Review of "An Antidote for Chaos"

https://www.amazon.com/12-Rules-Life-Antidote-Chaos/dp/0345816021/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1532802559&sr=8-1&keywords=antidote+for+chaos&dpID=412z30W2N-L&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

So in the past few weeks, driving between work and home, I've been listening to Dr. Jordan Peterson's "Antidote for Chaos: 12 rules for life."

Despite the self-help-y title of the name, it actually is a fairly interesting read, especially from a Christian perspective.

It is better read as the attempt by a doctor to quantify and summate his observations over many years of clinical practice rather than something he postulates for the purposes of publishing.

As detailed in the foreward, each rule was initially posted online until a publisher asked him to take each "rule" and expand upon it. He discovered that he had a lot more to say on each one, and developed an essay for them, going into the history of that observance, relative academic work, his own clinical experiences, etc.

There is a fair amount of religious imagery in the book, most (but not all) coming from the Bible. In those instances, he pulls a number of things together that I thought were interesting:

• He weaves a narrative that, even if the Bible isn't true, it has been the core document responsible for western civilization, which, in turn, has, in a relatively short amount of time, advanced mankind from mostly abject poverty, to levels of freedom that are unprecedented, and luxury that even kings a hundred years ago couldn't conceive of. As the core document, the instruction contained within the Bible must be of vital importance for societal cohesion, and the truth for living has to be examined to determine why.

• Living a life without the idea of God justifies horrors inflicted on one another in a grand scale. He uses the Columbine shooting as a case study several times. Evidently, one of the shooters tried to write out why he felt the way he did before committing the heinous act. Pastors have been using those writings for years to warn against spiritual collapse. However, when the book views it through a psychological eye, then pairs up with a psychological view of the Bible, the results are sometimes bone-chilling. 

• The psychology of the people of the Bible. We think of them mostly as 2D characters, there for a simple spiritual lesson in light of Jesus, then disposed of. The exploration as to the psychology of their experiences in terms of the Bible, the correction/path change in the Bible, then the circumstances under which we conduct ourselves today was illuminating. Of interest was the close examination of Cain and Abel. One of the things that was particularly illuminating was the need for self-reflection upon failure due to insufficiency. Cain's inability to do so led him to blame outside factors, and take "revenge" upon God by killing Abel. The psychology behind such actions is still with us today, and the book brings it out in vivid detail.

• The need for Biblical sacrifice, wisdom and living, even in absence of the Bible as a divine document. This was a hard thing for me to deal with. It almost seems like Dr. Peterson (who, by his own account, hasn't made up his mind on the existence of God, but "acts like God exists"), is offering a substitute of Biblical wisdom for those that reject the Bible as the inerrant Word of God. One part of me thinks that this allows people to reap the benefits of living a principled, Godly life without being saved. However, the other wonders if this might be a gateway to get people in a Biblical frame of mind. I haven't resolved this yet.

• Each chapter has a somewhat curious title that he explains, but he goes into Jack-Hayford level of background to get around to explaining the meaning (those from CoTW know what that means). The stories are at times interesting, tragic, playful, funny, and insightful. Usually a mix. 

Many have tried to pin certain political or spiritual motives to Dr. Peterson in light of this book, usually without reading it.

However, after listening to it, particularly with his emphases being read by the author himself, you realize that his only drive is to get to the truth of a situation.  He's extremely clinical about almost everything he approaches.

I would recommend this book, not as a "it is truth, and you must adhere to what it says", but from a "it will at times reinforce or challenge what you think" standpoint.

The most inconsiderate Husband ever...

The most thoughtless birthing partner father ever.

(Please note:  I plan on being ultra supportive when Tabitha has our baby.  Inspiration just struck me here, so I thought it'd be funny to go with it.)

At around 3AM, Tab said she had her first real contraction.  She had been having Braxton-Hicks contractions for weeks now, but I had dutifully reminded her each time that it wasn't REAL labor unless they were closer together.

When she told me that they were around 10 minutes apart, I reminded her of what we learned in our birthing class, and that we needed to go in when they were 4 minutes apart.  Guesstimating in my head, I told her to wake me up when they were six minutes apart.

She became so antsy every time a contraction hit that I finally got up in a huff and slept out on the couch, despite it likely ruining the pace of my entire day.

I was awoken 3 hours later by Tabitha nudging me awake that they had finally reached six minutes apart.  I got up and trudged to the bathroom, indignant that she had broken up my sleep.  I took a long, hot shower and finally packed my bag for the hospital trip.

I got in the car, then proceeded to wait 10 minutes for her to gather her prepacked bag and get in.  Once she did get in, I asked if she had locked the door.  As she couldn't remember, I told her to hurry up and check, as she was keeping us from getting to the hospital.

While waiting in the lobby for Tab to park the car, I caught up with the news of the day, checked in to the hospital (I'm the mayor now on Swarm!), and made sure everyone on social media knew we were about to give birth.  As soon as Tabitha got back from the parking structure, she wanted to check in, but I had her wait while I set up the perfect selfie to commemorate the occasion. 

Checking in was fairly uneventful.  We went into the birthing triage room, and spent the next hour there.  The nurses were very attentive towards Tabitha, but refused to go into any depth as to the coffee offerings of the cafeteria below. 

After being demoralized about having to likely put up with substandard coffee, we finally got admitted to the delivery room around hour 7.  I decided that I needed a break, so I got into the relaxation tub.  Boy were they right!  This thing had jets, and even soothing lights to help calm you.  The only thing that ruined it was the screaming woman outside the bathroom.  I yelled for them to quiet it down.  After all, this was ME time.

The doctor came around and told us that if we wanted an epidural, this was the time to do it.  Tabitha said the pain was severe, and that she really thought she needed it. 

Fortunately, I was on hand to remind her, as well as tell the doctor, that we didn't want it, as we were trying to keep costs down on this birth.  "Remember what we said a month ago dear:  No sense going into debt because of this child."

After 13 hours, I told Tab to wrap it up, as the novelty was wearing off, and that, frankly, she was starting to look like an attention hog.

I'm guessing it worked because, after only an hour more, she finally began pushing.  They asked me to cut the cord, but I said no.  It looked unsanitary.

They asked Tabitha if she wanted the baby immediately.  She said yes, but, again, in order to keep things sanitary, I insisted they wash the baby off first.  It look goopy.

Before checking out of the hospital, they insisted that we have a baby seat in the car.  I unsuccessfully tried to argue that my parents didn't have a baby seat when I was brought home, I begrudgingly installed it.  Driving home, Tabitha insisted on sitting in the backseat, despite that this was the first time I actually wanted to talk with her, as she wasn't complaining about pain anymore.

Arriving home, I turned on the TV and returned to my Netflix queue.  I was drastically behind, and needed to really power through to get back on track.

Fatherhood is going to be great!