What I've Been Reading

12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson.

The book has nothing provocative and I agree with most of the book - take responsibility, be humble  and so on. He could have made the wordings little explicit (esp., while drawing analogies from religion and it might be confused for actual religious preaching); but I might be wrong since I haven't watched his lectures. Either way, Jordan has written a beautiful book - A much needed voice in the world of political correctness has become part of colloquial language.

It is our responsibility to see what s before our eyes, courageously, and learn from it, even it is seems horrible - even if horror of seeing it damages our consciousness, and half-blinds us. The act of seeing is particularly important when it challenges what we know and what we rely on, upsetting and destabilizing us. It is the act of seeing that informs the individual and updates the state. It was for this reason the Nietzsche said that a man's worth was determined by how much truth he could tolerate. You are by no means only what you already know. You are also all that which you could know, if you only would. Thus, you should never sacrifice what you could be for what you are. You should never give up the better that resides within for the security you already have - and certainly not when you have already caught a glimpse, an undeniable glimpse, of something beyond.

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Something supersedes thinking, despite its truly awesome power. When existence reveals itself as existentially intolerable, thinking collapses in on itself. In such situations - in the depths - it's noticing, not thinking, that does the trick. Perhaps you might start by noticing this: when you love someone, it's not despite their limitations. It's because of their limitations. Of course, its complicated.

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What shall i do with my infants death? Hold my other loved ones and heal their pain. It is necessary to be strong in the face of death, because death is intrinsic to life. It is for this reason that I tell my students: aim to be the person at your father's funeral that everyone, in their grief and misery, can rely on. There's a worthy and noble ambition: strength in face of adversity. That is very different from the wish for a life free of trouble.

What shall I do in the next dire moment? Focus my attention on the next move. The flood is always coming. The apocalypse is always upon us. That's why the story of Noah is archetypal. Things fall apart - we stressed that in the discussion surrounding Rule 10 (Be precise in your speech) - and the center cannot hold. When everything has become chaotic and uncertain, all that remain to guide you might be the character you constructed, previously, by aiming up and concentrating on the moment at hand. If you have failed in that, you will fail in the moment of crisis, and then God help you.