{"id":41601,"date":"2025-04-10T13:23:54","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T20:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=41601"},"modified":"2025-04-10T13:29:22","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T20:29:22","slug":"chaos-order-and-maps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/chaos-order-and-maps\/","title":{"rendered":"Chaos, Order, and Maps"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trying to read this week’s expansive book, grasping the concepts and topics, and then bringing life application to it all-was a week of chaos. Writing this blog attempts to bring order to it. Order and chaos is the tension of this week’s text: In Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief,<\/em> Jordan Peterson introduces a concept of how humans create meaning. he guides readers to understanding the meaning-making process; he analyzes myths through a scientific understanding of how the human brain works. He teaches that a person\u2019s purpose is the pursuit of meaning. The human purpose\u2026is to pursue meaning\u2014to extend the domain of light, of consciousness\u2014despite limitation.[1] Looking through Peterson’s lens, one can deduce his worldview- the world is Interpreted Through meaning, not just facts. He asserts that humans don\u2019t live in an objective world of facts alone but, contrarily, inhabit a world of meaning. He argues that meaning\u2014rather than objective truth alone\u2014is the fundamental lens through which we navigate life.<\/p>\n

While researching some supplemental material to Peterson\u2019s book, I found an English psychologist who summed up the book. He states that Peterson\u2019s work is a reminder that how we make sense of the world is just as important as what we know. The primary \u201cmap\u201d 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. Peterson depicts the \u2018Great Father\u2019 as the security of the heroic past which is motivated by the fear of the unknown; the \u2018Great Mother\u2019 as the regenerative ability to change and adapt to what is needed though it means to face the fear of the unknown; and the \u2018son of God,\u2019 which is the eternal adversary who \u201cshrinks from everything he does not understand.\u201d[2] It was here that I began to relate to Joseph Campbell\u2019s, A Hero with a Thousand Faces. He maps the stages of life through departure, initiation, and return, with each stage requiring a new way of understanding, paving the way towards destiny. \u201cDestiny has summoned the hero and transferred his spiritual center of gravity from his pale of his society to a zone unknown.\u201d[3] Campbell also suggests the notion of supernatural aid for those who accept life\u2019s call. As Campbell suggests supernatural aid and Peterson speaks of Mother, Father, and Son, what resonated within me was Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

Peterson presents the narrative archetype found in mythologies across cultures, arguing that these archetypes are a reflection of \\ the universal human experience of confronting chaos and facing challenges. He also boldly creates a spiritual map in drawing narratives from biblical texts and Christian religion. When I think about making maps in life. My Christian life is defined and aligned with scripture as my map for daily living. Here, faith, prayer, worship, commandments, precepts, and principles are all rooted in scripture and ground me in my walk with God and my journey in life. Peterson is proficient in utilizing the Bible as a reference and a resource; he lists allegories and archetypes, symbols and narratives throughout in his map making claim. While he does this as a path for humans and daily life, he does not seem to reach the final destination of defining it as an essential and ultimate foundational guide. He references Christ as a symbolism: \u201cChrist is symbolically the way\u201d[4] to the symbolic Father. Christ is more than metaphorical, more than symbolic. He is my center, and the Author and Finisher of my faith. He is not a symbol, but a risen Savior.<\/p>\n

Peterson also uncovers a familiar theme we have spoken about as a cohort this year: identity. He talks about identity groups, writing, \u201cPeople need their group identification, because that identification protects them, literally, from the terrible forces of the unknown. It is for this reason that every individual who is not decadent will strive to protect his territory, actual and psychological.\u201d[5]<\/p>\n

Yascha Mounk speaks to group identity in his book The Identity Trap, A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time. Mounk challenges the the idea that group identity or \u201cidentity synthesis\u201d \u2013 is necessary in creating equal opportunity to produce a life of fulfillment. He mentions while it originates with good intentions, unexpected difficulties are later created. When speaking of Identity synthesis he states in its own way, it too makes it harder for people to broaden their allegiances beyond a particular identity in a way that can sustain stability…[6]<\/p>\n

I believe identity is critical in map making. Knowing who you are is a good grounding, and sometimes, group identity can be a hindrance in finding your own predestined divine path. Peterson emphasizes that true identity is not found in conformity or comfort but in voluntarily taking on responsibility, confronting the unknown, and striving to bring order out of chaos. Identifying it as both a a moral and psychological project\u2014it is shaped by our choices, our willingness to grow, and our pursuit of meaning in the face of suffering.<\/p>\n

After this week\u2019s blog post, I can tell people I have found my identity! (Laughing\/ Just Kidding)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1] Jordan B. Peterson, Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief, New York: Routledge, 1999, 468.<\/p>\n

[2] Peterson, 330.<\/p>\n

[3] Joseph Campbell, The Hero With A Thousand Faces 3rd ed. (Novato: New World Library, 2008), 48<\/p>\n

[4] Jordan Peterson\u2019s Compilation: “The Death and Resurrection of Christ: A Commentary in Five Parts\u201d. <\/em>Youtube: \u201cThe Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories\u201d \u2013 https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PL22J3VaeABQD_IZs7y60I3lUrrFTzkpat.<\/p>\n

[5] Peretson, 460.<\/p>\n

[6] Yascha Mounk,\u00a0The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time<\/em>\u00a0(New York NY: Penguin Press, 2023), 148.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trying to read this week’s expansive book, grasping the concepts and topics, and then bringing life application to it all-was a week of chaos. Writing this blog attempts to bring order to it. Order and chaos is the tension of this week’s text: In Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief, Jordan Peterson introduces a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":202,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[1],"tags":[3442],"class_list":["post-41601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-peterson-dlgp03","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41601","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\/202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41601"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41606,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41601\/revisions\/41606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}