also are the 12 rules really this stupid and meaningless?

Yes, the prevailing critique since the book first came out has been "This is boring fungible self help stuff, why'd you have to cloak it in Jungian mysticism and Fascism? What's that? You're an esoteric fascist? Carry on then."

This is so hilariously self-absorbed, like highschool level shit

Yes, they're all useless pablum and Peterson doesn't follow most of them himself. It is astonishing that he is taken seriously by anyone.

1. "Stand up straight with your shoulders back."
2. "Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping."
3. "Make friends with people who want the best for you."
4. "Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today."
5. "Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them."
6. "Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world."
7. "Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)."
8. "Tell the truth – or, at least, don't lie."
9. "Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don't."
10. "Be precise in your speech."
11. "Do not bother children when they are skateboarding."
12. "Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street."

The youtuber Cass Eris (who is a cognitive psychologist herself) went though the entire book. It's all pseudointellectual hogwash full off misgony, chauvinism, classism and lobsterson hating everyone who might want to make things better.