On the surface, this rule seems a bit odd. You have always heard the “Golden Rule”, treat others the way you want to be treated, from everyone throughout your life. However, Rule #2 tells you to treat yourself the way you treat someone you were responsible for helping, essentially a reversal of the “Golden Rule”. This seems a bit too obvious to have to state, especially in a book with only 12 rules, so why does it need to be stated? Well, let’s get into the science.

When talking about Rule #2, Jordan Peterson writes, “People are better at filling and properly administering prescription medication to their pets than to themselves. That’s not good. Even from your pet’s perspective, it’s not good. Your pet probably loves you, and would be happier if you took your medication, if you are alive, if you are healthy. It’s difficult to conclude anything from this set of except that people appear to love their dogs, cats, ferrets, and birds more than themselves. How horrible is that? How much shame must exist for something like that to be true? What could it be about people that makes them prefer their pets to themselves?” As much of an exaggeration as this sounds, it is actually backed up in many studies and polls. According to a poll conducted by NutriSense, many pet owners are “more likely to take care of their pets than themselves”. Think about it, when was the last time you worried and went to the doctor for a small bit of pain or a little cough, and when was the last time you worried and rushed to the vet because of the smallest thing off about your pet? I could bet a lot of the latter over the former

Peterson also goes on to relate this rule to the story of the Garden of Eden in the Bible and the difference between humans and animals. This story is about a snake (the Devil) who tricks Eve into taking and eating fruit from the “Tree of Knowledge”, which was the one rule God gave to Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve both gained self-consciousness after eating the fruit and realized that they were naked. Having realized this, they hid from God when he called Adam for their daily walk.

Animals, however, that do not possess self-consciousness act by nature, that being to reproduce and survive. They treat themselves as someone they are responsible for helping (their kids) by being in peak physical shape and providing, never second-guessing themselves because it is their nature.

Humans on the other hand constantly second-guess themselves. We are putting ourselves down and constantly making mistakes, as the saying goes, “your only human”. Due to our self-consciousness, we are able to know and remember all of the bad things we have done throughout life, which then changes our brain chemistry to think that we are worse than the person next to us.

The reason this rule seems so odd to us is because consciously or subconsciously, we believe we are not of value, and in turn, we treat ourselves with the same mindset. We eat junk food when we would tell a person we are responsible for that they need to eat healthy and feed them vegetables. We sit at home and watch TV for hours when we would tell others that they need to exercise and send them to the gym. That is the true challenge of this rule. It’s hard to treat yourself better than you believe you deserve, because how are you ever gonna be capable of being responsible for and treating someone well if you aren’t treating yourself the same way. Why else would flight attendants tell you to secure your own breathing mask first before helping others?