Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief

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Why have people from different cultures and eras formulated myths and stories with similar structures? What does this similarity tell us about the mind, morality, and structure of the world itself? Jordan Peterson offers a provocative new hypothesis that explores the connection between what modern neuropsychology tells us about the brain and what rituals, myths, and religious stories have long narrated. A cutting-edge work that brings together neuropsychology, cognitive science, and Freudian and Jungian approaches to mythology and narrative, Maps of Meaning presents a rich theory that makes the wisdom and meaning of myth accessible to the critical modern mind.

Review

"The book reflects its author's profound moral sense and vast erudition in areas ranging from clinical psychology to scripture and a good deal of personal soul-searching and experience...with patients who include prisoners, alcoholics and the mentally ill." -- Montreal Gazette
"This is not a book to be abstracted and summarized. Rather it should be read at leisure...and employed as a stimulus and reference to expand one's own maps of meaning. I plan to return to Peterson's musings and mapping many times over the next few years." -- Am JPsychiatry
"...a brilliant enlargement of our understanding of human motivation...a beautiful work." -- Sheldon H. White, Harvard University
"...unique...a brilliant new synthesis of the meaning of mythologies and our human need to relate in story form the deep structure of our experiences." -- Keith Oatley, University of Toronto

From the Back Cover

From the author of 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos comes a provocative hypothesis that explores the connection between what modern neuropsychology tells us about the brain and what rituals, myths, and religious stories have long narrated.

About the Author

Jordan B. Peterson is a clinical psychologist and Professor at the University of Toronto and was formerly at Harvard University. He has published numerous articles on drug abuse, alcoholism and aggression.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Self-consciousness means knowledge of individual vulnerability. The process by which this knowledge comes to be can destroy faith in individual worth. This means - in concrete terms - that an individual may come to sacrifice his own experience, in the course of development, because its pursuit creates social conflict, or exposes individual inadequacy. However, it is only through such conflict that change takes place, and weakness must be recognized, before it can be transformed into strength. This means that the sacrifice of individuality eliminates any possibility that individual strength can be discovered or developed, and that the world itself might progress.

Individuals whose life is without meaning hate themselves, for their weakness, and hate life, for making them weak. This hatred manifests itself in absolute identification with destructive power, in its mythological, historical and biological manifestations; manifests itself in the desire for the absolute extinction of existence. Such identification leads man to poison whatever he touches, to generate unnecessary misery in the face of inevitable suffering, to turn his fellows against themselves, to intermingle earth with hell - merely to attain vengeance upon God and his creation.

The human purpose, if such a thing can be considered, is to pursue meaning - to extend the domain of light, of consciousness - in spite of limitation. A meaningful event exists on the boundary between order and chaos. The pursuit of meaning exposes the individual to the unknown in gradual fashion, allowing him to develop strength and adaptive ability in proportion to the seriousness of his pursuit. It is during contact with the unknown that human power grows, individually and then historically. Meaning is the subjective experience associated with that contact, in sufficient proportion. The great religious myths state that continued pursuit of meaning, adopted voluntarily and without self-deception, will lead the individual to discover his identity with God. This "revealed identity" will make him capable of withstanding the tragedy of life. Abandonment of meaning, by contrast, reduces man to his mortal weaknesses. This makes him hate life, and work towards its elimination.

Meaning is the most profound manifestation of instinct. Man is a creature attracted by the unknown; a creature adapted for its conquest. The subjective sense of meaning is the instinct governing rate of contact with the unknown. Too much exposure turns change to chaos; too little promotes stagnation and degeneration. The appropriate balance produces a powerful individual, confident in the ability to withstand life, ever more able to deal with nature and society, ever closer to the heroic ideal. Each individual, constitutionally unique, finds meaning in different pursuits, if he has the courage to maintain his difference. Manifestation of individual diversity, transformed into knowledge that can be transferred socially, changes the face of history itself, and moves each generation of man farther into the unknown.

Social and biological conditions define the boundaries of individual existence. The unfailing pursuit of interest provides the subjective means by which these conditions can be met, and their boundaries transcended. Meaning is the instinct that makes life possible. When it is abandoned, individuality loses its redeeming power. The great lie is that meaning does not exist, or that it is not important. When meaning is denied, hatred for life and the wish for its destruction inevitably rules:

"If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you."

Review:

4.9 out of 5

98.46% of customers are satisfied

5.0 out of 5 stars This is one of the truly great books of the 21st Century.

A.C. · 14 September 2024

I have the paperback and the spine has broken but I am not bothered by this. It is the sort of book I will put into a loose leaf filer and treasure. I also have the kindle version and the audiobook. This book is worth buying even if you only read the conclusion. If you read the conclusion you will be hooked... I guarantee it. We are confronted with the great, fundamental and stark choice that faces each human being. Can I make real decisions or not? The second question is ...what does this mean?I have listened to the audio book read by Peterson himself three times now and I am not finished with it. There is no other book that I can say that about. Peterson's work along with McGilChrist's will change the world. Buy it. Read it. Repeat.

5.0 out of 5 stars because I thought I was uber cynical, an arch rationalist and certainly an atheist

t. · 12 December 2017

Tuesday 12 dec 17Finished Peterson's maps of meaning lecture series. Extraordinarily, because I thought I was uber cynical, an arch rationalist and certainly an atheist, I thought about him in terms of the Messiah and the 2nd coming. While Jesus could knock up, by all accounts, a mean kitchen cabinet, he was even better as a teacher, and was so powerful that he inspired those who were receptive to his message to the extent that they would allow themselves to be tortured to death rather than deny their perceived truth. Think about that. Some message, eh? Did you hear anything lately that would make you want to take that particular path? Context is all, and the context of the contemporary world of Jesus involved a god. His teachings were reported, redacted and co-opted by the ubiquitous political forces and used as a figurehead for a structure of revolutionary government that survives, albeit decayed, to this day. However, the context has changed, and a rational modern man no longer believes in or will tolerate ghosts. Peterson has used psychology to prove, using logic and science (which is a paradox of sorts, as he points out that a rationalist mode of thinking of matter and objects is neither useful nor appropriate for describing human behaviour) that the moral structure arising out of our Judeo-Christian culture is based on a far older archetypal narrative which is common to all mythological and religious systems. He really has found an authentic map of meaning for life, and it is essentially Christian. But he has ditched the need to believe in god. God is described as the embodiment of a transcendent ethical system. He doesn't need to be 'real'. If you like, he self-assembles out of the articulated understanding of the human condition. So, Nietzsche was right when he announced that we had killed God, but wrong in his pessimistic conclusion that mankind must die as a result. You can have your cake and eat it too. It is possible, indeed, necessary to live an essentially Christian life but it is not necessary to embellish it with the central tenet of God, ghosts, afterlives, etc. God is not the central tenet - he is superfluous to our needs. The structure sits perfectly on and arises naturally out of the canon of psychology. Psychology is God. And Peterson is his prophet. I can't believe I have written this. And why do I want to post it on Facebook?

5.0 out of 5 stars This book will change you forever

A.S. · 10 May 2021

It took a while to read through it the first time. After going through it the second time, I started to understand the Map of Meaning that Dr. Peterson is drawing. It's amazingly real and promising. I was never the same once I understood it - and I still process it months after completing the read. It is a must have book for everyone who is really in search of the depth of existence.I find it to be the best book from Dr. Peterson (and also the hardest to read! but bear through it, at the end it will all tie up wonderfully).Thank you for writing such a great book - please buy it and read it at least one time!

5.0 out of 5 stars Why the Judeo-Christian narrative-mythological worldview is still vital to Western society

G.H. · 11 April 2019

In this wide-ranging and compelling thesis — which takes in cognitive neuroscience, behavioural psychology, narrative mythology and Scripture, and leans heavily on the ideas of Nietzsche, Jung, Eliade, Piaget, Frankl and Solzhenitsyn — Peterson shows that the Judeo-Christian narrative-mythological story remains a vital underpinning of Western society, and that Western society jettisons that story at its peril. First published twenty years ago, ‘Maps of Meaning’ is a fascinating (and tragic) insight into the precipitous decline in meaning and identity that we see happening around us today.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book but!

G. · 30 June 2021

This is a truly masterpiece by Jordan Peterson. Way higher than the latest two. 4 stars because of the "format" of the book. Words are kind of blurry too.

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing

M. · 15 July 2023

Book was in perfect state. JP is the best author out there, can't go wrong with his books.Delivery was great.

5.0 out of 5 stars Clarity

A.C. · 5 October 2022

Excellent book. Brings together all the things you feel you know but could never find the right words for.Would also recommend some of his podcasts which are a good aide to this book.

5.0 out of 5 stars Life is suffering .

A.C. · 2 July 2020

Amazing book full of very useful informations, recomending to everyone sure or unsure about reality they were born in to.I was not happy with condition as the book arrived. Cardboard envelope for almost hundred euro book is not sufficient. The envelope was ripped on arrival and hardcover of book was dented.

Obra de Referência em Psicologia

A.C.P.M.S.B. · 14 September 2024

A obra é uma excelente exposição de um sistema psicológico bastante completo.

Perfect transaction

b. · 25 July 2023

The book arrived quicker than indicated, well packed and in perfect conditions

Wordy, complicated, long. Insightful, interesting, thought provoking.

M.M. · 15 March 2021

This is not an easy or quick read. It is insightful, and requires strong comprehensive understanding of material you may be unfamiliar with. I feel many of the negative reviews stem from a dislike of what they think they understand about Dr. Peterson or his views on certain topics. I think they use their own understanding of the same or similar reference material to attack Petersons interpretations and arguments. Then their reviews devolve into long worded fluff to saying they disagree with Peterson and go on writing an essay to argue why they are right and why they think Peterson is wrong. This is more an impartial review.It is complex, it will take re reading of passages, and contemplation of what is presented to draw your own conclusions at times, and to understand the points being argued. It is not a novel, more like a textbook that is an in-depth breakdown of his interpretation of philosophy, psychology, religion and culture. It is well thought out, the points made are sometimes done with a rudimentary explanation of his interpretation of literary texts. So take some of it with a grain of salt and know if you're unfamiliar with his reference material it may not make sense to you. But that doesn't detract from the information presented here. It's a good book. It's filled with long wordy passages and it's intrecate. So understand at times you will read a page and then dwell on the idea for an hour or a day.Basically know what you're getting into. I highly recommend it. It's fun, gets you thinking about complicated concepts and challenges you to consider his points or at least try to understand them. Don't allow the negative reviews to scare you away. Yes it's not easy to read, lots of big words and lengthy, but worthwhile and worth the effort and energy. Even if you disagree with Dr. Petersons assessment of concepts they will make you think.

Maps of Meaning is the most meaningful and interesting book I have ever read

R.L. · 8 March 2021

I just finished reading Maps of Meaning for the 4th time, and only now do I feel comfortable posting a review for this remarkable and staggering book. Maps of Meaning is the most meaningful and interesting book that I have ever read. It's a very hard book to read in many ways, intellectually and emotionally, but it is absolutely worth it. MoM is also the most practically useful "self-help" book I have ever come across, and I have found it deeply transformative in my personal life in many ways. I can't recommend it enough, and I think this book should be taught in every school.I have spent much of the last decade trying to answer a question: "What are stories/narratives made out of?". This question has driven much of my private reading, and I have read a lot of books about the structure of narratives, from Aristotle to Joseph Campbell to Robert McKee and many others. But Jordan Peterson is on another level when it comes to answering this question. MoM is the most high-fidelity articulation of the structure and architecture of narratives that I have ever come across. Peterson lays out an extremely detailed framework for understanding narrative structure, and grounds this framework in the latest psychology and neuroscience research. MoM was enormously helpful for me to understand the structure of narratives and stories. So if you are interested at all in storytelling/narratives/marketing, you will truly love this book and find it practically very useful.Deeper than answering my questions about stories though, Peterson articulates a rational framework for understanding our relationship with the transcendant/divine. I have read the complete works of Carl Jung and have found his rational framework for understanding the transcendant (The "Collective Unconscious", Shadow, Anima, Animus, Self etc) very interesting and helpful. But Peterson's framework for rationally understanding the transcendant/divine (Unknown, Known, Knower, Precosmogonic Chaos) seems to go deeper than Jung, and is grounded more in the latest neuroscientific research. Our modern scientific minds are in desperate need of a rational framework for understanding our relationship with the irrational transcendant, and Peterson has done an extremely admirable job of solving this problem. So if you are interested in the works of Jung, or are trying to find a rational way to understand your relationship with the transcendant, this is the book for you.One area of MoM that I found very helpful in the context of Jung's work is the final chapters of MoM about Alchemy. I have read Jung's work on alchemy, and although I found it deeply interesting and engaging, it was very hard for me to get at what he was talking about. Peterson's chapter on Alchemy is a fantastic introduction to Jung's alchemy work, and goes deeper than Jung in some key ways. Peterson does an incredible job mapping the heroic pattern of action to the process the alchemist's projected into their attempts to transform base metals into gold. I have always been stunned by Jung's work in alchemy, but it wasn't until I read Maps of Meaning that I really started to understand it. So if you are interested in Jung and Alchemy, I'm sure you will find this book deeply interesting and helpful.Peterson's conclusion in MoM is a fascinating and deep idea that I am still trying to wrap my head around: "the divinity of interest". Peterson lays out an argument that our sense of meaning/interest is guided by the transcendant divine, and that the proper path to heroic action is to follow your sense of meaning/interest to its end. He also lays out the adversarial patterns of action, how they reject meaning/interest, and how this shirking of responsibility and rejection of meaning (through the lie) is the core act of evil. Peterson showed me that my sense of meaning/interest is divine, and that following my sense of meaning to its end is how I can interface with the divine in my own personal life. Since reading MoM my life has certainly become more meaningful, and following my sense of meaning has quite radically transformed my life direction. Finding this deeper sense of meaning has come through accepting deeper responsibility though, so I have also had an increase in conscious suffering during this time. But as Peterson lays out in MoM, if you accept the burden of responsibility and accept your deepest suffering, you will find the meaning within that will allow you to transcend that suffering. Peterson's conclusion to Maps of Meaning, the "divinity of interest", is a staggering idea that I am barely able to wrap my head around, but after acting this idea out in my life, I can see that it is deeply important. So if you are looking for meaning in your life, and trying to understand the relationship between meaning and your own Good/Evil actions, this book should be a great guide for you.It's difficult to write a comprehensive review for such a foundational and groundbreaking book. I personally think that Maps of Meaning is one the most important scientific/philosophical/religious works of the 20th/21st centuries, and perhaps human history. Peterson has provided us with a high-fidelity framework for understanding how we humans behave, and more importantly, how we can behave heroically in the face of the ever-present Unknown. It's going to take another 30-50 years before people truly start to truly understand the value of Peterson's great work, and I daresay that this book will have a huge impact on the future of humanity.Bravo, Jordan Peterson. God bless you for creating such a useful masterpiece. I will continue to read Maps of Meaning every year, and I'm looking forward to reading it a 5th time and a 6th time and many more times to come. Like I said above, Maps of Meaning is the most meaningful and important book that I have ever read. I don't think I have ever read a book 4 times before. It's a very tough read to get through, but it's worth it. If you are curious about stories/narratives, or if you are a fan of Jung and psychology, or if you are simply trying to figure out how to live your life meaningfully, I highly recommend Maps of Meaning, and I hope it is as meaningful for you as it is for me.

JBP levererar som alltid

O. · 8 December 2022

Betydligt djupare än t.ex. 12 Rules For Life, men bra grejor.

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Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief

Name: Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief
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