OVERVIEW

Written by Canadian clinical psychologist Jordan B. Peterson, Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief describes an extensive rational theory of how humans construct meaning and why it is essential to human existence. Drawing on many disciplines—including neuroscience, psychology, history, myth, and religion—Peterson shows that connecting myths and beliefs with science is essential to fully understanding how people make meaning.?

由加拿大臨床心理學(xué)家喬丹-B-彼得森撰寫的《意義的地圖》。信仰的架構(gòu)》描述了一個(gè)關(guān)于人類如何構(gòu)建意義的廣泛的理性理論，以及為什么它對(duì)人類生存至關(guān)重要。彼得森借鑒了許多學(xué)科--包括神經(jīng)科學(xué)、心理學(xué)、歷史、神話和宗教--表明，將神話和信仰與科學(xué)聯(lián)系起來，對(duì)于充分理解人們?nèi)绾蝿?chuàng)造意義至關(guān)重要。

Peterson bolsters his theories through elaborate diagrams and references to personal anecdotes, the experiences of his patients, and the writings of thinkers like Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. While Maps of Meaning is certainly an original and complex work, some have criticized it for its generalizations and dismissal of historical materialism as a basis for human behavior.

彼得森通過精心制作的圖表和參考個(gè)人軼事、他的病人的經(jīng)歷以及卡爾-榮格、西格蒙德-弗洛伊德和亞歷山大-索爾仁尼琴等思想家的著作來支持他的理論。盡管《意義地圖》無疑是一部原創(chuàng)的、復(fù)雜的作品，但有些人批評(píng)它以偏概全，否定了歷史唯物主義作為人類行為的基礎(chǔ)。

Summary

Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief is a rational inquiry into why and how humans create meaning. Myths represent the creation of meaning as the hero’s journey, fraught with terror. Therefore, the book tries to understand the meaning-making process through analyzing myths as well as through a scientific understanding of how the human brain works.

意義的地圖。信仰的架構(gòu)是對(duì)人類為何和如何創(chuàng)造意義的理性探究。神話將意義的創(chuàng)造表現(xiàn)為英雄的旅程，充滿了恐怖。因此，本書試圖通過分析神話以及通過對(duì)人腦運(yùn)作方式的科學(xué)理解來理解意義的創(chuàng)造過程。

The starting point for Peterson’s inquiry is an existential crisis: As a university student, he becomes disillusioned with both Christianity (the religion of his childhood) and socialism (his newfound faith). Neither seems to answer the question of why evil as immensely horrific as the Holocaust, the atomic bomb, and the nuclear race exists in the world. In the absence of a guiding structure for a meaningful goal, Peterson languishes into a paralyzing depression and vivid nightmares. Only when he decides to change his major from Political Science to Psychology and discovers the work of psychologist Carl Jung does Peterson begin to recover. Through Jung, Peterson turns to studying myths to answer two fundamental questions: Why does evil exist, and how can one fight it?

彼得森探究的起點(diǎn)是一場(chǎng)生存危機(jī)。作為一名大學(xué)生，他對(duì)基督教（他童年的宗教）和....主義（他新發(fā)現(xiàn)的信仰）都感到失望。兩者似乎都沒有回答為什么世界上會(huì)有像大屠殺、原子彈和核競(jìng)賽這樣極其恐怖的邪惡存在的問題。在缺乏一個(gè)有意義的目標(biāo)的指導(dǎo)結(jié)構(gòu)的情況下，彼得森陷入了癱瘓的抑郁和生動(dòng)的噩夢(mèng)中。只有當(dāng)他決定將自己的專業(yè)從政治學(xué)改為心理學(xué)，并發(fā)現(xiàn)了心理學(xué)家卡爾-榮格的作品時(shí)，彼得森才開始恢復(fù)。通過榮格，彼得森轉(zhuǎn)向研究神話來回答兩個(gè)基本問題。為什么邪惡會(huì)存在，以及如何才能與之斗爭(zhēng)？

Before answering these questions, Peterson reviews the limitations of empirical methods of inquiry in understanding human behavior. Empirical methods can explain the world as a place for things but not as a forum for action, as both explicit and implicit forces drive human action. The implicit motivations of human behavior are clearest in myths, stories, literature, and drama.

在回答這些問題之前，彼得森回顧了經(jīng)驗(yàn)性調(diào)查方法在理解人類行為方面的局限性。經(jīng)驗(yàn)方法可以將世界解釋為事物的場(chǎng)所，但不能解釋為行動(dòng)的場(chǎng)所，因?yàn)轱@性和隱性的力量都在推動(dòng)人類的行動(dòng)。人類行為的隱性動(dòng)機(jī)在神話、故事、文學(xué)和戲劇中表現(xiàn)得最為明顯。

Examining the world as a forum of action through studying myths, Peterson states that the three constituent elements of human experience are The Great Mother, The Great Father, and The Divine Son. These archetypes, borrowed from Jung, show that humans hover between a fear of the unknown (the Great Mother, who symbolizes creative and destructive nature) and the tyranny of the known (The Great Father, who symbolizes culture and tradition). To escape the terror of the unknown, humans adhere fervently to their known tradition and values. However, since change is a necessity for evolution, humans must periodically renegotiate and reorder tradition. Blind adherence to dying traditions is akin to spiritual death. The Divine Son or the revolutionary hero, on the other hand, acknowledges that he has outgrown current knowledge systems, grApples with the Great Mother for creative inspiration, and reorders the known world.

彼得森通過研究神話來考察作為行動(dòng)論壇的世界，他說人類經(jīng)驗(yàn)的三個(gè)組成元素是偉大的母親、偉大的父親和神圣的兒子。這些從榮格那里借來的原型表明，人類徘徊在對(duì)未知的恐懼（象征著創(chuàng)造性和破壞性自然的偉大母親）和對(duì)已知的暴政（象征著文化和傳統(tǒng)的偉大父親）之間。為了逃避未知的恐懼，人類狂熱地堅(jiān)持他們已知的傳統(tǒng)和價(jià)值觀。然而，由于變化是進(jìn)化的必要條件，人類必須定期對(duì)傳統(tǒng)進(jìn)行重新談判和重新排序。盲目堅(jiān)持垂死的傳統(tǒng)，就等于精神死亡。另一方面，神子或革命英雄承認(rèn)他已經(jīng)超越了現(xiàn)有的知識(shí)體系，與偉大的母親爭(zhēng)奪創(chuàng)造性的靈感，并重新排列已知的世界。

These archetypal behaviors are far from archaic; they continue to play out in everyday life. For instance, humans can respond to change either passively, in the prosaic mode (for example, look for a new job after losing one), or actively, in the revolutionary mode (acknowledge one is unhAppy in a current job and courageously chart a new path). Humans resist change because facing the unknown is like facing death and chaos. Why does any change inspire such discomfort? Peterson examines how the working of the human brain to show that fear is a natural, instinctive response. Studying the brain further, he describes how the brain has evolved to store various kinds of information in different areas. The brain encodes this information in stories, as narratives are how the brain best interprets information. In addition, Peterson traces a parallel between the phylogenetic development of the human brain and the development of the revolutionary hero archetype. As the brain evolved, so did the facilities of language, reason, and abstraction, leading to an increased awareness of mortality. The hero symbolizes the self-aware and self-conscious human who braves the unknown while fully aware of the threat of death.

這些原型行為遠(yuǎn)不是過時(shí)的；它們繼續(xù)在日常生活中發(fā)揮作用。例如，人類可以被動(dòng)地以平凡的方式應(yīng)對(duì)變化（例如，在失去工作后尋找新的工作），也可以主動(dòng)地以革命的方式應(yīng)對(duì)變化（承認(rèn)自己在目前的工作中不快樂，勇敢地開辟一條新的道路）。人類抵制變化，因?yàn)槊鎸?duì)未知就像面對(duì)死亡和混亂。為什么任何變化都會(huì)激發(fā)這種不適感？彼得森研究了人類大腦的工作方式，表明恐懼是一種自然的、本能的反應(yīng)。在進(jìn)一步研究大腦時(shí)，他描述了大腦是如何進(jìn)化到在不同區(qū)域存儲(chǔ)各種信息的。大腦將這些信息編碼在故事中，因?yàn)閿⑹率谴竽X解釋信息的最佳方式。此外，彼得森還追溯了人類大腦的系統(tǒng)發(fā)育和革命英雄原型的發(fā)展之間的平行關(guān)系。隨著大腦的進(jìn)化，語言、理性和抽象的設(shè)施也在進(jìn)化，導(dǎo)致對(duì)死亡的意識(shí)增強(qiáng)。英雄象征著有自我意識(shí)和自我意識(shí)的人類，他們?cè)诔浞忠庾R(shí)到死亡威脅的情況下勇敢面對(duì)未知世界。

To evolve the revolutionary hero persona, the individual must undergo cultural Apprenticeship. In this stage, the growing individual, analogous to the developing child, needs the tribe’s support to flourish. Additionally, the growing child learns through mimesis, or imitation. A cultural, religious, or tribal identity is therefore beneficial at this stage despite the contemporary denigration of traditional structures. Apprenticeship helps individuals develop a set of values or a vantage point from which they can Approach the unknown world. Wise cultures knew this, and that is why most intelligent traditions include ritualized rites of passage and initiation. However, once the individuals are ready, they must develop an identity greater than that of their group. Subsuming individuality to a group identity is akin to staying pathologically trapped in childhood.

為了演化出革命英雄的角色，個(gè)人必須經(jīng)歷文化學(xué)徒的過程。在這個(gè)階段，成長(zhǎng)中的個(gè)人，類似于發(fā)育中的孩子，需要部落的支持才能茁壯成長(zhǎng)。此外，成長(zhǎng)中的孩子通過模仿，或模仿來學(xué)習(xí)。因此，盡管當(dāng)代對(duì)傳統(tǒng)結(jié)構(gòu)的詆毀，文化、宗教或部落身份在這個(gè)階段是有益的。學(xué)徒制有助于個(gè)人發(fā)展一套價(jià)值觀或一個(gè)有利的角度，從那里他們可以接近未知的世界。聰明的文化知道這一點(diǎn)，這就是為什么大多數(shù)聰明的傳統(tǒng)包括儀式化的通過和啟動(dòng)儀式。然而，一旦個(gè)人準(zhǔn)備好了，他們必須發(fā)展一個(gè)比他們的群體更強(qiáng)大的身份。將個(gè)人身份屈從于群體身份，無異于病態(tài)地困在童年。

Next, Peterson examines why people cling to group identities and known structures even when those structures are derelict. Fear of the unknown drives people into old patterns. However, the unknown is an inescapable facet of human experience, manifesting periodically as an “anomaly.” Anomalies constitute “the strange” (or death and natural or manmade disaster), “the stranger” (or contact with a foreign culture), “the strange idea” (or a new, clashing belief system), and “the revolutionary hero,” (or the changemaker who reorders the known world). By emulating the path of a mythical hero, people can grow more open to change and develop the strength to handle unavoidable, catastrophic changes such as death. Marduk (in Sumerian mythology) and Christ (in Christian theology) are models of the divine hero.

接下來，彼得森研究了為什么人們堅(jiān)持群體身份和已知的結(jié)構(gòu)，即使這些結(jié)構(gòu)已經(jīng)荒廢。對(duì)未知的恐懼促使人們進(jìn)入舊的模式。然而，未知是人類經(jīng)驗(yàn)的一個(gè)不可避免的方面，定期表現(xiàn)為 "反常"。異?，F(xiàn)象構(gòu)成了 "奇怪"（或死亡和自然或人為災(zāi)難）、"陌生人"（或與外國(guó)文化的接觸）、"奇怪的想法"（或一個(gè)新的、沖突的信仰體系）和 "革命英雄"（或重新安排已知世界的變革者）。通過模仿神話英雄的道路，人們可以對(duì)變化更加開放，并發(fā)展出處理不可避免的、災(zāi)難性變化的力量，如死亡。馬爾杜克（蘇美爾神話中）和基督（基督教神學(xué)中）是神圣英雄的典范。

In the last section, the book revisits the problem of global evil. Myths always accommodate the benign and terrible aspects of personalities, such as the benevolent and the terrifying Great Mother. Even the Divine Son (Christ) has a parallel in Lucifer or Satan. The duality shows that to be courageous and virtuous, one must always grApple with the threat of the evil within. In Christian lore, Satan tempts even Christ, though Christ successfully resists temptation. Satan matches Christ in intellect but lapses into evil because he assumes omniscience. A similar pattern Appears in tyrants, who assume that their knowledge systems are complete and persecute dissenters or anyone who embraces the unknown. Peterson illustrates this through the atrocities of the Nazi regime under Adolf Hitler and Soviet Russia under Joseph Stalin. The only possible solution to fighting evil in the world is to fight it at an individual level and aspire to one’s highest self. Though this seems an idealistic and difficult ask, Peterson draws on the archetypes of medieval alchemy to show that all humans are capable of great transformation. By keeping an open mind, cultivating humility, fighting the evil within, and pursuing one’s individual interest no matter how inconvenient, all humans can be revolutionary heroes.

在最后一節(jié)中，該書重新審視了全球邪惡的問題。神話總是容納了人格的良性和可怕的一面，如仁慈的和可怕的大母親。即使是神子（基督）也有一個(gè)平行的路西法或撒旦。這種雙重性表明，要想成為勇敢和有德行的人，必須始終與內(nèi)心的邪惡威脅作斗爭(zhēng)。在基督教的傳說中，撒旦甚至誘惑了基督，盡管基督成功地抵制了誘惑。撒旦在智力上與基督不相上下，但由于他自以為是的全知全能而陷入邪惡。類似的模式出現(xiàn)在暴君身上，他們認(rèn)為自己的知識(shí)體系是完整的，并迫害異議者或任何接受未知事物的人。彼得森通過阿道夫-希特勒領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的納粹政權(quán)和約瑟夫-斯大林領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的蘇維埃俄國(guó)的暴行說明了這一點(diǎn)。與世界上的邪惡作斗爭(zhēng)的唯一可能的解決方案是在個(gè)人層面上與之作斗爭(zhēng)，并向往一個(gè)人的最高自我。盡管這似乎是一個(gè)理想化的、困難的要求，但彼得森利用中世紀(jì)煉金術(shù)的原型來表明，所有人類都有能力實(shí)現(xiàn)巨大的轉(zhuǎn)變。通過保持開放的心態(tài)，培養(yǎng)謙遜的態(tài)度，與內(nèi)心的邪惡作斗爭(zhēng)，并追求個(gè)人的利益，無論多么不方便，所有的人都可以成為革命的英雄。