What seems an eternity ago, I began reading Jordan Peterson's Maps of Meaning. The book still sits in a pile beside my desk. The cover is now stained and the edges worn, not so much through reading, but as an indication of its tenure in my to do list.
Many have remarked on the difficulty of this book, written when Peterson was a young social science academic in the unnecessarily obfuscated language needed to check the boxes of academic acclaim.
I agree with this observation and claimed cause. To it I add a few personal peculiarities.
1) I have spent multiple years of accumulated time developing the ability to describe ideas, which includes formulating representations and receiving aggregated knowledge from God. The most clear analogy I have for this process is either the creation of galaxies or a spool of cotton candy. I don't know which is clearer. Like all organic capabilities developed in us through intentional, repeated exposure to the carving hand of God, this is a gift that does not have an off switch. I cannot read any book to which God has something to aggregate in peace. And he always has something to say.
2) The book itself can be categorized into two sections of disproportional size. The first is the introduction, which is more of an emotional autobiography explaining why these themes are so important to him than an introduction to the material. The second is the actual book. In my opinion, the material in the second half is a subset of what he produced in his recorded (old, in class) lectures on the book. This is no surprise, as I can attest from experience that you become more fluent in ideas as you teach them. He's a busy man with many important things to do, but it would be interesting to see what a rewrite of this book would provide. I find immensely greater value in the introduction that the rest of the book (more on this later), and this contributes to my struggles to make the time to finish reading it.
3) Other than perhaps Thomas Sowell, I am not aware of any public figure living that can explain complex ideas while speaking better than Jordan Peterson. He also ranks high on his ability to persuade others to make positive change. The strength of these attributes do not transfer to his writing. I believe his books would be at least an order of magnitude more effective if he transcribed his talks and reduced them to writing, or employed a writer to do so, than whatever process he currently uses. He would accomplish more and better, and certainly in less time.
4) I want to express more about the introduction in order to express why I find it difficult to read this book. As I read the intro, I find deep personal experiences akin to ones I have had expressed in Peterson prose. It is always poignant to hear or read someone who describes something you've never told anyone about yourself, or which you would struggle to for lack of words adequate for the requisite description. I have had, on occasion, the privilege and duty of describing to others these sorts of things, and I have seen and felt the strange mixture of deep satisfaction, intimacy, and horror of what they think, feel, and do as a result. That is no doubt a staggering statement, but I will proceed as if it is a totally normal thing to claim.
As I read the introduction, I am struck by an almost painfully intense desire to have a face to face conversation with the author. I would like to prove that I know what he is talking about by crisply describing the parts he intentionally left out, lacked the words for, or forgot to mention. Having established that credibility, I would extend the boundaries of his perception of the well of things he's experienced, calling into attention and putting into words what lies beyond. In my experience, this is one way we take upon ourselves the burdens of others,[1] helping them see beyond the limits of their sight[2] and find power to do what lies beyond the limits of their strength.[3]
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[1]
Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)
And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; (Mosiah 18:8)
[2]
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. (Proverbs 29:18)
[3]
28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40)