Are social institutions necessary or a drag? Which ones should we keep and which should we discard?
Should we throw out all the creative achievement for more “productive” work?
Here is my analysis on Rule 1 Jordan Peterson's book Beyond Order: 12 More Rules
video transcript
[00:00]
What's the guy's Max here? I want to go over rule one of beyond ordered Jordan Peterson's new book, read the first one a couple of years ago. At this point, very, very instrumental in how I've developed personally. And book number two is out now, and I'm doing these videos as I read them. So this is to me, new revelations, new things and obviously old stuff that's coming up, which is a good thing. So here's a real one.
[00:26]
Let's go to not carelessly denigrate social institutions or creative achievement.
[00:32]
This really has me thinking recently about there's lots of revolutionary talk on overthrowing the government this time. The other how they have we, whoever the revolutionary revolutionaries are, have a better idea.
[00:45]
And I was well, interesting because I was thought, well, I know that's possible with our Constitution, Declaration of Independence or whatever whatever document stated that I was ignorant and didn't know which one did I probably the Declaration of Independence. It says governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to institute new government laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to, in effect, their safety and happiness.
[01:19]
That's from the Declaration of Independence.
[01:21]
The reality is this social institutions are the goose that lays the golden egg. If we take the goose and we kill it, you know, happen to the golden eggs, right? It's simple. The eggs are not there produced anymore. It's similar to me paying taxes. I really despise paying taxes. I really, really do. However, I enjoy being on the roads. I enjoy being able to drive, drive a vehicle with my driver's license. There's all these things that are beneficial.
[01:46]
You know, the fire, the fire people, the police people. I mean, all these things that are really necessary, although I don't like it and gives me a knee jerk reaction of rather distaste.
[01:56]
It's still part of these social institutions that are the glue that holds us together.
[02:00]
And that's really interesting about this, because if we cannot find out or we cannot come to the point where we have better founding principles, why would we tear down something without an alternative that's like tearing down a house and having no plan on how to construct it or the plan, which this seems to be the case, the plan that is that that is had currently is not going to be better than the previous plan. So if we don't have a better plan, why would you, in effect, destroy what you have currently?
[02:33]
That's what my thought is is going to be better than the previous. That's the question of the hour. Do you have better founding principles than the life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? If you don't. Don't turn anything down, it is critically important to distinguish between a hierarchy that is functional and productive and the people who make it so and the degenerate shell of a once great institution. Making that distinction requires the capacity and the willingness to observe and differentiate rather than mindless reliance on the ideological proclivity.
[03:09]
So the question is truly, is it worth tearing down or is this just ideology surfacing and coming to reality?
[03:18]
Either way, the right or the left doesn't even matter who it is. Is it worth it? And I would say a lot of times the answer is no.
[03:25]
We as humans are very conservative beings, although some people are very, very creative and open and have very, very big trait openness. We really are conservative.
[03:36]
How we eat, drink, survive and propagate as humans, very conservative, whether we like it or not. Jauron talks about one of his counseling clients or psychological clients who work with them for about a decade or have 15 years or so. And he talks about how this that just this tragedy started coming to this fellow is a long story short.
[03:56]
He's an older man. His two daughters moved out of the country so didn't have much conversation or relationship there. His mother of his children, she died years ago. His partner was tragically killed in the car accident. So every single time this guy turns, you know, the rain comes and when it rains, it pours. And he talks about how.
[04:15]
The guy was able to. But draw from reality would draw from social institutions, from community or integrate, and what is really good about this is from the very beginning of their conversation, it was very difficult for Jordan to even have any any counsel or conversation.
[04:35]
It was the man telling Jordan 50 minutes out of one hour about the problems.
[04:39]
And I thought that was how a lot of counseling goes in the beginning and end quote. Had he fallen prey to the temptation to denigrate the value of the of interpersonal interactions and relationships because of his history of isolation and harsh treatment, he would have had very little chance of regaining his health and well-being. Instead, he learned the ropes and joined the world. And this guy, he talks about how he goes to this metamorphosis and goes starts playing the guitar again, starts creating art, goes to him snapping clubs, the clubs where they snap and it's smoke.
[05:13]
It's spoken word poetry, probably a bad reference. But he started doing that and really started integrating with community with like minded folks or people who thought differently. But we're on the same page on learning. And that really is the crux, because I feel like a lot of times a lot of us are getting in these ideological bubbles and not ever going outside of that to the uncomfortable. We stay in where people are telling us, oh, yeah, you're right.
[05:39]
You're right. You're right. You're right. A recent interview I saw with Jordan, it was with Glenn Beck. No, it wasn't a point back. It was with. I forget who was with. Really for us, anyway, I think, Ruben, he talked about how it's very difficult to to be OK with a million people cheering you on, because in reality, those million people are cheering you on.
[06:01]
They may not give you the feedback that's necessary for you to improve your life. And that, to me, is very frightening. The good news is about the fellow that Jordan was working with.
[06:10]
He ended up totally reintegrating with life, started having a vibrant life, and he stopped, quote, he stopped denigrating the social institution he found himself part of and began to play his part properly. And that increment in humility paid off in spades. And naturally, when it comes down to are you so prideful that you think you can do everything on your own?
[06:31]
I struggle with this. I have the lone wolf syndrome. I can do everything on my own, every single part of my business, every single part of this, every part of life. But in reality is if you to do everything that's really, really a miserable existence, can you imagine trying to grow all your own food, build your own home, build cameras that you use, build microphones, you use it? It's overwhelming. We only have a very, very small part and it's better to figure out what that part is and play it effectively than try to change that part and become something you are not.
[07:02]
And that does not mean you cannot grow and become a greater person, become more or more of anything that you want. It's just we we have an extent to where we can be. I am not very organized. So the fact of the matter is, I have people in my life and things of my life that help me stay organized. And that's what technology does a lot of, help me stay organized. I've attempted so hard to do my I's and cross my T's very, very hard.
[07:28]
I've gone through many employers where I just simply wasn't able to do it and they let me go.
[07:34]
So I realized, let's see, let me use things that will help me in the area. However, the creativity and openness I have, I can flourish. And that and that is a great thing.
[07:44]
You may be the opposite of me with the same figure out what you're flourish, where you're going to flourish the most, and B and plant yourself there and grow. People remain mentally healthy, not really because of the integrity of their own minds, but because they are constantly being reminded how to think, act and speak by those around them in isolation.
[08:04]
It's beneficial times. I won't lie. It's not as beneficial to withdraw yourself completely from all the people, all the influences around you.
[08:12]
That's very beneficial at times. However, with with a long period of times, I've seen the propensity for myself that I start getting into these conspiracy type situations where I think everything is a conspiracy about everything. And yes, that's not hyperbole. That's everything is against this, that and the other. Everything I hold near and dear, everything is plotting against that. And that's just not reality as much as it seems real.
[08:37]
And then we get in these echo chambers online where we now have how many people believe that the world is flat?
[08:45]
I don't know the number, but it's a hell of a lot more than it was a decade ago because we go in these echo chambers and all we do is say two plus two equals five. And you say that over and over and over again.
[08:54]
And eventually people start believing and it becomes a truth, a small truth, my truth, not objective truth.
[09:01]
So the lone wolf is good for a time, for a very, very limited time and for purpose, not for a long term situation by any means.
[09:12]
And when we don't have this feedback from others, we start going to online sources usually. And the news I don't know if you've watched it recently in the last couple of decades, but it's 100 percent sensationalized negativity because that's what gets the viewers, the clicks, the advertisers. And the more you go into that, the more your life can spiral down into negativity. The more you're around, the more you surround yourself with, the more you become that.
[09:34]
So if you isolate negativity, conspiracy, it's all going to come and be a complete whirlwind and you're going to bring hell on earth.
[09:43]
That's what we need others to keep us grounded because with others around us, they give us constant feedback, whether it be non-verbal, verbal. All that feedback is necessary and good for us to have because we don't have that, we start going into these spiraling downhill, which for you, for me, for society around us is not good.
[10:03]
It's way better for us to be social and in community. If not, you're contemplating and really fiddling with suicide and not physical suicide, but suicide of. You as a sovereign individual, being in society, being in these social institutions that are 100 percent necessary for you and me, for us to have the growth that I desire in my life and I want for you and hopefully you want for your life as well when you are visited by chaos and swallowed up when nature curses you or someone you love with illness or when tyranny runs asunder, something of value that you have built, it is salutary to know the rest of the story.
[10:43]
All of that misfortune is only the better half of the tale of existence. Without taking note of the heroic element of redemption or the nobility of the human spirit requiring a certain responsibility to shoulder, we ignore that addition to the story at our peril because life is so difficult that losing sight of the heroic part of existence could cost us everything. We do not want that to happen. We need instead to take heart and to take spirit and to look at things carefully and properly and to live the way that we could live.
[11:11]
Remember, tragedy is only one, potentially one half of the story.
[11:16]
There is a fork in the road. When tragedy hits, we can do one of two things we can go the way that I don't recommend is the resentful the victim. Everyone's out to get me the paranoia, we can go that route and that breeds complete hell on tour, you will bring hell on Earth truly. You will around yourself, your family, anyone around you, you will bring help when you choose resentment over, over, over the next.
[11:42]
The next would be choosing, wholeness, choosing. I'm going to make this as best as I can when life thirsty lemons. You know, you don't try to make orange juice, lemonade. Lemonade is what you should do. And making lemonade leads to clarity, healing in order.
[12:00]
You and I are so much stronger than we give ourselves credit for and we really can embody that strength, be heroic and be courageous even in the midst of complete, complete chaos. It is much better to make friends with what you do not know than with what you do know, as there is an infinite supply of the former but a finite stock of the latter.
[12:22]
Seek out new perspective, seek out new fill in the blank, new experiences, new people, new everything. The more we stay in these ideological bubbles or the more we only have access to one perspective or one line of thinking. That's when things start to denigrate. That's when things start to become destructive and destroy. Because once you only have one perspective, you only have one well to go from. But in reality, there are literally so many things that can lead to growth in your life.
[12:53]
And having those new ideas come in may illuminate how you see other things, may illuminate how you see current things in your life.
[13:03]
So the more you can do, seek out new opportunities, new people and new ideas, I promise you, the war of ideas is alive and well. And my hope is and and I hope I know I know that the best ideas will play out and they will win. All there is to help you is what you have not yet learned.
[13:21]
You know, I know about zero point zero zero one percent in the world and about ninety nine point nine nine. I do not know. And that's humbling. So my encouragement as humble yourself humble me. This is as much as for me as it is for anyone else, humble myself, because in reality I know such a tiny bit of life, such a tiny bit. It's best to come from a place of humility and a place of being a forever learner than from the jaded.
[13:48]
Know it all because nobody likes know at all. I don't like him at all. You don't like. I know at all. We don't like it when we're being no it all in ourself. We really don't so have humility and know that there is so much more for you and I to learn.
[13:58]
If you understand the rules there necessity, there's sacredness, the chaos to keep at bay how they unite the communities that follow them, the price paid for their establishment and the danger of breaking them. But you're willing to shoulder to fully shoulder the responsibility of making an exception because you see that as serving a higher good. And if you are a person with sufficient character to manage that distinction, then you have served the spirit rather than the mere law. And that is an elevated moral act.
[14:25]
But if you refuse to realize the importance of the rules you are violating and act out of self-centered convenience, then you are appropriately, inevitably damned. The carelessness you exhibit with regard to your own tradition will undo and perhaps those around you fully and painfully across time. Rule one do not carelessly denigrate social institutions or creative achievement. Thank you guys for watching and I will see you at URL to.
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