{"id":36543,"date":"2024-03-19T13:00:52","date_gmt":"2024-03-19T20:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=36543"},"modified":"2024-03-19T19:47:47","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T02:47:47","slug":"legends-of-the-thomas-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/legends-of-the-thomas-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Legends of The Thomas Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cSomething we cannot see protects us from something we do not understand.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Jordan Peterson in\u00a0Maps of Meaning<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When I read the opening sentence of Map of Meaning<\/em> I instantly <\/span>knew we were in for a doozy<\/strong> of a book. I’m somewhat familiar with Peterson’s more current writings, social media posts, podcasts, blogs, and YouTube videos. As well, I’ve spent a little bit of time with his 2018 work 12 Rules for Life, <\/em>but, admittedly, gave up as quickly as I began. For sure, Peterson is absolutely brilliant, like Joseph Campbell brilliant, but not quite my cup of tea (with more milk than tea, because he’s from Canada!).<\/p>\n

In the realm of modern intellectual discourse, few figures have garnered as much attention and controversy as Jordan Peterson. Renowned for his profound insights into psychology, philosophy, and the human condition, Peterson has developed a compelling framework known as the “Map of Meaning.” This intricate model\/map for navigating the complexities of life is less like the digital Google Maps and more like the old school\/analog Thomas Guide by Rand McNally.<\/p>\n

Remember those? Remember needed to get to somewhere unfamiliar, and all we had was a bounded, oversized book of maps? Each corner of the map would have an arrow next to a bolded number, directing you to another page in the Thomas Guide where, you hope and pray, the map would continue where it left off.<\/p>\n

Talk about confusing! Talk about a stressful season in the early days of my marriage! Denise and I almost didn’t make it to 33 years of wedded bliss because of the numerous times we needed to navigate a Thomas Guide. We likened it to an ancient piece of literature such as the Sumerian Epic of\u00a0<\/em>Gilgamesh\u00a0<\/i>or the Babylonian Code of<\/em> Hammurabi, <\/em>with its codes, keys, and hieroglyphics. Ironically, ancient texts such as these might very well be a good segue into Maps of Meaning, <\/em>which explores the complexities of human belief systems and the meaning we derive from them, and offers a comprehensive analysis of the role of myths, religion, and culture in shaping our understanding of the world.<\/p>\n

Peterson believes myths provide a model of how the world is to function and how individuals are to behave. We become the stories we believe and tell, both the known and the unknown. The known <\/i>is the familiar. It comprises all things we can easily make sense of, either because we\u2019ve encountered them before, or because we can access shared cultural knowledge about them. In this known, explored territory, we feel calm and safe.<\/p>\n

The unknown<\/i>, on the other hand, is everything we don\u2019t understand yet: a brand new situation, an unexplained phenomenon, an unexpected behavior \u2013 in short, what Peterson denotes as an anomaly<\/strong>. Anomalies cause us to adapt, and major<\/em> anomalies require of us revolutionary adaptation. When anomalies keep piling up, and they always seem to do so, it’s an indication that our map of the world might not be working for us any longer. Like a rat in a new cage, anomalies (the unknown) tend to stop us in our tracks. Stories, or maps, therefore help us navigate the world out of the chaos, and into a place of meaning.<\/p>\n

The primary “map” that Jordan Peterson utilizes is that of Mother, Father and Son, as mythological representations of the world. The Mother is the Unknown. The Father is the Knower. The Son is the Known Hero. This all smacks of Joseph Campbell’s A Hero with a Thousand Faces.\u00a0<\/em>In similar fashion, Peterson, follows the narrative archetype found in mythologies across cultures to argue that these archetypes reflect the universal human experience of confronting chaos and facing challenges. He does not shy away from drawing narratives from biblical texts and Christian religion, although I do not agree with many of his interpretations of Scripture and understandings of God. However, if one didn’t know of Peterson’s spiritual journey, you might be persuaded, due to the plentiful scriptural references, that he is a born-again believer, and yet, that verdict is still out. I am, admittedly, interested in his forthcoming book (November 2024) entitled We Who Wrestle With God<\/em>. Social commentators have been perceiving a spiritual warming<\/em> of sorts in Peterson since his early days, which are recounted in great detail in the Preface of Maps of Meaning. <\/em>He certainly had a religious upbringing – one that mapped meaning for him, for better or for worse.<\/p>\n

I was particularly struck by Peterson’s opening stream-of-consciousness replete with spiritual imagery and enchantment, including that of intense apocalyptic dreams and visions. I was equally struck by the vulnerable and child-like (albeit from a bonafide genius<\/em>) letter to his father in November 1986 found near the end of the book. These opening and closing “bookends” somehow served to humanize Peterson, whom, before reading the letter to his father, I could have swore was a cyborg robot, a mythical beast in his own right! But here I see a son writing to his Dad, explaining in technical, yet compassionate terms, what his boy has been working on for a number of years. As a dad of four and grandpa of four more, I love that. That’s a good story.<\/p>\n

The only thing that would make this story better would be to discover whether or not Jordan Peterson is married, because I simply cannot imagine someone who can handle (ie: put up with) a brain like Petersons. Give me a moment…<\/p>\n

Welp, Wikipedia says her name is Tammy and they have been married since 1989. That’s an unexpected, yet, good story. That means that in their early days of marriage they TOO would have had to wrestle with a not-so-little thing called The Rand McNally Thomas Guide.<\/p>\n

Talk about confronting chaos and facing challenges!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cSomething we cannot see protects us from something we do not understand.\u201d Jordan Peterson in\u00a0Maps of Meaning   When I read the opening sentence of Map of Meaning I instantly knew we were in for a doozy of a book. I’m somewhat familiar with Peterson’s more current writings, social media posts, podcasts, blogs, and YouTube […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":172,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310],"tags":[3110,3109,412,1778],"class_list":["post-36543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-jordan","tag-map","tag-meaning","tag-peterson","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36543"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36830,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36543\/revisions\/36830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}