Jordan Peterson does not expound his own religion but considers how we should live today in the context of faith and religions with a sociological perspective. He is one of the foremost interpreters of how to live a responsible life in accordance with principles best adapted to today’s needs. His best selling book 12 Rules for Life laid out his principles for living a worthwhile and meaningful life. He generated controversy for his view that human patriarchal society is not a social construct, but was hard wired into our biology over 200 million years ago. He uses the example of Lobster brains to demonstrate this point, giving ammunition for derision to his detractors. His points out that technological advances in sanitation, modern conveniences and birth control have been the true driver of “gender equality”. He has been a vocal proponent of free speech, but also a vocal opponent of Canadian so-called “Compelled Speech” laws, and it was his vocal refusal to use preferred gender pronouns IF compelled by law that bought him to public prominence in 2016. Much of his teaching is about how human beings can best organise themselves in spite of the biological struggle of “The catastrophe of life”:
- Stand up straight with your shoulders back.
- Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping.
- Make friends with people who want the best for you.
- Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.
- Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them.
His follow up book ‘Beyond Order – 12 More Rules’, goes further “offering a dozen new rules organised around the idea that as well as fighting the chaos that constantly threatens to engulf our lives, we must find ways to live with it, too”. His 2018 interview with Cathy Newman on Channel 4 has had nearly 40 million views on Youtube.
Jordan Peterson comments on the international political scene, an example being his doubt about there being a satisfactory outcome from the standpoint of the West in the current conflict in Ukraine.