{"id":41611,"date":"2025-04-10T18:21:45","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T01:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=41611"},"modified":"2025-04-10T18:21:45","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T01:21:45","slug":"unlearning-the-lone-ranger-why-we-need-a-better-myth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/unlearning-the-lone-ranger-why-we-need-a-better-myth\/","title":{"rendered":"Unlearning the Lone Ranger: Why We Need a Better Myth"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"We live by stories. As a child, I tried convincing my mom that I had a radio in my head because I could recall music just as I heard it on the radio.\u00a0 I often imagined music playing as I engaged in playful activities, as if I were in a movie.\u00a0 I still love imagining myself in different movie scenarios. Stories are in our very bones, but what about stories themselves is so compelling that we, as humans, are drawn to them?\u00a0 Jordan Peterson, in Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief[1]<\/strong><\/sup><\/a><\/em>, argues that stories are not merely entertainment\u2014they are moral frameworks that orient us in the world. In other words, stories are maps of meaning. They tell us who we are, what we should value, and how to act when the path forward is unclear. One such story\u2014deeply woven into Western culture\u2014is the myth of rugged individualism: the belief that the good life is achieved through radical self-reliance. While it promises strength and freedom, it often delivers something else entirely: disconnection, pressure, and loneliness.\u00a0 In this article, I want to explore how stories shape the moral world, drawing on Peterson\u2019s insights. I\u2019ll briefly reflect on my own research into the effects of rugged individualism, particularly among men, and suggest how the gospel offers an alternative narrative.\u00a0 In preparing this article, I used the AI tool ChatGPT as a research assistant to help synthesize key ideas from Peterson\u2019s Maps of Meaning<\/em> and integrate them with my own NPO research findings.<\/p>\n

Story Formed Beings<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Why do stories hold such sway over our lives? Psychologist Jordan Peterson argues that stories are not mere diversions\u2014they are the frameworks through which we perceive reality, make decisions, and value to our experiences. He writes:<\/p>\n

We tell ourselves stories about who we are, where we would like to be, and how we are going to get there. These stories regulate our emotions by determining the significance of everything we encounter and all the events we experience.[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to Peterson, stories are tools for navigating life. He describes human experience as a movement between three realms: the known, the unknown, and the process of learning that helps us navigate between the two. Myth, he says, \u201cportrays the dynamic interrelationship between all three.\u201d[3]<\/sup><\/a> When we tell stories, we are modeling that movement\u2014how we act in the world, how we face chaos, and how we hope to bring order again.\"\"<\/p>\n

In short, our most basic \u201cmaps of meaning\u201d\u2014which are themselves structured as narratives\u2014reflect our current reality, a vision of a better future, and the path we believe will get us there. \u201cThese three elements\u2014current state, ideal future state, and means of active mediation\u2014constitute the necessary and sufficient preconditions for the weaving of the most simple narrative.\u201d[4]<\/sup><\/a> He argues that these narratives, consciously or not, shape everything from our emotions to our moral reasoning.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview, Betsy Howard, assistant professor of literature at Bethlehem College and Seminary, echoes a similar idea but with a more theological tone.\u00a0 Expressing that we do not just enjoy stories\u2014we are shaped by them because we were made to be.\u00a0 She states:<\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s fair to say we are story-formed beings,\u201d she says. \u201cGod has been pleased to write a history of his interactions with the world\u2026 That\u2019s not an accident. It\u2019s a fabulous feature of Christianity, that we have a story-formed explanation for our relationship with the divine.[5]<\/sup><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Like Peterson, Howard contends that we are drawn to stories not just because they entertain but because they show us who we are and who we might become. \u201cWe want stories because of the way they proliferate models. They let us see versions of ourselves in them.\u201d[6]<\/sup><\/a> In this way, stories do more than describe the world\u2014they prescribe how we should live in it. They present options, invite imitation, and shape our aspirations.<\/p>\n

When both Peterson and Howard speak of narrative, they tell the same truth from different angles: Stories are moral maps. They do not merely reflect our inner world\u2014they actively shape it. They tell us what kind of person is admirable, what kind of struggle is worthwhile, and what kind of future is worth hoping for.<\/p>\n

This moral shaping is not neutral. The stories we live by can form us toward life\u2014or deform us toward despair. Often, the most powerful stories are the ones we never think to question. Cultural myths, inherited scripts, and unspoken expectations all shape our moral imaginations.[7] \u00a0 \u00a0<\/sup><\/a>In the next section, I want to explore one such story\u2014the myth of rugged individualism\u2014and reflect on how it has subtly shaped not just our behavior but our beliefs about what it means to live a good life.<\/p>\n

A Misleading Myth<\/strong><\/p>\n

Peterson\u2019s central claim is that myth is not fiction; it\u2019s a deeply rooted expression of how humans navigate the world.[8]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 The cultural stories are not decorative\u2014they are instructive. They orient us in moral space and map meaning.[9]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 I have been researching how rugged individualism functions as a modern myth\u2014celebrating autonomy, self-reliance, and emotional stoicism (especially among men).\u00a0 If, according to Peterson, cultural myths, like rugged individualism, operate as unconscious moral frameworks that define what a \u201cgood life\u201d looks like, then we need to take a critical look at them.\u00a0 The myth of rugged individualism has been shown to isolate individuals from meaningful relationships, discourage vulnerability, and undermine flourishing.[10]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 The psychological impact of individualism is significant. Jonathan Haidt argues that social media, excessive screen time, and cultural shifts toward self-reliance have exacerbated anxiety, depression, and loneliness\u2014particularly among young men.[11]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Recent research confirms this trend. The Harvard Loneliness in America[12]<\/strong><\/sup><\/a><\/em> study and The State of American Men[13]<\/strong><\/sup><\/a><\/em> highlight that isolation is now a defining feature of modern life. The State of American Men<\/em> reports that 53% of men feel disconnected, often lacking close friendships.\u00a0 The U.S. Surgeon General\u2019s 2023 advisory further underscores the crisis: half of American adults report experiencing loneliness, and social disconnection raises the risk of premature death by 29%, equating its health impact to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.[14]<\/sup><\/a> This epidemic contributes to heightened risks of cardiovascular disease, dementia, depression, and anxiety, highlighting the profound costs of hyper-individualism on both personal and societal well-being.\u00a0 The myth of rugged individualism is not only misleading but harmful.\u00a0 How do we change it?<\/p>\n

The Redemptive Counter-Narrative<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both Peterson\u2019s and Howard’s insights show that transformation happens through narrative.\u00a0 An alternate myth to rugged individualism is needed. The gospel offers a radically different narrative. It tells of a God who enters human history not to reward the strong but to restore the broken. It centers on voluntary sacrifice\u2014not triumph through will, but transformation through surrender. Nearly 30 years ago, Peterson observed that Christ was the defining hero of the Western ethical tradition.[15]<\/sup><\/a> However, many would argue that we are living in a post-Christian society where Christ is not the model.[16]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 While society might reject the Biblical narrative, our lives can compel others to embrace the Gospel by modeling Christ’s sacrificial love, as he lives in us, telling a different story.\u00a0 His story reshapes us, calling us to follow him by denying ourselves and taking up our cross. This is a challenge to the self-made myth. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.[17]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

[1]<\/sup><\/a> Jordan Peterson, Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief<\/em>, (New York: Routledge, 1999).<\/p>\n

[2]<\/sup><\/a> Ibid., 20.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/sup><\/a> Ibid., 20.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/sup><\/a> Ibid., 23.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/sup><\/a> Betsy Howard, \u201cThe Power of Story,\u201d Mar. 25, 2025, in Mindset with Mike Schutt<\/em>, produced by Mike Schutt, podcast, MP3 audio, 52:00, https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/mindset-with-mike-schutt\/id1668471058?i=1000700735264&r=128.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/sup><\/a> Howard, \u201cThe Power of Story.\u201d<\/p>\n

[7]<\/sup><\/a> Charles Taylor, A Secular Age<\/em>, (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007), 171-172.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/sup><\/a> Peterson, Maps of Meaning<\/em>, 1.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/sup><\/a> Peterson, Maps of Meaning<\/em>, 66-68.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/sup><\/a> Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community<\/em>, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000).<\/p>\n

[11]<\/sup><\/a> Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness<\/em>, (New York: Penguin Press, 2024), 148-153.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/sup><\/a> Milena Batanova, Richard Weissbourd, and Joseph McIntyre. \u201cLoneliness in America: Just the Tip of the Iceberg?\u201d Harvard Graduate School of Education: Making Caring Common <\/em>(2024). https:\/\/static1.squarespace.com\/static\/5b7c56e255b02c683659fe43\/t\/67001295042a0f327c6e6fab\/1728058005340\/Loneliness_+Brief+Report+2024_October_FINAL.pdf.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/sup><\/a> Barker, Gary, Caroline Hayes, Brian Heilman, Michael Reichert, The State of American Men: From crisis and confusion to Hope<\/em>, (Washington, DC: Equimundo, 2023). https:\/\/www.equimundo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/STATE-OF-AMERICAN-MEN-2023.pdf.<\/p>\n

[14]<\/sup><\/a> U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the Surgeon General, Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General\u2019s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community<\/em>, (Washington, DC: HHS, 2023), https:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf, 23-30.<\/p>\n

[15]<\/sup><\/a> Peterson, Maps of Meaning<\/em>, 186.<\/p>\n

[16]<\/sup><\/a> Rod Dreher, The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation<\/em>, (New York: Sentinel, 2017), 11.<\/p>\n

[17]<\/sup><\/a> 2 Corinthians 5:20.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We live by stories. As a child, I tried convincing my mom that I had a radio in my head because I could recall music just as I heard it on the radio.\u00a0 I often imagined music playing as I engaged in playful activities, as if I were in a movie.\u00a0 I still love imagining […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":194,"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-41611","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\/41611","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\/194"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41611"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41614,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41611\/revisions\/41614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}