Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief 1st Edition

First off, this is a weighty book. Literally. The shipping weight is over two pounds and it is outsized in its physical dimensions as well as in its weight. Wildish guess: there are approximately 450 words per page, some in very small type. Including the notes (which are filled with commentary and not just references), you are looking at a basic 'text' of over 500 pages, approximately the equivalent of 3-4 moderately-sized books. For me it has been a nearly two-week read.The title tells you that this is an ambitious book. The simpler the title the larger the ideas and aspirations. Its points are many but Peterson is a careful and orderly thinker who repeats his points and explores them in detail. Some might argue that the book is repetitious and could be cut by 1/3-1/2. The problem is that the material is complex and the repetition aids the reader considerably.One of the points of the book is to rehabilitate Jung (though JP is far more respectful of Freud than my literary colleagues would now be). The latter would think of this as a 'myth/ritual' book, with long quotes from individuals such as Northrop Frye and Mircea Eliade. The argument (put very simply) is that men and women have understood the world via action and myth and while myth represents a different form of knowledge it should not be seen as we now generally see it—subordinate to empirical knowledge. It is a stage of discovery and articulation of meaning but we continue to do it today, in part because of the relationship between the charting of myths and the structure of the human brain. JP acknowledges that the latter point is among the most difficult to make, particularly since our knowledge of the brain is of such recent vintage and is still underway at a broad, deep and fast clip. I would have liked to have seen more attention given to this part of his argument.I will let him summarize in hjs own words:"The moral presumptions of a society emerge first in procedural form, as a consequence of individual exploratory activity, which is the process that generates novel behavioral patterns. These behavioral patterns are then hierarchically structured as a consequence of quasi-Darwinian competition, in accordance with the constraints noted previously . . . . The episodic memory systems map procedure, and outcome thereof, and thereby come to contain similar paradigmatic structure—imagistically, and then more purely semantically. Over time, the unknown, nature, thereby comes to be represented mythically . . . " (p. 378).As you can see, part of his task here is to clarify the meaning of the 'collective unconscious', a sticking point for many who do not know their Jung at JP's level. The rhetoric of the book is somewhat 'different'. There are long quotes from thinkers JP admires, e.g., Jung, Eliade and Frye but also Nietzsche, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and Solzhenitsyn. Readers who have seen the extended youtube interaction between JP and Camille Paglia will be aware of the profound influence on both—Erich Neumann—who is also quoted at length. (At one point JP even includes a long letter written to his own father, which explores complex issues and ends with JP thanking his father for doing his income taxes for him.) In other words, the rhetoric is not straightforward empirical/rational/logical but includes long pauses with extended quotes that stimulate reflection.The purpose of the book is basically to determine how we have come to know, to represent, to understand and to value. Its materials are literary, philosophic, psychological and religious (for starters). It is a very learned book and it is not written for a popular audience. Those who enjoyed 12 RULES FOR LIFE may find this a very challenging read and one that is quite different from JP's more popular presentations.It is, however, essential, in understanding how JP 'came to be' and 'where he is coming from'. This is an important, challenging book.

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.