Maps of Meaning

Contemporary individuals have replaced the belief systems of myth and religion with ideologies, but that is a dangerous trend. Ideologies are by nature partial myths, or cherry-picked truth, and therefore do not encompass all aspects of human experience. For instance, the belief that all nature is benevolent is an ideology because it doesn’t address nature’s destructive aspects. In truth, Mother Nature is benevolence, but also “malarial mosquitoes, […] cancer and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome” (217). Ideological stories are powerful because they appropriate mythological ideas, but they tend to tell a partial story as if it were a complete one.

Knowing the grammar of mythology can be a useful antidote to “ideological gullibility.” Genuine myths are wise and potent because they always present an idea or experience in totality, in both its creative and destructive aspects. Thus, the arrogant adversary always balances the individualistic hero, and the devouring dragon is the counterpoint to the benevolent mother. Myths tell humans to consider all the constituent elements of experience and thus aim for a more nuanced, subtle, and flexible way of acting than ideology dictates.

How does one take this middle course and avoid destruction by the world’s contradictory information? Through the examples of his patients, Peterson suggests an approach that mimics the developmental growth of an individual.