The Education Train rolls on..

I've stumbled upon another amazing resource for self-education in the form of Jordan Peterson's videos. This is an excerpt from his Joe Rogan interview - I chose this to act as a demo of his work because it's about how he reconciles religion and science. Actually he also reconciles psychology, philosophy, literature, myth, and a few other things as well, and weaves them all into a tapestry that so far has kept me fascinated without ever violating rationality or veering into anything ridiculous. While he is Christian himself, he isn't dogmatic about it and he freely talks about the comparative elements - the fact that it takes stories from older religions and that God is an invention of Man, while at the same time being also a connection to something profoundly deep inside us or between us, so that while the Bible is in no way literally true, it contains some of the most profound truths known to man - in literary and mythological form. He also discusses the idea that something does not need to be literally or factually true in order to be true, in spite of what a lot of science geeks will tell you - you know, the kind who love to sneer at and argue with religious people.

When I first discovered Joseph Campbell I thought he did this sort of thing - well, I suppose he does, but when I try to read his books I quickly get lost - not sure if he's just way too smart for me or if his writing style is just opaque and difficult. But I have no problems of that sort with Peterson - every video I've watched thus far is clear and concise and packed with an amazing amount of info all presented with passion. He's obviously had a lifelong interest in just the same sort of ideas I do, but whereas I've mostly made what connections I can intuitively, he has a vast education to draw from - Freud, Jung, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Dostoyevsky, Shakespeare, Milton, and on and on - all writing some of the most profound human truths of all time.

Much of his YouTube channel consists of recorded lectures from his classes at University of Toronto or Harvard, but I believe he's also put together some using edited-in material as well as just talking to the camera. The link I posted above - and am posting again here - goes to his Playlists, which give a good idea of how the videos break down into subjects.

Ok, enough babble from me - this has either caught your attention or I'm wasting my time writing any more about it.