Customer Reviews

Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief

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I am also a former student of Professor Peterson's, taught on the manuscript of this book, and it made such an impression on me that here I am, tracking it down three years later to reread. There are many significant positives to this book, as you can guess from the other reviews here. My main complaint is that the 400-odd pages could be vastly condensed and more tightly organized without weakening the thesis. When the subject matter is this dense, there is some argument for restating important points, but I do think the author sometimes errs on the side of excessive restatement.

Another area where the book could have been improved is in the use of more anthropological data to support its various hypotheses. An interesting follow-up read to Maps of Meaning is Wandering God by Morris Berman, which spends more effort tying the factual aspects of human and societal evolution to the way modern-day society is organized and the way people relate to the world around them. He also has some very strong opinions about comparative mythology a la Jung and Campbell.

Overall, Maps of Meaning is highly original, thought-provoking, and very well worth reading. Expect it to make a permanent mark on the way you see the world.

In these days where the academic reinforcement schedule is such that reward comes from knowing more and more about less and less, it is wonderful to see someone tackle the big problems in a grand theory - and Jordan Peterson does address some big problems. He aims his analytical lens at the motivational and behavioral dynamics behind evil and meaning. These issues seem to be most often addressed by theogians whose presuppositions are difficult for a rational person to digest whole, or by New Age fuzzy thinkers. This book is most definitely not New Age (Joe Campbellites beware - meaning is not simple bliss!) in its hard look at what mythic narrative, as a phenomenon devoted to motivation and behavior, is about and what it can tell us today.

I found the book taught me lessons in the neuropsychology of emotion, moral philosophy, and the deep structure of mythic narrative - and weaved these disparate fields into a coherent, powerful tool of interpretation (which is what a good theory should be). Undoubtedly there are weaknesses in Jordan's understanding of each of these individual fields, but his synthesis is pretty interesting, at worst, and profound, at best. This is a challenging read, both in the scope and difficulty of the material and in the way your thinking about your self and the world is challenged. For those with a good attention span and a synthetic curiosity about the world, I would recommend this book highly.

this is THE book to read! This puts into perspective any of the other books you might read, including religious books like the Bible! This book unlocks the symbolism used in profound writings of history. Talks about the deep symbolism of the deepest human aspirations--unlocks what has been hidden under these murky symbols. Jordan shows us the true nature of the heroic impulses for the individual and for mankind in general, and the failure and fear of the heroic that causes both individual and social atrocities. I cannot say enough about his genius for elucidating these things--gives me new hope for the world. I accidentally met the man at a conference on consciousness, and it was like I met a long lost brother--before I read his book! This is because he has tapped into a great ocean of truth underlying our most cherished symbols. If you are a truth-seeker--whether in science or about yourself and your soul--this is the book you have been looking for. These ideas are a large part of the keys to eliminating the most greivous ills of humanity. One of my top 10 books of all time, if not #1.

One of the most influential books I've ever read, Maps of Meaning takes an unflinching look at what truly drives human behavior, and human choices. Drawing on an incredible range of material, from philosophy to literature, from cognitive psychology to religion, it manages to weave a rich tapestry of the issues underlying the human condition. Essential reading for any intellectual.

I must prepare sermons weekly, so I look for books like this to help lay a framework for this task. The insights in the book are brilliant and easily confirmed through experience. To the more orthodox Christian and evangelical preacher I would say that if you are thoughtful and discerning with Peterson's material, you need not fear preaching heresy.

Other Amazon reviewers go into more description about the contents of the book than I will. But I endorse the book highly and am glad for the profound insights provided by the author.

I had the opportunity to read his original manuscript when I was a student at Harvard. His class, text, and brilliant insights into the human condition truly expanded, challenged, and forever changed the way that I view religion, psychology and meaning. This book remains a "must read!"

I am going to take Prof. Peterson's "personality and its transformation" class next semester......expecting and excited............
This is a brilliant book, thought provoking and challenging...challenging not in the sense that the language is hard to read, but the thinkings involved are profound and require an open mind to understand and appreciate. Great Work...

I took Prof. Peterson's personality psychology class at Harvard, which incorporated many of the themes he explores in his book. It was the single most mind-blowing, life-changing course I have ever taken. Peterson is a rare genius.