While chaos, in excess, threatens us with instability and anxiety, unchecked order can petrify us into submission. Beyond Order provides a call to balance these two fundamental principles of reality itself, and guides us along the straight and narrow path that divides them.
Reviews with the most likes.
While I really liked Jordan P. Peterson's 12 Laws book, this one felt really underwhelming and brought very little.
Most of the size of the book could be cut to go directly to the more interesting part. The first third of the book feels more like a defense against the controversy that appeared around Peterson than something of real value for the reader. However when you get past it, some of the later part are more interesting, calm and even open-minded and show a willingness to create bridges between people.
This book could have been quite shorter and would have been therefore more relevant in my opinion. I am however always surprised about how Peterson can be way more calm, structured and open in his writings than in most of his public talks.
Not very insightful, but there were fewer, or no weirdly political non sequiturs than in the last one. Less of a manifesto, more of a self help book, so if you're looking for that, knock yourself out.
2.5*
This is the last thing ever I read from Jordan Peterson. I still don't know what made me give him another chance in the first place.
While it has some good ideas, it also has lots of idiotic mumble jumble and his preaching tone is getting on your nerves from time to time.
This man has been through a lot of suffering, but his life lessons are not for me. The only good ones are about being a good person and finding gratefulness despite adversity.
Listening to this as an audiobook was an ABZURD idea! ABZOLUTELY ABZURD!
For real though. I enjoyed 12 Rules a fair bit, but all of Peterson's more irritating qualities are fully on display in this one - hyperbolic language (primordial! chaos! Hell!), Long tangents/explanations in the middle of a chapter that make me genuinely forget what the “rule” is for this chapter, and tons of bible analysis that is completely unnecessary and totally boring. That said, I listened to this on audio, and read 12 Rules with my eyes, which means I didn't have Peterson's ABZURD style being delivered in his own ABZURD voice. I think I probably would have enjoyed it more if I read it, I may do that at some point in the future. But as audio, I was constantly drawn in by how dramatic he was making whatever example and then the actual point would sail on past me.
Mostly, this book just felt unnecessary. I have no doubt it will help some people, but it felt half baked. I'm unsure if it's because Peterson kept almost dying last year and just wanted to put it out, or if it's because the entire thing is a cash grab, or some sort of combination of both.
The most amusing aspect of the entire thing is how much controversy there was over the publishing of an extraordinarily benign book.
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Featured Series
2 primary booksRules for Life is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2018 with contributions by Jordan B. Peterson.