Maps of Meaning (full PDF)

If you want to meet on zoom (video or audio is fine with me) next week and discuss thoughts on these first 7 pages, just comment here and I'll send links.

What day/time works for everyone?

I'm on the east coast of the US on EST (GMT -5).

Hi my name's Rich. No first names required here, I just figured I'd introduce myself since I started this sub.

Over the past few years I've listened to Maps of Meaning (MOM) on audible a couple times, but I've only ever retained a fraction of it that way. It's obvious that the book has so many more lines of thought than you'll get even from a typical course lecture of Peterson's that I've always wanted to carefully read through it to really understand it.

I went to college for engineering so I never had any formal religious, literary or philosophical academic training and I've never actually read through the Bible so it seemed like if I'm going to be reading about the history, religion and symbolism in maps of meaning, (and trying to understand the foundations of the ethics that drive the western world) the Bible is a good place to start.

I began reading through the New Testament a couple months ago but realized reading in isolation is less effective than also having a community you can generate and discuss ideas with. So a few weeks ago I joined a Bible study at my local church and I'm getting a lot out of it even though I'm not explicitly Christian in the sense that I believe in the birth and resurrection in literal terms at this point.

As useful as it's been meeting in person with other men that hold the same moral values, it's clear that there's not a lot of interest in discussions about more secular mythology, philosophy, and definitely not neuroscience and psychology in this group.

As far as this group goes, to the extent it goes anywhere, I'm really interested in attempting to get a better understanding of both the religious and Jungian symbolic/alchemical psychological aspects of Peterson's work and how these converge with the more scientific aspects of neuroscience and evolutionary biology.

I think one of the most insightful introductory sections in all of Maps of Meaning is his letter to his dad in the conclusion where he attempts to summarize the ideas of the book. He states that he is "writing my book in an attempt to explain the psychological significance of history to explain the meaning of history... "

I'm specifically interested in his focus on the common biological underpinning of the development of all cultures. In the same letter to his dad, he explains in one of the three points he claims as the central theses of his book that "the lines among which culture develops are determined by biologically, and the rules which govern that development are the consequence of the psychological expression of neurophysiological structures (this thesis will be the most difficult for me to prove, but I have some solid evidence in its favor, and as I study more neuroanatomy and neuropsychology, the evidence becomes more clear)."

I don't have a detailed plan for this reading group if it takes root, but I am open to suggestions or even to just read a few pages a week if everybody is as busy as I am. I think the book is so dense that even the least ambitious schedule would give us plenty to chew on in a 1-2 hour discussion each week.

Thanks, -Rich