12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos

This chapter continues to center on themes of communication, careful attention to detail, and paying attention. Peterson first talks about human perception, or a person’s awareness of their circumstances based on what they see and experience through other senses. Perception is very limited. It does not encompass the full reality or complexity of any given situation. It prioritizes certain information especially pertinent to an individual’s relationship to their immediate world. He calls this process a “necessary, practical reduction of the world” (261). People take in what they can understand and what will aid them. This is functional when circumstances are predictable and comfortable.

A problem emerges “when things break down” (266), and when things become especially chaotic and difficult. When this happens, “the dreadful inadequacy of our senses reveals itself. Everything we hold dear crumbles to dust. We freeze. We turn to stone” (267). The resultant chaos can be an opportunity for new creation and improvement, even though it is stressful to behold.

The worst thing a person can do is ignore the troubling, altered circumstances. Silence and ignorance (willful or otherwise) are destructive because they prevent clarification and articulation (274). Only by specifying and voicing a concern and a path forward can a person overcome difficulties.