Dr. Jordan B. Peterson Official Telegram Channel

2024-02-15 20:34:28 Another excerpt from my forthcoming book, 'We Who Wrestle With God', set to release on November 19th, 2024.

The U.S., CAN, and UK pre-order links are now available here: https://jordanbpeterson.com/books/ Open / Comment

2024-02-15 20:34:07 Those who lie do not live or even truly have their life.

They substitute for that life the life of the lie and, in doing so, turn their eternal souls (and that is the right level of symbolic analysis) over to the king of the damned. Those who lie miss the adventure of their life.

So what?

If the use of deception enhances power—if it brings about hedonic delight—if it allows for the avoidance of responsibility, the quelling (however false in some absolute sense) of anxiety, or the circumvention of pain, why not indulge? The world is meaningless anyway, and the liar who wins may lie, but still wins.

Why is this quite rational rationalization unreliable?

First, perhaps, because it is naught but a manifestation of the spirit of the lie, attempting in its characteristic way to justify its default to deception.

Second, however, for a deeper reason: the meaning of life is in adventure, and the adventure that is true is literally to be found in the truth.

Chapter 12 | Truth as Adventure Open / Comment

2024-02-14 22:43:56 There’s some real utility in gratitude. It’s also good protection against the dangers of victimhood and resentment. Open / Comment

2024-02-13 02:36:00 You’re Morally Obligated to Do Remarkable Things. Why?

Well, partly because life is so difficult and challenging that unless you give it everything you have, the chances are very high that it will embitter you. And then you'll be a force for darkness. That’s not good.

Also, the fact that life is short and can be brutal can terrify you into hiding But you can flip that on its head and understand that since you're all in, you might as well take the adventurous risks. That's a very good thing to understand.

What is also useful to understand is that there isn't anything more adventurous than the truth. This is something that took me a long time to figure out. You can craft your words to get what you want.

If you're attempting to say what you believe to be true and attempting to act in the manner that you think is most appropriate, that's genuinely you. If you're trying to live in the truth, you have the force of reality behind you, and that seems like a good deal. You have the reality and the adventure.

So, why is that a moral obligation? Well, if you hide and you don't let what's inside of you out—and you don't bring into the world what you could bring—you become cynical and bitter. Not only will you not add to the world what you could add, but you'll start being jealous of people who are competent and doing well and work to destroy them.

That's the pathway to hell. Open / Comment

2024-02-10 23:59:34 Here are the remaining dates for my tour in February and thereafter.

On my tour, I am discussing ideas that are closely related to my 2017 Biblical Lecture Series—ideas I’ve been working through in my forthcoming book.

Links to purchase your tickets for each show can be found here: https://www.jordanbpeterson.com/events/ Open / Comment

2024-02-09 20:48:50 When we bargain with the future, we produce variants of our future selves, alternative visions of who we could be, and project the real-world outcome.

When we sacrifice, we are bargaining with the future (alternatively: establishing a covenant with the future): we will give up this set of possible selves/possible futures now to propitiate God and ensure success for ourselves and those we value as we move forward.

We offer up something valuable, concretely valuable—self-evidently valuable—here and now, taking the chance that if we do so the future will make itself manifest in a more positive manner That is quite the risk, given the self-evident current value of the thing-to-be-sacrificed—one that carries with it a further mystery: with what or Who are we bargaining?

With the future, certainly; with our future self, certainly—but even more deeply, with potential itself, or the spirit of potential.

Furthermore, such bargaining has to be predicated on faith. That is ensured, not merely suggested, by the fact of our ultimate, unbounded and finally irreducible ignorance.

You have to move forward in faith. Open / Comment

2024-02-09 20:48:32 The following is an excerpt from my forthcoming book, ‘We Who Wrestle With God’, set to release on November 19th, 2024.

The U.S., CAN, and UK pre-order links are now available here: https://www.jordanbpeterson.com/books/ Open / Comment

2024-02-06 20:44:51 Kierkegaard talks about the idea of being a knight of faith.

He puts forward a proposition that I think is akin to the idea that undergirds marriage, which is:

You cannot find out whether creation is Good or Evil without being all in on your bet. Just like you cannot be married without saying, “I am shackling myself to you and I am not going to run away no matter what. So we better get to know each other and get along because this is how it is going to be.”

Without that, you cannot be deeply committed enough to the marriage to make it work. So, it seems to me, that at the forefront of faith, you have to act in the world with courageous trust—not naïve trust, but courageous trust—in the potential goodness of being to discover whether or not that faith is justified.

And that is partly why it is faith; you have to put the cart before the horse.

Romance requires trust—and the deeper the trust, the deeper the possibility for romance. Open / Comment

2024-02-03 04:41:11 Treat Yourself Like Someone You Are Responsible for Helping.

Jung wrote about the biblical idea that you should treat your neighbor as if he were yourself.

It's often read as something like, “You should be nice to people”.

That’s not what it means at all. Nice is a very low-end virtue. It means that you should treat your neighbor as if he or she is someone you wish to encourage and develop.

But you should also have the same attitude towards yourself. Regardless of what your opinion is of yourself, critical, hypercritical, let's say.

That's often the case with people who are anxious or hyper-conscientious.
You have to give yourself the same sympathy that you would extend to someone you cared for. You have to come to treat yourself as if you're someone that you care for.

On my upcoming tour, I will discuss ideas that are closely related to my 2017 Biblical Lecture Series—ideas I've been working through in my forthcoming book.

Tickets can be found here: https://www.jordanbpeterson.com/events/ Open / Comment

2024-02-01 21:10:19 You have to be willing to be a fool to advance.

When you're learning anything new, you'll feel like an imposter.

That's a very useful thing to know. You'll feel like a fool because you are. And you'll think, “I'll never get there”.

The destination might look very distant, but if you take a small first step and get the ball rolling, you can cruise along at a pretty good rate.

What happens when you expose people to small but challenging tasks is:

1. It makes them more skilled because now they're dealing with the problem. They're acquiring new perceptions and new behaviors that are mastery.

2. They see themselves as actors who can change the direction of their lives.

I've never seen anyone unable to progress if they made the task small enough.

That can be pretty humiliating. But the upside is that once you've taken that first step, you'll start progressing exponentially.

If you're not willing to be a fool, you cannot become a master. Open / Comment