Events vs. States Rule 3 in Jordan Peterson’s Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life reads, “Do not hide unwanted things in the fog,” and it is about neglecting apparently small problems, the risks of living with and tolerating these problems for too long, and cumulative effect of doing so over time. A useful distinction here is between one’s general state and particular events one faces. Small, repetitive problems might not themselves count as significant…
After writing Part 1 of this series, the idea of the fool and Peterson’s inadequate treatment of it stayed with me, and in my mind I continued searching for good examples that embody the idea of the fool. Then I remembered the character, Sabina, from Milan Kundera’s the Unbearable Lightness of Being, which is an excellent example. Another character from the same novel, Tomas, goes through the process of becoming the fool in the story.…
I have decided to go through Jordon Peterson’s recent book, Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life, and record a commentary here. These are quick notes, which is to say I’m leaving room for reconsideration and changing my mind in the future. Let’s begin. Rule 1: Do not carelessly denigrate social institutions or creative achievements. There isn’t much new material in this chapter, compared with Peterson’s earlier “12 Rules for Life”, with the exception of…
Andrew Taggart just wrote this post about the (non)purpose of religion, which is closely connected to a discussion about the (non)purpose of art, education, philosophy, and ultimately the (non)purpose of being human. When we question the purpose of something, we often don’t realize how much prejudice is conveyed in our question. Questioning the purpose of X, the utility of X, is a question about whether and how X fits within our existing purposes. “What is…
Having to spend some time in a waiting room yesterday evening, I was happy to remember a small book in my back pocket. The book is a speech by Albert Camus, titled Create Dangerously: The Power and Responsibility of the Artist. The English translation is done Sandra Smith. This is one of those short books that took me a long time to finish. It’s only 46 pages long. But it’s full of ups and downs…