Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life

Peterson counsels, “if you want to become invaluable in a workplace—in any community—just do the useful things no one else is doing” (112). The best life is one of accepting responsibility and embracing what is difficult. Honing one’s ability to solve problems not only makes one a better contributor to the common good but is psychologically beneficial as well. In Peterson’s view, lacking ambition is a far greater cause of distress than vying for something and falling short since at least there are lessons in the effort. He cites the example of Peter Pan, who refuses to grow up, while Hook lives in constant fear of death. It is Wendy who takes the bold choice to leave her friend behind and become an adult. To remain in adolescence is to have “all the suffering of life, with none of the meaning. Is there a better description of hell?” (117)

As an illustration, Peterson turns to the Egyptian myth of Osiris, the founding god of the ancient Egyptian pantheon, who once made the fateful decision to close his eyes, leaving him vulnerable to his evil brother Set. Since Osiris represents the social impulse, he cannot die, so Set broke him into pieces and scattered him across the countryside. The goddess Isis, Osiris’ consort, was able to find his penis and make herself pregnant with it, giving birth to her son Horus. Represented by a single eye, as the other was torn out by Set in battle, Horus nonetheless triumphed, banished Set, brought his severed eye to the underworld, and gave it to his father. “The Egyptians insisted that it was this combination of vision, courage, and regenerated tradition that constituted the proper sovereign of the kingdom” (123). There are aspects of our ancestors that ought to be rescued, to rediscover a part of what was in order to become what one can be. 

Everyone is expected to take care of themselves, but the self is a fluid concept. It is always possible to pursue momentary satisfaction without regard for its long-term consequences, but the damage to a later you may far outweigh the immediate benefits. Unlike many other animals, humans have a profound sense of the future and complex relationships with other people, making it hard to disentangle self-interest from the good of others. Happiness is an immediate phenomenon, while a more sophisticated alternative is “the simultaneous optimization of your function and the function of the people around you, across time […] that is the highest good” (128). Genuine happiness arises only out of the fulfilment of responsibility because it strengthens relationships with others and secures one against the uncertainties of the future. Failure to plan for the future, to heed the voice of conscience that advises caution and preparation, must sooner or later lead to disaster. Listening to one’s conscience can cause frequent discomfort, but this discomfort is a worthy guard against the “nihilism and despair” (133) that results from an immoral life. A sense of purpose informs a meaningful life, and so a lack of fulfillment is probably an indicator that one lacks purpose or a sufficiently noble purpose. A profound sense of disappointment, however, can be a “call to the action and adventure that make up a real life” (137).

One of Peterson’s clients offered him a window into what he views as an absurd fixation in corporate America with avoiding any language potentially deemed offensive, even if there were only meager and obscure grounds for objecting to the term in question. The client expressed great frustration with such “political correctness” (143), seeing it not only as annoying but as morally troublesome, the manifestation of an “authoritarian ideology” (145) that inhibited the company’s actual productive work. Viewing it as futile to voice her objections to superiors, she nonetheless offered public opposition to some of their policies and the ideas behind them, exposing her to the risk of censure. Peterson finds even these small measures to be consequential, as “tyranny grows slowly, and asks us to retreat in comparatively minor steps” (147), and so every small thing someone does in opposition can be meaningful. Ignoring that which offends one’s conscience because it is considered minor ensures that sooner or later, a far more major problem will emerge and it will be much more resistant to challenge. Such efforts may not succeed, but they will at least have positive psychological effects on the person engaged in them.

Challenging stale orthodoxies may bring about trouble, Peterson argues, but it may also draw admiration, and it is only with such challenges that things can ever change for the better. There are practical considerations—the possibility of getting fired should prompt someone to have another job lined up. But even if another job seems unlikely, fears of what might happen may preclude the fact that “the true worst-case situation [is] one that drags you out and kills you slowly over decades” (153). This is not just a matter of not liking one’s job, but rather of compromising one’s principles and allowing the unjust to triumph.