Maps of Meaning, Lesson 9: The Only Optimistic Thought That Peterson Derived From Psychology

Lesson #9 – The Experience of Meaning (and what that experience reveals)

(Note: If you’d like to read along with me, you can get Jordan Peterson’s Maps of Meaning on amazon.)

“Meaning is an instinct that orients people in time and place…and that’s the only optimistic thought that I’ve ever been able to derive from Psychology.” – from his 2017 Maps of Meaning Lecture 6.

The following is an excerpt from my new book, Jiu Jitsu and Resistance: An Antidote to Modern Struggle.

On Meaning

Meaning is the empirical data that you are on your proper hero’s journey moving toward the attainment of your destiny. Meaning is a tool of the self. The self provides your consciousness the experience of meaning when you are engaged in activities that will lead to its fulfillment.

Meaning is a signpost along the path of life which reads, “This Way.”

Meaning comes in several forms, and part of our life’s work in updating our perspective is to fashion the lens required to both see and achieve our highest goal, to develop the skill to recognize when meaning presents itself in our lives.

It would not be superfluous to differentiate between the discovery of meaning and the experience of meaning.

Meaning is found in the adoption of responsibility. Meaning is found in contribution beyond one’s self. Meaning is found in the subordination of one’s self to something higher, of greater value, than one’s self. Meaning is found by going into the forest at the point it is darkest to you to become what you could be.

Simpler still, being that meaning is a byproduct of the fulfillment of the self, it is to be found in any endeavor that brings one closer to the achievement of that most realized being. Through the metaphor of an outward journey, meaning is found when you are on the path that leads to this final destination.

The experience of meaning, however, is entirely different and quite ironic.

Meaning is found in that journey toward the self and yet is an experience of the sensation of loss of self. Meaning is experienced when we lose track of time, when we are engaged in a pursuit which our depths deem worthy. Meaning is experienced when we are deeply present, free of the sensation of being a lonely, separate “I.”

Meaning is the language of the self. The self makes things meaningful, or rather things are meaningful because their fulfillment forges us into that which we are destined to become. Meaning is the recognition from life itself that we are on the path perfectly suited for our unique nature, that we are in the process of becoming what it is our whole destiny to attain.

Pay attention to where you are pulled. When we are motivated, we push ourselves to achieve, but when we are driven by meaning, we are pulled forward. Push only lasts so long and eventually fades. Follow the pull; that is life telling you where to go.

On Meaning, Continued

How does this description of meaning enter the conversation on the meaning of life? Each man and woman must answer this age-old question for him - or herself. There are commonalities, sure, but those commonalities are the soil and roots from which we grow into unique expressions of ourselves. The meaning of life, if I could be so bold as to posit an answer, is to become what you are destined to be, what most aligns with your soul, and that is different for each of us. The meaning of life is to pursue what you find meaningful.

Science tells us what is. Religion tells us how to act. But the why, that’s up to you.

Though the forms change, the fundamental expression is the same. Human beings have the innate need to grow and contribute. It is built into us. It’s why we are here. The ways we grow and contribute, however, are unique to us all.

Some grow to achieve professional success. Some grow to become better partners to their spouse. Some contribute by being a master of sport. Some contribute by being a loving mother.

The modalities change, but all are vehicles leading in the same direction. The rule of the game is that we must grow. We are goal-oriented creatures, continually moving down the path toward the self, and when we don’t, we suffer.

Pain is unavoidable. But the pain that has purpose, the pain that serves us on the way toward that self, is not suffering. Suffering is a result of hopelessness, of stagnation in a place we are not meant to stay and the feeling of not being able to transcend our lot in life.

And that is because to not grow, to not evolve, is to work at cross-purposes with the natural flow of life.

We are meant to grow so we have more to give. The growth must serve something beyond ourselves. That’s ultimately what our depths are after. This why contribution is the final stage in the hero’s journey.

The hero is only a hero because after leaving the safe confines of the known, he or she engages in some great struggle, experiencing a death and rebirth, and is reborn into someone of greater value, and it is through this heightened experience of Being that the hero shares that growth with his or her people, atoning for one's absence while on the journey through the communal distribution of the fruits acquired from that journey.

We learn about this heroic process through story. Whether Marvel movies, Harry Potter books, or biblical stories, these narratives convey the behavioral wisdom of how to best act in the world. That best action is almost always some variant of going on a quest and growing so we have more to give. This is what gives life ultimate meaning.

When we follow this thread, we lead to an inevitable realization.

The self is the distant goal toward which we move. The journey is one which demands our evolution to become more. This growth is the product of confronting Resistance in the most productive way, head on to strengthen our Being. In becoming more, we now have more to give, and take our rightful place in the organism of humanity, which leads us to the ultimate conclusion:

Our suffering can be transcended through the recognition that the Resistance we encounter is our greatest gift; the self pulls us forward down the path toward its attainment through the only possible medium: Resistance.

Further Reading:

The above is an excerpt from new book, Jiu Jitsu and Resistance: An Antidote to Modern Struggle.

Should you read it, I deeply appreciate the support, and I hope that this framework provides you the tools to live your best life and win the battle against Resistance.

Further Listening:

My dear friend Pete and I discuss this topic, and the necessity for reading, in our most recent episode of the “All Good Things” Podcast.