I finally got around to reading the op-ed linked below on Jordan Peterson. I’ll admit right up front that I’ve read neither of the two books he’s published, but I have listened to a LOT of his lectures and interviews. The author of the op-ed objects that Peterson’s Maps of Meaning is obscure, that he uses a lot of words but doesn’t really say anything, much less anything new, and he gives examples. I cannot argue with him over the selections he made. It reads like a PhD thesis.
But having heard the man speak, I think I understand why so many people pay money and stand in line to hear him. What I kept thinking while I read the criticism of Peterson was that a LOT of people seem to have benefited from what he has to say. This puzzles the people who hate him. He talks about personal accountability, duty, struggle, and most of all MEANING. And this morning my brain went “click” when I thought of a song that could be the anthem for a couple of generations of young men, and for that matter, women – John Mayer’s “Why, Georgia?” If you’re unfamiliar, the lyrics go:
I am driving up 85 in the
Kind of morning that lasts all afternoon
Just stuck inside the gloom
4 more exits to my apartment but
I am tempted to keep the car in drive
And leave it all behind
Cause I wonder sometimes
About the outcome
Of a still verdictless life
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Why, why Georgia, why?
I rent a room and I fill the spaces with
Wood in places to make it feel like home
But all I feel’s alone
It might be a quarter life crisis
Or just the stirring in my soul
Either way I wonder sometimes
About the outcome
Of a still verdictless life
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Why, why Georgia, why?
So what, so I’ve got a smile on
But it’s hiding the quiet superstitions in my head
Don’t believe me
Don’t believe me
When I say I’ve got it down
Everybody is just a stranger but
That’s the danger in going my own way
I guess it’s the price I have to pay
Still “everything happens for a reason”
Is no reason not to ask myself
If I am living it right
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Why, tell me why
Why, why Georgia, why?
Peterson tells them there’s meaning in life and how to go look for it. And that eventually there will be a verdict.
And that’s a good thing.