In giving up the myths of our ancestors, have we lost something vital to the human experience? Without myths, how can we frame our basic moral beliefs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief<\/em>, Jordan Peterson contends that myths are vital to how humans confront and make sense of a chaotic world. He warns that, by turning a blind eye to the value of our mythological inheritance, we run the risk of denying our capacity for good and evil<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Continue reading for an overview of this intriguing book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n In our modern age of science and reason, we\u2019ve turned our backs on the myths of old. The majority of people no longer believe in a literal divine creation, much less in stories of heroes slaying monsters or of gods fighting battles against titans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Creation stories and heroic sagas aren\u2019t merely escapist fantasy\u2014they\u2019re important mental models<\/a> passed down for generations that teach us how to face the unknown and incorporate new ideas into our lives. In Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief<\/em><\/a>, Peterson argues that the enemy of myth isn\u2019t science, but ideology<\/em>, which twists mythology\u2019s purpose to self-serving, harmful ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At a young age, Peterson discarded religion as being irrational, but he also found that \u201creason-based\u201d philosophies were inherently flawed and simplistic. Knowing that humans aren\u2019t rational creatures, he set out to uncover the process by which people form beliefs and how those beliefs shape the world we live in. He discovered that myths from all around the world share certain common structures that reflect how the brain processes information. Our myths teach us how <\/em>and why <\/em>we hold our most cherished beliefs, as well as when to change them. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ll look at where science and myth<\/a> overlap and how the findings of neuroscience are echoed in the structure of our most ancient tales. We\u2019ll discuss what the iconic characters of myth represent, as well as mythology\u2019s two main story structures<\/a>: the creation myth<\/a> and the heroic quest. Finally, we\u2019ll look at what myth teaches about the process of human growth, as well as Peterson\u2019s belief that understanding myths can lead to a richer, more meaningful life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To begin, Peterson establishes that mythological and scientific thinking aren\u2019t meant to achieve the same goals. The human experience is both objective and subjective\u2014science is essential for understanding objective reality, but myth determines the subjective value<\/em> of the world around us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Peterson claims that it\u2019s impossible for the human mind to look at an object or an event solely in terms of its physical properties. When abstracted into the larger group of narratives we use to interpret the world at large, the stories that give meaning to everything around us constitute what we call \u201cmyth.\u201d Peterson writes that from the mythic point of view, our mind classifies everything in terms of its meaning: how it prompts us to act.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Our minds create models of the world based on both our present environment and a desired future state. When something interrupts the flow from the present to the future, our brain is forced to come up with a solution, a new \u201cmap\u201d to get us from here to there. <\/em>Peterson explains how this problem-solving process works inside the human brain, how our maps of past experience give meaning to the present, and how the cumulative lessons of experience become abstracted into the larger myths that shape our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019re born with the mental problem-solving process as part of how our brains biologically function, but we learn our first stories by watching our parents.<\/strong> Through them, we absorb our family\u2019s rules\u2014the left brain verbalized stories\u2014without having to go through the right brain’s creative process<\/a>. Our family, and later society at large, gives us a basic storytelling toolkit for deciphering the big, scary world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A group\u2019s collective solutions to problems become encoded in a narrative passed between generations. Because there are commonalities to all human experience\u2014birth, life, change, and death\u2014the oldest myths from all over the world share the same building blocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Peterson is careful to distinguish between myths<\/em>, which make room for the totality of human experience, and ideologies<\/em>, which appropriate mythological concepts in support of a limited, toxic worldview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The characters in our most primal myths represent the three broadest elements of human existence\u2014the known world, the unknown, and the process of discovery. Each has creative and destructive potential. This, says Peterson, is a crucial detail. Acknowledging that everything in life has this duality is important to any complete moral system, which is what mythology exists to provide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first aspect of human existence is that of the vast and terrifying unknown, everything that\u2019s out there off the edge of the map. In myth, this realm of mystery is symbolized by the Dragon. Often pictured as an ouroboros\u2014a serpent devouring its tail\u2014the Dragon represents both the threatening nature of what we don\u2019t know as well as its potential as the source of all new things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Dragon appears throughout history as a wild force of nature that has to be tamed or destroyed by the Hero for civilization to exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the Dragon represents the vast unknowns that exist outside of human comprehension, the Mother represents the unknowns that people face throughout their lives, such as the mysteries of nature or the uncertainties of human interaction. The immediate image that springs to mind is Mother Nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The female body, Peterson says, is the gateway between the world we\u2019re born into and the nothingness from which we came. Thus we find fertility goddesses woven throughout every ancient mythology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second aspect of human existence is that of the familiar, civilized world, at least as it seems in the eyes of your own culture. This is symbolized by the Father, who represents the body of cultural norms that rest upon any given mythical system. The Father, like the Mother, has two separate aspects that depend on the state of society\u2014that of the Good King who rules wisely and fairly, and the iron-fisted Tyrant who prevents change and growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Father is the figure who embodies the personality and self-image of society, like England\u2019s King Arthur or the U.S.\u2019s Uncle Sam. The flip side of the Good King is the Tyrant, who represents society\u2019s power to oppress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Peterson argues that the third aspect of human existence is our capacity for learning, discovery, and exploration. This is embodied as the mythical Son. Often portrayed as descended from the gods, the Son becomes the Hero of the story, venturing into the unknown and returning with new knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Peterson claims that the Son\u2019s heroic aspect is a poetic abstraction of how we make sense of and give meaning to the world. In myth, the Hero leaves the safety of home, confronts the threatening outside world, and grows as a result of his hardships. Of all the various personas in myth, it is the Son\u2019s heroic aspect that is meant to serve as a model for human behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inverse of the Hero is the Rival, who is defined by his refusal to accept the need for growth. The Rival, much like the Tyrant, seeks to deny anything that isn\u2019t in his worldview. As the Hero\u2019s polar opposite, the Rival embodies lies instead of truth and stagnation instead of growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are two general storylines that crop up all over the world. The first is Creation Myths<\/a> that provide the underlying basis for society, and the other is Heroic Quests that teach through example how people should behave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Creation stories aren\u2019t just fanciful tales rooted in ignorance about the world\u2019s beginning. On a deeper level, the Creation Myth explains how an ordered society arises out of prehistoric chaos. Peterson lays out the steps that creation stories take, dividing the primordial \u201cvoid without form\u201d into the separate aspects of nature, and then organizing the hierarchy of the universe. Beyond explaining where everything comes from, creation stories establish the moral structure that holds society together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We commonly assume that someone \u201cmade up\u201d these creation stories, but Peterson argues that isn\u2019t the case. There are too many similarities between creation myths from all over the world. Instead, he argues that creation stories are an emergent property of human beings sharing their ideas and tribal customs through language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hero\u2019s Journey<\/a> is similar in part to the Creation Myth, but, instead of providing a foundation for society, the hero\u2019s story<\/a> is a model for individual behavior. Peterson explains the stages of the quest, from the Hero\u2019s origin as a youth in a troubled kingdom, to their descent into the underworld where they confront the dangers threatening society, before bringing peace back to the world. Peterson elaborates on how the steps in the Hero\u2019s story equate to how the human brain processes new information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hero leaves home and becomes an apprentice in order to find his place in the world. Once there, Peterson says they see the threat to the kingdom. The hero discovers a solution to what\u2019s threatening the kingdom through creative thinking and a process of discovery. Once the threat has been resolved, and the world beyond has been explored and understood, the Hero returns home with his newfound knowledge and replaces the Tyrant as the kingdom\u2019s new, benevolent Father\u2014until the cycle repeats itself again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hero\u2019s Journey is prevalent in stories throughout the ages because it\u2019s a myth that tells us how to face the unknown and turn it into personal growth<\/a>.<\/strong> More than that, it rings true because it reflects the path to learning that takes place in our brains. Peterson draws a one-to-one connection between the steps on the Hero\u2019s journey and the process the mind goes through when responding to a surprise or a threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Peterson argues that personal growth is a multistage process in which we can use the roadmap provided by myth to fully realize our potential. We begin as children in a safe family unit, then leave that family to be part of our larger society. However, once we realize that society doesn\u2019t provide all the answers, we have to strike out and find our own path. If we don\u2019t, if we deny the possibility of growth, we fall prey to the darker aspects of human nature (the Rival). Only by voluntarily challenging our beliefs can we develop into the best version of ourselves (the Hero).<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s in this moment of choosing right from wrong and giving meaning to that which is outside your experience that myth has its greatest power. Myth, not science, gives us the ability to create meaning<\/a> out of struggle, not by providing a set of commandments, but by showing the way to grow and persevere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hero\u2019s Journey is a hard path to follow, and many people don\u2019t take it. However, Peterson argues that hiding within the strict confines of culture is the root of the greatest evils perpetrated by the human race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Active rejection of the Hero\u2019s journey is core to the concept of evil. That rejection is the \u201cbig lie\u201d that everything of value has already been learned, that the old, traditional ways are always best and that any new ideas that disrupt the status quo<\/em> are themselves the work of evil and should be stamped out. In particular, Peterson accuses the major world religions of undermining the true value of myth by calcifying their mythological stories into anti-science<\/a> dogma, leading many people to reject religion outright, along with the moral value it brings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The big lie of evil (the path of the Rival) leads people to find comfort in simplistic ideologies. Peterson says ideologies are pseudo-myths that deny a fundamental truth\u2014that every person, action, object, or institution has both positive and negative aspects.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When large groups of people, out of fear or desperation, refuse to look beyond the safety of their culture while viewing others as an existential threat<\/a>, then people who would never consider themselves evil are able to take part in acts of tyranny and genocide.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOverview of Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief <\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Science and Myth<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Meaning and Experience<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
From Stories to Myths<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Basic Characters of Myth<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Dragon: The Primordial Unknown<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Mother: Creator and Destroyer<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Father: Good King or Tyrant<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Son: Hero and Rival<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Basic Structures of Myth<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Creation Story<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Hero\u2019s Journey<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Meaning of the Journey<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Myth\u2019s Model for Life<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Problem of Evil<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Moral of the Story<\/h4>\n\n\n\n