Chaos refers to unexplored territory, the new and unexpected erupting in the midst of what’s commonplace and familiar. While studying the world’s great mythical and religious stories, Peterson concluded that, to our ancestors, the most important elements in the world weren’t material things, but the elements of order and chaos. This order/chaos duality is deeply embedded in human culture and perhaps even in our brains. Chaos can be both creative and destructive. As the antithesis of order, chaos is symbolically portrayed as feminine. In myths and fairytales, it often takes the form of the underworld. Though chaos offers the possibility of adventure and growth, too much of it can become overwhelming. A primary responsibility of Being, or existence, is transforming chaos into order.
Chaos Quotes in 12 Rules for Life
The 12 Rules for Life quotes below are all either spoken by Chaos or refer to Chaos. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Overture
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Order and chaos are the yang and yin of the famous Taoist symbol: two serpents, head to tail. Order is the white, masculine serpent; Chaos, its black, feminine counterpart. The black dot in the white—and the white in the black—indicate the possibility of transformation: just when things seem secure, the unknown can loom, unexpectedly and large. Conversely, just when everything seems lost, new order can emerge from catastrophe and chaos.
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Rule 10
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Chaos emerges in a household, bit by bit. Mutual unhappiness and resentment pile up. Everything untidy is swept under the rug, where the dragon feasts on the crumbs. But no one says anything […] Communication would require admission of terrible emotions […] But in the background […] the dragon grows. One day it bursts forth, in a form that no one can ignore. […] Every one of the three hundred thousand unrevealed issues, which have been lied about, avoided, rationalized away, hidden like an army of skeletons in some great horrific closet, bursts forth like Noah’s flood, drowning everything.
If you shirk the responsibility of confronting the unexpected, even when it appears in manageable doses, reality itself will become unsustainably disorganized and chaotic. […] Ignored reality transforms itself (reverts back) int the great Goddess of Chaos, the great reptilian Monster of the Unknown—the great predatory beast against which mankind has struggled since the dawn of time. […] Ignored reality manifests itself in an abyss of confusion and suffering.
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Chaos Term Timeline in 12 Rules for Life
The timeline below shows where the term Chaos appears in 12 Rules for Life. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Overture
...a drama. The most important elements in that world weren’t material things, but order and chaos.
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“Chaos,” on the other hand, is when something unexpected happens—“the new and unpredictable suddenly emerging in...
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The Taoist yin-yang symbol portrays order (white) and chaos (black) as two intertwined serpents. The white contains a black dot, and the black contains...
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...and actions. When expectations are violated—like when someone’s lover betrays them, for instance—a person experiences chaos and terror, which sometimes leads to open conflict. It’s no wonder people fight to avoid...
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...suffering in the world. While this is asking a lot, it’s far better than authoritarianism, chaos, and lack of purpose. And Peterson knows he doesn’t have all the answers about Being—he’s...
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...in this book offers a guide to living on the dividing line between order and chaos. On that line, people find the meaning behind life and suffering. If we learn how...
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Rule 1: Stand up straight with your shoulders back
...back to his point that nature itself is both static and transformative all the time—that chaos and order are simultaneous.
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...closely. Nature, too, is really different things, nested within one another, that change at varying rates—chaos nested within order.
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...out that positive feedback loops don’t have to cause a person’s life to spiral into chaos. Instead, things like positive body language can impact the way a person feels and is...
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Standing up straight with your shoulders back means taking on the responsibility of transforming chaos into order. This is why it’s important to maintain good posture. The more you do...
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Rule 2: Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping
...descriptions of matter, human experience can also be reduced to its constituent elements. These include chaos, order, and the process that mediates between the two—what’s called consciousness today. Peterson says that...
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Chaos is where “ignorance” reigns; Peterson calls it “unexplored territory.” It’s where nothing is familiar or...
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Chaos and order aren’t objects; they’re things perceived as personified. In this regard, modern people are...
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...because human and much animal society has been primarily structured according to a masculine hierarchy. Chaos is symbolically associated with the feminine, perhaps because everything is born out of the unknown,...
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Everyone instinctively understands order and chaos, Peterson asserts, even if they don’t know they understand it. When people begin to understand...
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Suddenly, a serpent appears in the garden. Peterson thinks the serpent represents chaos, which even God can’t entirely prevent from entering the enclosed garden. And even if all...
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In Genesis 1, God creates an orderly paradise out of chaos by His divine Word. When He creates man and woman, He gives them the ability...
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...is already found within Genesis 1: “to embody the Image of God—to speak out of chaos the Being that is Good,” out of free choice. He adds that if we want...
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Rule 5: Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them
...too. Clear boundaries help build social maturity, which in turn helps maintain order and resist chaos in the wider world. So, don’t let your children do anything that makes you dislike...
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Rule 7: Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)
...aimed at making Being better, then meaning is revealed which will be “the antidote for chaos and suffering,” and it will make everything better. The more you act according to such...
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Rule 8: Tell the truth—or, at least, don’t lie
...change one’s values, but sometimes, error is serious enough that it’s necessary to embrace such chaos—to sacrifice. Accepting the truth necessarily means sacrificing. So, if you’ve suppressed the truth for a...
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Rule 9: Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t
...you. Participants share the desire for truth, balancing together on the boundary between order and chaos. So, listen to those you’re talking to, because wisdom consists in the ongoing search for...
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Rule 10: Be precise in your speech
When life breaks down, you suddenly become aware of what you’ve safely ignored before. Chaos rushes in, and you realize what precise aim normally protects you from. For example, when...
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When the world falls apart, we see chaos, like the biblical abyss out of which God originally created everything. It’s “emergency,” the sudden...
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Peterson says that, often, chaos wants to be noticed. It happens, for instance, when resentments pile up over a long...
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...couple has to do to ensure that their marriage fails is “nothing”—just passively avoid confronting chaos. People avoid conflict because they don’t want to face the “monster” lurking beneath it. It’s...
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...this by admitting the problem as early as possible. It’s only by sorting through the chaos that we and the world can be transformed. Precision is powerful because it separates what’s...
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If you avoid the responsibility of confronting chaos, even small doses of chaos, then reality will become more and more chaotic. Therefore, Peterson...
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...identify precisely what you’re unhappy about and what you want—using precise speech to do so—the chaos can resolve into order.
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Rule 11: Do not bother children when they are skateboarding
...Though risk tolerance varies among people, in general, people like living on the edge, because chaos helps them grow.
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