"But when one follows the path of individuation, when one lives one's own life, one must take mistakes into the bargain; life would not be complete without them. There is no guarantee—not for a single moment—that we will not fall into error or stumble into deadly peril. We may think there is a sure road. But that would be the road of death. Then nothing happens any longer—at any rate, not the right things. Anyone who takes the sure road, is as good as dead."

~ Carl Jung

My inner world lays out a path most meaningful. My guide on this path is intuition. The decisions informed by intuition, based on my inner world, have made life a meaningful adventure—though not always a safe one.

The world of the unknown is an unfamiliar home. While visiting, I feel a dense fog resting on my shoulders. Every step forward lays itself out as long as I am respectfully thinking and intuiting. Each step makes itself known, and at times, the fog lifts, and I feel I can see as far as the horizon extends around me in all its horror and beauty.

Our culture treasures the thinking, measured, and reason-based scientific rationale that defines our modern era. Yet, in pursuing this path of certainty, we've marginalized something fundamental about humanity—we are primarily driven by story, by myth, by the uncertain path that calls from within.

Jung understood this deeply. In "Memories, Dreams, Reflections," he offered this insight about questions that science cannot answer (bolding mine):

"My hypothesis is that we can do so with the aid of hints sent to us from the unconscious—in dreams, for example. Usually we dismiss these hints because we are convinced that the question is not susceptible to answer. In response to this understandable skepticism, I suggest the following consideration. If there is something we cannot know, we must necessarily abandon it as an intellectual problem. For example, I do not know for what reason the universe has come into being, and shall never know. Therefore I must drop this question as a scientific or intellectual problem. But if an idea about it is offered to me—in dreams or in mythic traditions—I ought to take note of it. I even ought to build up a conception on the basis of such hints, even though it will forever remain a hypothesis which I know cannot be proved."

I've written a deeper exploration of this journey into the unknown, examining how we might integrate both our scientific understanding and our mythological truths to live a more meaningful life.

You can read the full piece here: Inner World, Outer Truth, and the Adventure of a Lifetime

What path has your inner world laid out for you? How do you find the courage to step into the fog of uncertainty, knowing there are no guarantees except that the "sure road" leads to death?

https://preview.redd.it/11ply3z6s4xd1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=069e8768b77e79c51507d3c05584a9ab30c649a3

r/mapsofmeaningweekly is going to attempt a weekly discussion soon if anyone wants to join.

To be transparent: I'm not an academic. I just want to understand Peterson's thought (and influences) more thoroughly and MoM is the densest single work I know that can do this.

So if you're intimidated by the discussion aspect or just the text, please know this is meant to be at a very relaxed pace and inclusive for all levels of interest and intellectual and academic background.

r/MapsofMeaningWeekly

If anyone is interested, I'd like to schedule weekly discussions. I'm always busy so I might not have time to organize anything in detail, but I'd be happy to join a weekly thread of people trying to work through the ideas in and surrounding the Jordan Peterson's first book Maps of Meaning.

I think working through the book section by section, even at just a few pages a week, might be the best route because the book seems to be organized pretty logically. but I'm open to other opinions if there's any traction on the subreddit.

If anyone wants to take the lead, let me know, and I will make you a moderator.

I'm not explicitly Christian, but I want to begin reading through Maps of Meeting and supplement it with the Bible and other works of religion and psychology and I know having a weekly discussion would help me stay motivated to keep up a reading schedule.

I don't know if there's any other groups that have been started here, but if not, would anybody be interested?

In Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief, Jordan Peterson explores how myths, scriptures, and lore provide symbolic frameworks for understanding human experience, emphasizing the archetypal hero's journey as central to this process. The hero’s venture into chaos and subsequent return with wisdom to rejuvenate society symbolizes a deep psychological and existential truth: confronting the unknown is necessary for growth, transformation, and the restoration of order. This narrative is not merely a product of myth but reflects processes embedded within human cognition and culture. By integrating Peterson’s ideas with Arthur Koestler’s holarchy, Ken Wilber’s integral psychology, and Karl Friston’s free energy principle, one can construct a robust framework that bridges the gap between mythological narratives and scientific models of cognition and behavior. This synthesis honors both ancient wisdom and modern science, offering a holistic view of human experience.

The Hero’s Journey: Chaos and Renewal

At the core of Peterson’s exploration is the idea that myths encode fundamental patterns of human experience, particularly the need to confront chaos in order to bring about renewal. In many mythological stories, the hero must leave the safety of the known world, venture into chaos, confront danger, and return with knowledge or resources to restore the order of the kingdom. This journey is not just an external adventure but also an internal psychological process. The stagnant or corrupt king that the hero seeks to renew symbolizes rigidity and decay in established systems—whether social, political, or psychological. As the hero confronts the unknown, they are forced to adapt, learn, and grow. Through this confrontation, new vitality and order are brought to the system.

Peterson emphasizes that the hero’s journey represents a universal process where individuals must venture into the unknown in their own lives—confronting fears, uncertainties, and challenges. This process reflects a need for constant renewal and adaptation, which applies not only to individuals but also to societies and their governing systems. The psychological transformation of the hero is mirrored in the transformation of the kingdom, suggesting that personal growth is inextricably linked to societal renewal.

Holarchy and the Hero as a Holon

Arthur Koestler’s concept of holarchy provides a valuable framework for understanding the hero’s role in myth and society. A holon, as defined by Koestler, is an entity that is both a whole in itself and a part of a larger system. This dual nature captures the hero’s journey, where the hero must assert individuality and independence (self-assertive tendency) while also contributing to the larger collective (integrative tendency). The hero, as a holon, embarks on a quest to restore order not only for personal fulfillment but also for the benefit of the broader system—be it society, culture, or the psychological landscape.

Koestler’s holarchy can be applied to the broader mythological structure in which myths themselves are cultural holons. These myths are complete stories in their own right, yet they also serve as parts of larger cultural systems, influencing behavior, values, and worldviews across generations. Just as the hero reintegrates new knowledge into the kingdom, myths integrate archetypal knowledge into the collective consciousness, helping individuals navigate the complexities of life. Through this lens, myths serve not only as stories but also as functional components of a larger psychological and cultural ecosystem.

Integral Psychology and the Multidimensional Human Experience

Ken Wilber’s integral psychology provides further insight into how myths and psychological growth are interconnected. Wilber’s model emphasizes the integration of multiple dimensions of human experience, including the psychological, cultural, spiritual, and biological. He posits that human development occurs across these dimensions, and personal growth requires the integration of various aspects of the self and the world.

By aligning Peterson’s hero’s journey with Wilber’s integral psychology, one can argue that myths and scriptures serve as cultural tools for this multidimensional integration. Myths, with their symbolic and narrative structures, guide individuals through their own developmental processes, helping them reconcile the various dimensions of their experience. For instance, the hero’s journey can be seen as a psychological narrative that facilitates personal development by integrating unconscious fears (chaos) into conscious awareness (order). Similarly, myths also serve as cultural frameworks that help societies integrate competing values, beliefs, and worldviews.

Wilber’s emphasis on integration resonates with the self-assertive and integrative tendencies of holons in Koestler’s holarchy. The hero’s journey is not only about individual achievement but also about the integration of new knowledge into the collective consciousness. Thus, the personal and societal renewal brought about by the hero’s journey aligns with Wilber’s notion that growth involves reconciling and integrating multiple dimensions of experience.

Active Inference and the Free Energy Principle: A Scientific Perspective

Karl Friston’s free energy principle and the theory of active inference offer a compelling scientific counterpart to the mythological and psychological processes described by Peterson, Koestler, and Wilber. The free energy principle posits that biological systems, including the human brain, strive to minimize the difference between their internal models and the external world. In essence, organisms seek to reduce uncertainty and maintain homeostasis by updating their internal models based on new information.

This process mirrors the hero’s journey, where the hero ventures into the unknown (chaos) to gain new information and insights, which are then used to restore equilibrium (order) in the kingdom. In scientific terms, the hero can be seen as an agent engaging in active inference, seeking out new information to update their internal models and reduce uncertainty. The kingdom represents the broader system in which the agent operates, and its restoration reflects the reduction of free energy—bringing the system back into a state of equilibrium.

Koestler’s holons, with their dual self-assertive and integrative tendencies, also align with the exploratory and exploitative aspects of the free energy principle. In active inference, organisms must balance exploration (seeking new information) with exploitation (using known information) to maintain homeostasis. Similarly, the hero’s journey requires both the assertion of individuality (exploration) and the reintegration of new knowledge into the collective (exploitation).

A Unified Framework: Myth and Science in Harmony

By synthesizing Peterson’s Maps of Meaning with Koestler’s holarchy, Wilber’s integral psychology, and Friston’s free energy principle, one can create a unified framework that bridges the gap between mythological and scientific perspectives. Myths, far from being mere stories, can be understood as cultural holons that help individuals and societies navigate the complexities of life. The hero’s journey, with its confrontation of chaos and return to order, reflects both a psychological and biological process of growth and adaptation.

This synthesis offers a more robust framework for understanding human behavior, cognition, and culture. It suggests that myths and scientific principles are not in conflict but rather complementary in their approach to explaining human experience. The integration of these diverse perspectives could enhance the acceptance and applicability of Peterson’s ideas within the broader scientific and psychological communities. Furthermore, it underscores the importance of renewal and adaptation—both personal and societal—as essential processes for maintaining vitality and equilibrium in a constantly changing world.

Acknowledgment: This essay was detonated by Chat GPT following my contextual framing of all connotations.

I just stumbled onto René Girard trough Marci Shore's lectures and I'm stricken by how (proto)petersonian his thought it. Does anyone know if he was ever inspired by it or has studied both Peterson and Girard? As far as I can remember JP never had much affinity for or understanding of structuralists.

https://www.reddit.com/user/kempt-unkempt/comments/1eijm9t/help_me_get_a_handle_on_it/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

I wrote a piece about how authenticity is and will increasingly be the dominant human skill as AI becomes more technologically advanced.

Jordan Peterson has helped me with my personal authenticity practices, and I open with a personal story of my Neverlandic journey that led me to being authentic myself.

If this sounds interesting, feel free to check it out :)

The Era of Authenticity

Hi All, Firstly, can anyone direct me to high resolution images of the figures/images from Maps of Meaning, that I can print out? Secondly, is this the main subreddit for this kind of thing? Or is there another one?