2017 Maps of Meaning 04: Marionettes and Individuals (Part 3)

1:54:22 Another cool thing about the fire is how it ties back to the pleasure island sequence. Pinocchio smoked on the island and learned that to much of it can make you really sick. He then takes that knowledge and uses the smoke to make the whale sick so that he can save his father. suggesting that while losing your way isnt a good thing there can be important knowledge to be gained when that happens.

I can't help but laugh every time Dr. Peterson seamlessly transitions from dark realizations about humanity, and the human condition to..."ah, okay..so pinnochio" in an upbeat, light-hearted tone.

I love how Peterson goes off on a tangent, and when your mind is completely blown, he says "anyways" (as if he had just told you a boring/irrelevant rant) and resumes with the next scene.

After 10 years of trying to study, falling asleep in lectures, here I am checking daily for a new 2 hour session from my man Jordy P...

I think my favorite thing about Prof. Peterson is how dry he is while saying something rather large. I.e. "So Pinocchio's dead. That's not good."

A man who has lectured for decades about morality and the hero myth, becomes a non-mythological, moral hero.

Just leaving some notes for myself... 24:15 [GOLD] In order to have positive emotion in life, you must have a goal you value. 37:10 What to do with a neurotic, sickly child (Oedipal)... 1:13:09 [GOLD] When you go from a bad place to a better place, you go to a worse place first. There is an intermediary state of chaos. You're aiming up. but in order to aim up you have to let go of something you already have, that will put you into a state of chaos, unless you're willing to undergo that intermediary state of chaos, you're not going to move up. 1:19:35 [GOLD] One of the times in your life when you realize you're an individual, you'll ask your parents something and you'll realize that they don't know any more about the thing than you do. That sucks. There was always somebody standing between you and the unknown - you could ask "what should I do? Not anymore." That's pain. But you establish a more individual relationship with your parents. Now you can conceivably begin to take care of them. You can artificially maintain your dependency, but if you do that for too long things get pretty ugly. 1:22:50 When you orient your vision different things appear to you in the world. Things that aren't relevant to what you're seeking won't be seen. When you change your orientation then different things appear to you that wouldn't have been seen before. This is what happens when you"'re "thinking." You have a problem you want to solve, as a consequence of that information reveals itself to you in your interior landscape. 1:28:41 What should be happening when you go to university. You're a bit of a puppet and a jackass. What do you know? It's chaotic because you haven't found your place in the world yet. You're a historical creature. Unless you're inculturated properly, you understand your past like the humanities allow for, then you haven't been able to incorporate the wisdom of your ancestors into your day to day life. Go into the chaos, pull something out of it of value, incorporate it, and you'll be a stronger better person. You can articulate yourself properly, which is more useful than anything else you can possible imagine. If you're capable of making coherent arguments and using language properly, you're so powerful it's ridiculous. You can lay out a strategy and pursue it successful. Your goal is to make yourself as articulate in writing and thinking and speaking as you possibly can. Because that will open the door to whatever you want to do in the future, no matter what it is The more articulate person always rises. They lay out strategies more effectively, they convince people that they can grapple with potential that lies ahead effectively, they can defend themselves when they're challenged. Don't be defenseless in the case of the tragedy of life. You'll be way more hurt than otherwise. You'll become bitter and resentful. 1:32:29 What you most want to find will be found where you least want to look. Some things come easy to you, you're happy to pursue them. You've mastered them, you know all that. There's another place that you don't want to go, you haven't mastered it, you're small compared to it, it has a monstrous aspect, if what you're dong isn't working, it's where you haven't gone that you need to go. Examples, Agreeable people and anger... fear... It pushes you to the limit and you gain something from it. 1:38:40 If you're not oriented properly in the world you should take your doubts and chaos seriously, face it and think it through, go into it as far as you can, maybe you'll find something at the bottom of it, the alt is to pretend that it doesn't exist. 1:41:35 The only way to find order, is to confront what's disturbing you willingly. The more consistently you do it, the greater your chances of success. 1:44:25 The possibility for order is down there in the chaotic state, but unless an active agent seeks it, it's not animated enough to pull itself out. There is wisdom in the library but unless you go and pull it out and embody it, all it does is sit there in potential. 1:52:07 Humility and admission of foolishness before learning...

“To go from a bad place to a better place you have to go to a worse place first”.

17:45 This is exactly what happened to my grandparents in 1930s. I am a descendant of one of those children who actually survived the brutal winter in Siberian wilderness, after the Soviet authorities put them out of the train in the middle of nowhere... less than a half of them survived.

Listening to this in 2020, watching the riots and the lawlessness being perpetuated and to a certain degree celebrated makes what Jordan is saying very relevant.

1:52:57 "Anyways, Geppetto decides that a son-puppet who's half jackass is better than no son at all, which is another indication of his relatively positive orientation towards the world." 😂 Perfect film summar

I went to an Ivy League school and can confidently tell you I’ve learned more from JPs lectures than I did from 4 years there. We need more people like JP, so let’s make it happen

Amazing. The man drops more wisdom and knowledge in 19 minutes than most people grasp in 19 years.

Your lectures help calm my neuroticism down. Thank you

I start my day with pushups, pullups and Jordan Peterson

Dr. Peterson, you've changed my way of thinking, and in turn, my life. A personality disorder can be so toxic to your perception and demolish the part of the brain that can reason and communicate. your teachings have condensed the chaos in my mind into bullet points that are much more manageable, and at the same time, brought me more self awareness. I've read The Gulag Archipelago, and have been researching Carl Jung's theories which have brought so much clarity to my life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

18:00 That was so true. I remember my mom telling me a story of he grand mother who would go the field which already harvested and try to bring some food home to feed her children. And the saddest part about the story that she was afraid of doing that because she could easily be reported upon by other people. It is really important to point it out that it is not just Ukrainian who starved to death, although it is the case which is recorded in some documentaries. This famine was all over the USSR: Kazakhstan, East of Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan... Everywhere. So it is not just 6 million people that died. I am afraid it way more than that. People even were executed by the government for talking and spreading the information about the famine. It was so ugly that those peasant who were starving to death were not even allowed to go to the cities where all the food was going to. It was one hell of a time. and it was ugly.

His comments on genocide starting with a sense of victimization being pushed down by authoritarian demagogues is alarming given the current political climate in America.

I always thought that the last step before the children are sold off, the last check, is whether they can still speak. Evil cannot use you effectively if you still have your own voice.

I've never been so glad to broke my ankle. I can just sit back, relax, and gobble these lectures up like a madman. This is my crack cocaine.