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So, after many live and online discussions with friends on the views of @jordanbpeterson, I decided to actually try and read his “12 Rules for Life.” I got to rule 4 and no known force of nature will get me to read any further in this book… /1
@jordanbpeterson “12 Rules” is an odd mixture between trivial & patronising advice (“Stand up straight with your shoulders back”), wrong-headed pseudo-scientific arguments & persistent hints at the actual unspoken message, which @jordanbpeterson is too chicken-hearted to explicitly express. /2
@jordanbpeterson The advice part makes some sort of sense. Rule 3: “Make friends with people who want the best of you.” Classic stoicism. Not much new here, but for those who need this sort of talking to, the book may actually have some beneficial effects. /3
@jordanbpeterson The pseudo-science is ridiculous. Rule 1 starts with @jordanbpeterson’s famous lobster argument: lobsters have a social hierarchy. Hierarchy is conserved through evolution. Therefore, patriarchy is good for human beings. Flawless logical reasoning. /4
@jordanbpeterson … except that you can use lobsters to defend totalitarianism, feudalism, elitism... whatever hierarchical structure of society, irrespective of whether it is fair and just or not. This is how biology should *not* be used in political arguments. /5
@jordanbpeterson But there’s worse that lobsters. Rule 2 introduces the notion that the masculine represents order, while the female represents chaos. This argument seems to be pulled straight out of the author’s behind. I can’t see where else it is coming from… /6
@jordanbpeterson The worst aspect of the book, however, is not this type of misleading pseudo-scientific bullshit, but the constant innuendos at a much darker ideology that remains somewhat between the lines of this abysmal piece of writing. /7
@jordanbpeterson Wherever he can, @jordanbpeterson, throws in a prejudice or two. In Rule 3 (“Friends who are good for you”) he uses potheads as the sort of friends who will make you fail. Worse, they will lead you to succumb to “fear, hatred, addiction, promiscuity, betrayal, and deception.” /8
@jordanbpeterson I urgently needed a joint after reading this… And how the hell did “promiscuity” get on this list!?! Afraid of liberated female sexuality, Mr. @jordanbpeterson? /9
@jordanbpeterson .@jordanbpeterson is a troll. And a wimp. I would appreciate his book much more if it were honest about his ugly patriarchal view of the world. If he would not hide his evil ideology behind the veil of apparently well-meaning (though trivial) advice. /10
@jordanbpeterson If you are not entirely convinced by my (admittedly informal and incomplete) review of “12 Rules,” please consult @ContraPoints’s fabulous take-down of @jordanbpeterson here: . This certainly finishes the man off. Delectable, devastating destruction! ❤️ /11
