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Jordan Peterson Live on Tour: The Hidden Key to a Fulfilling Life

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Core Theme

The lecture explores the fundamental concept of sacrifice as the cornerstone of work, community, and individual maturation, arguing that stories, particularly religious narratives, provide the essential frameworks for understanding and enacting meaningful sacrifice.

Since 2018,

I've been traveling with my wife around

the world in what's essentially been a

non-stop lecture tour. And it's quite a

privilege. Um, it's a remarkable thing

to be able to extend what I was doing as

a university professor to tens of

thousands or hundreds of thousands of

people around the world. And to have the

privilege to lecture and think about

whatever grips me at the moment. We've

recorded a number of these lectures.

We're going to release one that I

delivered in Reading, Pennsylvania.

I delved into the the relationship

between the concept of sacrifice and the

idea of work. Um work is the sacrifice

of the present to the future. Work is

the sacrifice of your own self-interest

to that of your family and your

community. That's a good way to think

about it. that self-sacrificial work is

part of the proper foundation of the

world. I elaborated on those thesis in

my book, We Who Wrestle with God, and

I'm writing about it now. I'm going to

continue my lecture tour in Europe,

January through March of 2026. And so,

if you're in Europe and you're

interested in um hearing a live

elaboration of such ideas, check out my

website, jordanberson.com.

All the dates are listed there and you

have an opportunity to buy the tickets.

In any case, here's the lecture from

Reading, Pennsylvania. Um, I hope we

hope the whole team here that you find

it deep, meaningful, and useful.

All right. So, I'm going to tell you a

series of stories tonight. Um, and I'm

I'm going to make them center around the

theme of sacrifice, which of course is

everyone's favorite topic. And uh but

I'm going to start by telling you why

I'm going to tell you stories.

You know, we we are suffering from the

delusion in our culture that stories are

mere entertainment.

And that's a foolish theory. And part of

the reason it's foolish is actually

stories are entertaining.

So that's why we listen to them.

Well, why are they entertaining,

right? They're entertaining to everyone.

They're Your children will be pleased

with you

if before they go to bed, you tell them

a story. You read them a story. They can

learn things from stories.

And you will do surprising things for

stories. You'll watch them after work

because it's a form of play. you'll line

up and pay to go see a story, to go

watch a movie, to watch a play. Most of

the things that we do voluntarily,

voluntarily,

have a story structure.

And so if you're an intelligent

scientist, let's say,

let alone someone interested in

literature, you need to understand,

you need to ask yourself a very serious

question. And the question is,

well, why stories?

So let's think of what you do when you

go watch a movie. Okay?

And this is also something that will

help you understand how you understand

other people because these things are

very tightly arrang aligned.

Obviously you come to understand a

character or a series of characters when

you go see a movie because otherwise the

movie wouldn't make any sense.

So how does the author and the actors

how do the author and the actors guide

you through that process of

understanding and how do you manage that

yourself? Well, what you see in a movie

is a series of characterizations.

It's it's akin to what you see when you

meet someone multiple times. You know,

you meet someone in different situations

and you watch what do you watch? You

watch how they act. What do you

specifically watch?

You watch their eyes when you're talking

to someone, when you're getting to know

them. And the reason you do that where

there's actually evolved adaptations

that are biological that help you manage this.

this.

Your eyes are black pupils set aside set

against a colored iris against a white

background. And the reason our eyes are

like that is so that we can easily see

that they're easily visible to other

people. And they need to be easily

visible to other people because if you

can watch someone eyes, someone's eyes,

you can see what they're pointing their

eyes at. You can see what they're

attending to. You can see what's

important to them. That's what they're

attending to. And you can infer their aim.

aim.

That's what you do when you watch

someone's eyes. That's what you do when you

you

point out things to children. You

specify an aim. Children learn to point around

around

before, too. It's quite a magical talent

to point to something. Animals can't

really understand pointing. Dogs can

understand pointing better than wolves

because they've adapted to human beings.

To point to something is to specify the

target of aim. Okay. Now,

why do you want to specify someone's

target of aim, what they're attending

to, what they're interested in? Because

then you know what they're up to. And

and more than that, and this is how you

you infer their

aim from the manner in which they

conduct themselves across multiple situations.

situations.

aim specifies perception. Now, this is a

radical thing to understand, a truly

radical thing to understand because

normally the way we think of the world

is that we just look at the world and

there it is uh in a self-evident way.

The objects of the world are just there

simply and when we look they present

themselves to us. But that's that's not

how it works. Not actually because

there's an unlimited number of things

you can look at. There's a number of

unlimited number of things you can

attend to even in the surface of any

given object. There's variegated

patterns in the carpets, in the in the

walls, in the paint. There's shadows and

lights. There's changes in illumination.

There's a trillion things going on. And

how you simplify that to what you

actually see is quite a mystery. And the

way that you do that, by the way, is

with your aim. Right? Your aim specifies

the landscape of your perceptions. And

what you really see in the world aren't

so much objects as pathways forward.

Tools that you can use to move towards

your aim. Obstacles that will get in the way.

way. Friends,

Friends,

the human equivalent of

what would you say the age that move you

along your way. Enemies those are people

who block your pathway. And agents of

transformation. And those are magical

things in a sense that transform your

aim. You know, sometimes you're moving

from point A to point B and you realize

something fundamental or revolutionary

and now instead of moving towards point

A, point B, you're moving towards point

C. You're a new person. You're doing

something new. You've changed. You have

a new personality. Right? The world is

shaped differently for you. The way that

things make themselves manifest has

shifted. Who your friends are and who

your foes are is different. And your

mode, your essential mode of being, your

personality has transformed. This is

what you're doing when you go watch a

movie. You see, you see someone,

the protagonist, the hero or the

anti-hero, doesn't really matter.

They're both exemplars. They're both

patterns that you can learn from. You

see them in multiple situations.

You see them acting in the world and you

infer their aim. As soon as you infer

their aim, you can inhabit the same

world they inhabit. That's actually why

movies are meaningful to you because as

soon as you have the aim of the

character, the world appears to you the

same way it appears to the character.

The objects of the world are the same

and so are the emotions that you

experience and the protagonist

experiences. And you get to do that for

free in a sense, right? You go see a

James Bond movie and there's death

everywhere. And you can death and

adventure everywhere. And you can

participate in that without having to

die. And it's very useful to be able to

explore very complicated ways of looking

at the world without having to pay the

ultimate price for it. Greer and

Catherine, their four-year-old son, was

diagnosed with a degenerative illness

that initiated a discussion about

resilience in children. resilience in

general. It's a challenge for any parent

to figure out when to nurture, when to

push, when to comfort, how that works.

It sounds like your son is social and

he's verbal and he's smart and he's

imaginative. Certainly, your task is

going to be to help him find his way.

He's going to have to be the person who

figures out how much he's going to be

willing to fall on his face. I want to

be an oak tree, but also a source of of

light. My daughter was very ill for

several decades.

She was doomed with her illness and she

figured it out and she's like firing on

all cylinders. So, who knows what you

what you can manage if you maintain your

You don't have to have all the answers.

You just have to have answers to the

questions he's asking. [Music]

And we're continually doing that with

each other. We're continually telling

each other our stories. We're we're

exchanging our aims. We're exchanging

the manner in which we look at the world

with one another. We're exchanging our

emotional experience. It's really that's

what we have to offer each other. That's

what we have to offer each other that's

of value. are alternative modes of being

that might be more suitable, aims that

might be more suitable, pathways forward

that might be more efficient, tools that

might be more useful, obstacles, ways to

climb over obstacles we hadn't imagined.

This is what stories do for us. A story

is a description of the structure

through which you look at the world.

This is a radical thing to understand.

It's it's quite unlike the typical

materialist reductionist scientific view

of the world, which is that you follow

the facts as they reveal themselves.

That's not true. There's an infinite

number of facts. If someone throws you

in the middle of the desert and you're

lost, the facts aren't going to guide

you forward, right? You need a map. You

need an aim. You need a mode of

perception that structures the world so

that you can navigate through it. That's

what his story is. That's what his story

is. And this is a very fundamental

discovery. This discovery was really

only made starting in the 1960s. And a

variety of different

disciplines, humanistic and scientific,

converged on this realization

more or less simultaneously.

The French literary critics, the

postmodern types for example, they got

there quite early. The postmodernists

realized that we saw the world through a

story. Now they fouled up soon

afterwards with their presumption that

the story through which we see the world

is one of power that tilted them towards

a demented and pathological Marxism. But

the at the same time robotics engineers

and people who are studying AI and

computation and cognitive psychologists

and people who are investigating

perception and emotion they all came to

very similar conclusions right the

structure through which we see the world

is a story right we see the world

through a story once you know that

well why use the story to simplify the

world and to specify it so for here I'll

give you a very simple example so if I'm

standing on on this side of the stage

and I decide that I want to walk to that

side of the stage. So now I've specified

my aim. Well, obviously I look towards

my destination right now. So what

happens? Well, first of all, all you

people instantly become irrelevant,

right? Why? Well, you're still here. I

could be attending to you, but why don't

I? Well, you're not relevant to my goal,

right? You're not in the pathway. You're

you're neither a facilitator nor an

impediment. You're simply not relevant.

and everything that's not relevant to

your aim, that's going to disappear,

right? And so that's how you make a

decision about how to simplify the

world. You you simplify and specify the

world with your aim.

Things that get in your way, they're

negative. Things that move you forward,

th those are positive,

right? And so, so, so there's one here's

an early moral lesson from that

realization. If the world is manifesting

itself to you as nothing but thorns and

impediments with no positive impulse,

let's say, or calling to move forward,

there is something wrong with your aim.

The word sin, by the way, it's an

archery term, at least from the Greek,

although three languages converged on

the same derivation.

The Greek word for sin is hamartia, and

it's an archery term. it means to miss

the target. And so that's a good thing

to know, right? I mean, if we're going

to investigate the structure of the

stories that guide us, it's useful to

understand the most fundamental stories

we have. It's clearly the case that the

most fundamental stories we have, the

stories out of which our culture emerged

are the stories of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

tradition.

And those are encapsulated most

fundamentally in the biblical stories.

And one of the there's an emphasis in

the biblical stories on sin, let's say,

as a negative mode of being. And sin is

characterized as failure to hit the

target. It's a

it's an archery term. Well, how can you

fail to hit the target? Well, there's

lots of ways

you can fail to specify the target.

That's what happens when people have a

fragmented story. They don't have their

act together. Things have fallen apart.

They've wandered off the pathway.

They're no longer on the straight and

narrow path. They've wandered into

predition. They're in the outer darkness

where there's nashing of teeth. That's

all. They're in the desert that the

Israelites encounter after they leave

the tyranny. They're in the wasteland.

They're consumed by chaos. The flood has

come. That's all a consequence of

failure of vision, failure of aim. Uh a

landscape that's bereft of structure, a

place of anxiety and hopelessness,

because that's actually what happens to

you. neurologically, neurosychologically,

neurosychologically,

when you're aimless, you are overwhelmed

with anxiety because there's too bloody

many choices and you have no hope

because hope is experienced in

relationship to a goal. So, you need a

goal. You need to structure your aim.

This is not optional. You know, John

when he introduced me made reference to

a study in the UK that said that 85%

thereabouts of inhabitants of the UK

felt their life was meaningless. says,

"Well, what's the proper diagnosis of

that?" The people perish without a vision,

vision,

right? You need an aim. Okay, so now we

know a couple of things. You see the

world through a story and you're lost

and hopeless without a name. Okay, so

another question immediately emerges

once you know that. And that is well if

you if you structure your perception of

the world, your emotional experience of

the world, your motivation, your

understanding of others as a consequence

of a story,

what should the story be?

Okay, that's the question that the

biblical library because it's a library,

right? The Bible is a library of books

of separate books that were written by

separate authors, separate human

authors. and aggregated together for

reasons we don't fully understand into

what actually constitutes a coherent

narrative which is really quite a

remarkable thing. It's not obvious at

all how that narrative came about and

it's a remarkable fact that it has a

very deep coherence. You could attribute

it to the collective workings of the

human imagination. That's sort of a

psychoanalytic take that would be akin

to the interpretations that someone like

the Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung might

have uh proposed or say Joseph

Campbell's study of a great investigator

into the structure of mythology or you

can take the religious tac and say that

it's the it's the what cumulative record

of the revelations of the divine or you

can take the cynical tac and say that

it's nothing but stories told by fellow

human beings. Well, there's no such

thing as nothing but stories, right? Not

if stories are more than mere

entertainment. Not if stories are

actually a representation of the

structure through which you see the

world. There's nothing mere about

stories. Not in the least, you know. And

if we need stories to organize our our

action and our perceptions in the world,

if we need stories to organize our life,

that means our life depends on stories.

And you might ask yourself, well, isn't

what your life depends on real? Like,

what's your definition of real? How

about pain? Is that real? A story that

provides your life with meaning can be a

a medication against existential

catastrophe. And people die without

meaning, right? You can die of your you

can die of everyday suffering without

meaning. What does that mean? Well, this

story leaves you or the story that

you're living is false or hollow or the

story that you're living is fragmented

and incoherent. The the consequences of

that can be fatal.

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What's real? Well, the story is real.

Well, what's the story? What's the

proper story of of mankind? What's the

proper story that

makes you a formidable, practical,

practical, generous,

generous, hospitable

hospitable

contributor to the social order? What's

the story that makes you a good husband

or wife? What's the story that makes you

a good mother or father? What's the

story that brings your family together?

maybe in harmony with your town and in

and all of that in harmony with the

state and all of that in harmony with

the nation under some higher order aim,

right? That's an aim that unites. That's

the monotheistic aim. That's the unity

of story that underlies everything.

That's a way of thinking about it,

right? That everything stacks together

in this kind of harmonious manner. And

that harmonious hierarchical arrangement

all the way from the individual to the

highest level of social order.

It has a nature. Well, what what stories might

might

what stories might be typical of human

beings? Well, the leftist types, the Marxists,

Marxists,

the postmodernists for that matter, most

of them, they believe that the

fundamental human story is one of power.

You know, and we're in a culture war

about this. Make no mistake about it.

This is this you know that you wouldn't

be here otherwise. This is not a trivial

matter. The insistence from the

materialist types for the last 100 years.

years.

One of the profound insistences was that

the only true the only reality on the

narrative side is one of power. This is

what people are taught in universities

constantly. How do you understand

marriage? Well, it's the story of the

power of the patriarchy in so far as

that regulates man and woman in in in

the cultural sphere. Marriage is a

patriarchal institution. It's the

fundamental subjugation of woman to man.

Well, how do you understand economic

relationships? Oh, it's power. It's the

exploitation of the worker to take a

Marxist trope by the by the capitalist

class, by the owner. It's a victim

victimizer story. It's the same thing.

It's power.

There's a distribution of privilege.

Those who are at the pinnacle of the who

who are at the successful end of the

distribution, they're the oppressors.

They use power to exploit those who are

weak. That explains all economic

relationships. You can apply the same

lens to history. History is nothing but

the power struggle between different

claims to power. That is absolutely what

people are being taught in our

institutes of higher education. And

there's it's unlikely that there's a

doctrine that's more corrosive in

relationship to the actual spirit

upon which your country and the free

West in general was founded.

Those are antithetical stories. What's

the what's the alternative story? Well,

let's let's lay some out. Here's another story.

story.

Do what you want will be the

totality of the law. Though that's a

somewhat mangled quotation from

Alistister Crowley, who was a Satanist

in the late part of the 1800s.

1800s.

He was a he was like a disciple of the

Marque Assad. He was one of these people

who believed

as you can believe rationally that why

the hell shouldn't I do just exactly

what I want whenever I want to whoever I

want regardless of well let's say the

cost to them what's the rational

argument against that

what if I have power and I won't get

caught for example if I just get away

with what my the untra

expression of my most primordial

desires. Why not let that be the story?

One whim after another. That's the

hedonistic story. It's it's a cacophony,

that story, because as you know from

your own experience, if you give

yourself over to your immediate wants,

you're just one appetite after another,

right? There's no real coherence there.

You're basically you basically have the

same psychological status as a very

badly behaved 2-year-old.

Well, two two-year-olds are like that.

They don't have a integrated

their self, their fundamental

pattern of being and personality isn't

integrated yet. And so, they're more or

less at the mercy of their whims. And a

hedonist, a hedenist is a worshipper of

his own whims, right? And he's a pagan

in that sense because it's just one damn

desire after another. And he might say

to himself, well, those are my desires.

He might identify with those desires.

And that's really what would you say the

cardinal form of identification in the

modern world. I identify with my what my

wants are particularly sexual wants.

That constitutes my identity. And anyone

who gets in the way can go directly to

hell. And that's a very pathological

mode of being. And there's a variety of

reasons for it, not least that it's

exactly reflective of the same kind of

immaturity that makes 2-year-olds

entirely self-centered and driven by

instinct. Now, you might say, well,

what's wrong with that? You know, and

2-year-olds have their delightful

element. You know, they're very

enthusiastic. They're very spontaneous.

They're kind of alive in a fiery way,

but they're completely incapable

incapable

of taking care of themselves.

Right? And this isn't this isn't a

hypothesis. You don't see roving bands

of thriving 2-year-olds running through

the forest organizing themselves. Well,

why not? Well, it's because that

short-term selfcentered whim dominated

possession doesn't allow you to exist in

the world. You have to mature. And of

course, that's what you're trying to do

with your kids as a parent is you're

trying to shepherd them through the

process of maturation. Well, why? Well,

so that how about so they have some

friends? Because if it's all about them,

well, then they don't have any friends.

And that goes for all of you, too. If

it's all about you, good luck with your

marriage. If it's all about you, you

don't have friends. You might have, if

you're a bully in particular, you might

have, you know, toadies and and thugs

who benefit from your use of power, but

you don't have friends. If you exploit

your customers as a business person repeatedly

repeatedly

to redown to your own immediate

advantage, you're not going to have

customers for very long.

Your reputation is going to precede you.

You're not going to do well in the

world. So, what do you do instead?

Power is a bad story. It's a corrupt way

of looking at the world. It leads to violence.

violence.

It's generally manifested in service to

a narrow kind of hedenism because why

have power unless it's to get exactly

what the hell the worst of you wants

from moment to moment if you're not

under the sway of some self-centered and

relatively malevolent whim. You don't

need to use power on other people

because you could just ask them to go

along for the for the journey and maybe

they would. That's what you do when you

play instead of when you use force.

That's what you do when you invite.

instead of using force. That's what you

do when you establish a vision that

other people share instead of being a tyrant.

tyrant.

Well, that's what you do if you're

mature. That's even what 2-year-olds

understand by the time they're three

when they start engaging in pretend play

with with a would-be friend. Who's a

friend to a 2-year-old? Well, the first

thing or three-year-old, cuz

three-year-olds start to become social.

Well, the first thing you want to do if

you're a three-year-old is play a game

with someone. That's not the same as

having your own game, right? If you play

a game with someone else, there are some

intrinsic rules. Well, what are the

rules? Well, how about they get a turn,

right? And maybe a generous turn, right?

Cuz if you're going to have a friend and

you want the friend to like you, which

is kind of like the definition of a

friend, and someone who likes you would

like to see you again. And that

continuity of the desire to see you

again and to play together. That's the

definition of friendship. It's a

sequence of games played with the same

person. The game has to be voluntary. It

has to be invitational. It has to be reciprocal.

reciprocal.

Right? And so what you're trying to do

with your 2-year-old is you're getting

them to sacrifice the immediate

gratification of their instincts to reciprocity.

reciprocity.

Right now, you do you do something

that's a bit more sophisticated than

that, too. Because the other thing you

do with children and yourself and with

people you love if you're the least bit

sensible is you let them know that they

shouldn't conduct themselves in a manner

in the immediate present that

compromises their future. Right? That's

what you mean when you tell your child

don't do stupid things. Well, what's a

stupid thing? Generally speaking,

something interesting and entertaining

in the moment that you pay for, right?

And that's the same as an impulsive bad

habit in adulthood. It's like the

definition of a bad habit. A bad habit

is something that works now and not so

good tomorrow or next week or next month

or next year or 5 years from now or 10

years from now. That implies as well that

that

just as the child establishes

a relationship of reciprocity with the

friend by starting to understand the

future they establish a reciprocal

relationship with their future self and

that's the same thing. So what

maturation is we all know this

maturation is the ability let's say to

share and to forego gratification to

delay gratification. What does it mean

to delay gratification? It means you

don't get what the hell you want right

now all the time. You have to conduct

yourself in a manner that assures

communal stability, let's say, and

reciprocity. And in the enjoyable sense,

you want to be surrounded by friends and

compatriots and people who move you

forward and people who wish you well

because that's going to be a lot better

for you than the alternative. And you

want to do that in a manner that assures

the future. The whole cortical higher cortical

cortical

apparati that human beings are blessed

and cursed with is there to integrate the

the

possessive possessing spirits that might

otherwise be

impulsive and fractionating. integrate

them into a personality that can

act reciprocally in relationship to

others and guide itself as a consequence

of apprehension of the future. It's a

definition of maturity. Now, you kind of

know this because as your children

mature, as you've matured, the amount of

time you can consider expands, right?

for a fouryear-old sitting down to take

piano lessons, half an hour is an

eternity, right? For a 13-year-old,

6 months into the future is forever. By

the time you're 50, a year is like a week,

week,

right? Well, and and there's a loss in

that to some degree, but there's a huge

gain because as you develop, your

capacity to apprehend the consequences

of your actions across broader spans of

time is much improved. And that reflects

cortical maturation. And the same thing

happens with regards to your ability to

manage yourself socially.

What does it mean to manage yourself

socially? Well, it means as I said that

it's not all about you. Your aim can't

be the immediate gratification of the

whims that possess you. If you're married,

married,

if you're married, if you have a wife or

husband, is your wife or husband,

how do they stand in relationship to

their importance in relationship to you?

Well, we could just think about it in a

sort of clear-headed manner. Let's say

you have a scrap with your wife. You

have a fight with your wife, a

disagreement, and you win. You win.

She's wrong. She's punished for it in

whatever way you can manage. What's the

problem with that? You're right. She's

wrong. Well, let's say you do that 50 times.

times.

Well, now you're living with someone

who's you always defeat.

And so now you're living with someone

who's defeated. And what's the problem

with that? Well, they're around,

right? And so maybe that's the problem

with attaining a manipulated victory

over your marital partner. Fine if it's

a one-off, but you know they're there

when you wake up in the morning and so

is the consequence of your what?

Self-centered power-based maneuvering,

right? And maybe you're a victorious

tyrant and she's a defeated slave. Well,

that's not much of a victory there,

buddy. Right? And I and the same applies

to any reciprocal social relationship.

You know, if you have any sense, if you

think it through, you want to build up

the people that are around you. Well,

why? Well, cuz they're around you.

And so if you were a generous, if you

made generous offerings to the social

world and you improved the nexus of

relationships that you were involved in,

why wouldn't that be good for you? Now,

you might think, well, there's only so

much to go around and if everyone else

wins, I lose. But that's another story

and it's the story of power and it's a

very bad story and it's not true because

the truth of the matter is is that

there's more than enough for everyone to

do and your victory doesn't have to ever

come at the cost of someone else's

defeat. I shouldn't say ever. I mean

there are times when

you know people are headtohead and the

game that's being played isn't fair and

it's your victory or your defeat. But

those are very

pathological and unnecessary

circumstances and it would be better to

do everything you can to ever avoid

being in a situation like that.

Situations like that arise when your

relationships have deteriorated

radically. And and I would say as well

the same thing applies to the story of

power. Power is the manner in which

social relationships or even your

relationship with yourself. It's the

story that makes itself manifest when

the proper story collapses.

Right? It's the degeneration of a state

that turns it into a tyranny. It's not

the victory of a state. It's the same at

every level of social relationship. If

you're tyrannizing yourself, that's a

failure. If you're tyrannizing your

wife, that's a failure. The same with

your children, the same with your

friends. That's not an optimized pattern

of being. It's not about you.

It's not about the whims that narrowly

possess you. That's a more accurate formulation.

formulation.

So what does that imply?

If it's not about you, it means you have

to give up something to be social and to

mature, right? What do you have to give

up? You have to give up what the

2-year-old gives up. You have to give up

getting what the hell you want the

second you want it all the time, no

matter what. So what are you giving up?

You're giving up

the momentary

whims that possess you that you could

identify with. You're giving up your

wants. Maybe you're giving up your

needs. What does it mean to give them up?

up?

I said it means the other person gets a turn.

turn.

It means that the future is taken into account.

account.

What does that imply? It implies that

you made a sacrifice.

Okay. So, so here's something to think

about and it'll guide us through the

rest of the talk. The basis of maturity

and community is sacrifice.

Okay. Now, it has to be that way. It you

understand like this isn't an arbitrary proposition.

proposition.

We're communal beings and we're future

oriented. So, because we're future

oriented, we have to give up the

present, right? Because we have to bring

up the present. We cannot sacrifice the

future to the present. That's why you

can't do impulsive, stupid, terribly

interesting and entertaining things.

That's people drink so that they can

fool themselves into thinking that's

okay. And it is. It's a blast while it's

happening. But the next day tends to be

a rather dismal affair, especially if

you've seriously gone overboard, let's

say. And the reason for that is that

it's too easy to sacrifice the future to

the impulsive pleasures of the moment.

And you know as a self-conscious being that

that

you're going to have to bear the

consequences of your actions as they

propagate across time. And then it's the

same with the others that you come into

contact with because you're communal,

because you're social. That's the human

mode of being. You have to give up the

fact that it's all about the local and

narrow present centered you. That's the

sacrifice. So what does that mean?

Community is predicated on sacrifice.

All right? So that implies

that the central story of mankind is one

of sacrifice. Okay? So now you if you

know that you've got a fundamental key

to understanding the fundamental stories

of our culture, the biblical stories

because the biblical library is an

examination of sacrifice.

Okay. So now we're going to expand on

that. I want to make it very clear so

that it's perfectly understandable.

We'll start with the story of Adam and Eve.

Eve.

So, Adam and Eve are the archetypal

father and mother of us all. They're you

could think about them as the pattern of

masculinity and femininity as such. It's

something like that. Speaking metaphorically.

metaphorically.

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You know perfectly well that when you go

see a movie, you don't just see a video

camera following someone around

for two hours of their life, right? You

don't see them wake up and you don't

watch them blink and you don't watch

them make their bed. You don't watch

them go through the mundane things that

make up day-to-day life. You're not

interested in that. You're interested in

an abstraction of their

of their mode of being. You want the

author, the writer to present you with

the drama of their life. You want

the character that's being portrayed to

be a an abstraction of those elements of

human aim and motivation that capture

your interest. Right? So a fictional

account is a distillation.

Right? Which means that fiction

modern people because we think that

stories are entertainment. We think that

fiction is the opposite of fact. And

that's a foolish thing to think. We know

it's foolish because we know that works

of great literature are true, right? We

know that crime and punishment is true.

We know that the brother's kamazov or

war and peace is true. Well, it's

fictional. It never happened. So, how

can it be true? And the answer is, well,

it's a distillation of what's true,

right? A character like Rcolnikov in

Crime and Punishment, a character like

the Joker in in The Dark Knight is a

distillation of everything that's

pathological, right, into one character.

Now, is that real? Well, it's not real

in that it is a videotaped

representation of an actual sequence of

events. It's real in that it's a

profound abstraction. And you might say,

well, abstractions aren't real. It's

like, really? Words are abstractions.

Are they real? How about numbers?

Numbers are abstractions.

There's lots of mathemat mathematicians

who think that numbers are the most real

thing. Well, what does that mean? Well,

if you're a master of numbers, you

master the world. So, how is that not

real? How is an abstraction and a

distillation not real? Fiction isn't the

opposite of fact. Fiction is hyper real.

And the deeper the fiction so to speak,

the deeper the distillation, the more

real it is. And literature, great

literature in particular is very deep.

But mythology, religious accounts,

religious stories are the deepest form

of abstraction.

So they're the most true. Now, they're

the most true. How does it mean that the

they help you specify your aim better

than anything else? There's a definition

of true like an arrow flying true,

right? something that strikes right to

the heart. You get your story straight.

You see the world in a true manner, right?

right?

Adam and Eve are the distillation of

what it means to be human. That's a good

way of thinking about it. Adam, for

example, is charged by God with the task

of naming and subduing the world. What

is that a reference to? The masculine proclivity

proclivity

to set things in a determinant order.

That's the what would you say? impetus

towards the patriarchal hierarchy. Right?

Right?

Even the feminists admit that the social

order is a masculine construct. Well,

that's Adam's task. He's to God charges

him with that after his creation. To

subdue and name the world. What does it

mean to subdue? It means to get every

give everything its proper do. to put

everything in its proper place in in the

appropriate story. That's the right way

to think about it. To give everything

its name, to specify the things of the

world in a manner that allows in Genesis

1, the garden to be shepherded and

stewarded properly.

That's Adam's job. What's Eve's job?

Well, it's an equal job. That's why

she's taken from Adam's rib. It's an

equal job. The word Eve means in in

Hebrew is eerdo. What does that mean? It

means something like I have to hit it

from multiple perspectives to get it

right. It means something like marshall

partner in challenging play. Marshall in

the military sense.

Eer means military ally. That's one of

its connotations, right? So it's a it's

a relationship of strength. It's a

relationship of challenge. What's

optimized challenge?

How would you define optimized

challenge? Think about it this way.

Imagine you want to play one-on-one

basketball and you want to win. Okay, so

you're 6'5 and you have a nephew and

he's like six and he's, you know, 4t

tall and you think he'll be a good

partner because because why? Well, if I

play one-on-one basketball with him,

I'm going to win. And of course, you

want to be a winner, so why not

be 6'5 and stomp the hell out of your

nephew when you're playing one-on-one

basketball. And you might say, "Well,

that's not any fun." And then I might

say, "Well, you're trying to win and

it's pretty much assured." And you say,

"Well, maybe I don't want an assured

victory." And that's why you get married.

I'm dead serious about that. I'm dead

serious about that. You could imagine this.

this.

Imagine that's love. Imagine love as an

instinct. Okay? Now, you could imagine

a divine gift of grace.

It doesn't matter to me which of those

two perspectives you adopt.

Imagine love as an instinct. Well,

what's the instinct?

It's the instinct to set yourself up

with optimized challenge. Why?

So you grow.

So your eye falls on someone and love

emerges, right? It's a calling to you.

It's not something you create. It's

something that appears to you. What's

the estimate that your instinct to love

I can spar with this person in a manner

that will make both of us grow. That's

what the love signifies,

right? And it's, as I said, you can

think about it as an instinct, you can

think about it as a divine act of grace.

The two things converge. It makes no

difference to me whether it's a bottom

up phenomena or a top- down phenomena.

What does it mean to enjoy being with

You want a partner in play who's matched

with you, right? You don't want to be

the 6'5 bully who's winning every game

because his opponent is not capable of

pushing him or her to the limits of

their ability. Well, why do you want to

be pushed to the limit of your ability?

So, you improve.

Well, why improve?

Well, what's the alternative? a dull

stasis, a dull meaningless stasis or a degeneration

degeneration

in so far as pain and anxiety are real

and hopelessness as well. Those seem

like unacceptable alternatives. It's

certainly not what you want for your

children or for anyone you love you.

What you'd hope for them is that they find

find

an occupation, they find an educational

pathway, they find a partner that puts

them on the edge of their development so

they can dance on the edge, so that they

can continue to unfold, so that they can

be better for themselves,

so they can be better for the future,

and so they can be better for everyone

else. And maybe that optimized

challenge, that love indexes, is the

voice of the spirit that calls you to

that continued pattern of adaptation.

That's Eve partnered with Adam. What's

Eve's role?

Well, we kind of know what the female

role is. We could speak biologically

again, the feminine role. Women are more

sensitive to negative emotion on average

than men. That's a cross-culturally

validated finding. It's very well

established. It goes along with the

female increased female propensity for

depression and anxiety. Men have their

problems, don't get me wrong. They're

much more likely to be antisocial.

There's all sorts of sex-typed

pathologies. I'm not trying to single

women out. Not in the least. There's no

reason to assume that ability and

proclivity for catastrophe are anything

but equally distributed between the two

sexes. Right? We speaking biologically,

we co-evolved.

There's no reason to assume that the

relationship isn't one of radical

equality for better or worse.

Women are also more agreeable. What does

that mean? They're more they're more

instinctively empathic. Well, why would

women be more sensitive to negative

emotion and more instinctively empathic?

Well, let's start with negative emotion.

Boys and girls don't differ much in

their general patterns of negative

emotion. The differences emerge at

puberty. Well, why would women become

more sensitive to negative emotion at

puberty? Well, see if you can figure it

out. Well, here's a couple of reasons. Sexual

Sexual

dimmorphism in strength emerges more

profoundly at puberty. So men have much

more upper body strength. They're more

physically they're more capable of

physical domination in dispute. Women

are very

they're very good at long-d distanceance

endurance sports. They're very

resilient, but as fighters,

they lose. So what does that imply in

terms of sensitivity to threat? Well,

the world's a more dangerous place for

women. Why else? Well, they're sexually

vulnerable in a way that men aren't. And

that makes itself present obviously at

puberty. Why are they more sexually

vulnerable? Here's the definition of a

woman. I don't know if that's what you

came here for tonight. You know the you

know the Matt Walsh movie, What is a

We We know we know the answer to that.

It isn't chromosomal even biologically.

Now, chromosome differentiation is a

very powerful marker of sex. But it's

not the fundamental distinction. The

fundamental biological distinction

between male and female is quite clear.

Females are the sex that contribute more

to reproduction.

So for example, the egg is 10 million

times the volume of the sperm. And so

right at that level, the initial level

of conception, the female is already

doing the female is already making the

larger sacrifice. So there's a

definition of a woman. A woman is the

sex who makes the larger sacrifice for reproduction.

reproduction.

Now, you have to be a fool to dispute

that. Obviously, women carry babies like

they're pregnant and they take primary

responsibility for infants when they're

in their most dependent state. That puts

them at a disadvantage socioeconomically.

socioeconomically.

It's very much it's difficult,

differentially difficult for women to

maneuver in the world when they're

pregnant or when they have dependent

infants. So, what does that mean with

regards to mate choice? Means that they

look for men who are

capable of keeping the predators who

might prey on infants and them at bay

productive and generous. And so women

look for markers of social status to

index attractiveness.

Why? Because they outsource the problem

of who's the better man to the men and

they let them compete and they peel from

the top. And it's a brilliant strategy. So,

So,

why do women reject men?

Well, I just told you why. And so, that

might be very irritating.

If you're rejected,

it is very irritating. There's probably

nothing worse in a sense, but like how

in the world could it be any different

because the stakes are high. So

women are more sensitive to negative

emotion and they're more empathic and agreeable.

agreeable.

What does that mean? Why is that? Well,

we talked about some of the reasons. Why

else? Because they have to care for

dependent infants. So here's the rule

for caring for an infant up to about 7

months old. Whatever the infant wants goes,

goes,

right? An infant in distress is never

wrong. Now you can't say that about a

creature of any other age, right? Once

children are capable of moving, crawling even,

even,

they're not entirely dependent and every single

single

demand for gratification they make

manifest is does not have to be met with immediate

immediate

what would you say does not have to be

addressed immediately at the cost of

everything. It's not the case with

infants six months and lower. Whatever

they need and want now, that's what's to

be provided, right? And so women are

tilted towards that kind of care. Okay?

What does that mean in the biblical context?

context?

Adam's role is to name and subdue to establish

establish

order. What's the problem with

establishing order? you might leave

Women are the voice of that which has

been left out.

Well, what does that mean? Well, you

know what it means. If if you've had a

family, if you're in a marriage,

women bring the attention of men

to the concerns of the vulnerable.

And you know, if you have a family and

you have two kids and then you have a

third baby,

the family's already settled into a kind

of stable order, let's say, but now you

have this new infant and it's a

completely new creature and it's got a

new temperament. God only knows what

it's up to. It's extremely complicated

creature and there has to be adjustments

made to the structure of order so that

that child can find its place. And the

women are in contact with that and their

emotional makeup and perceptual

structure. They're better at decoding

non-verbal behavior, for example, than

men are. That enables them to speak for the

the marginalized,

marginalized,

right? That accounts in large part for

the political divide between men and

Amongst the marginalized are the serpentine,

right? Not everybody who cries victim is

an infant.

Some of the creatures that cry victim

are monsters.

And you shouldn't clutch them to your breast.

breast.

That's what Eve does with the snake. She

clutches the serpentine to her breast. Why?

To announce to herself the supreme power

of her compassion.

Right? That's the pattern. That's the

eternal pattern of female sin

as laid out in the second story in the

biblical corpus. What's the sin of men?

Adam because he falls immediately after

Eve. Eve hearkens to the voice of the

serpent who is the immediate

manifestation of the luciferian spirit

of the usurper

and the deceiver. That's the

mythological structure. What does that

mean? Psychopaths use victim status to

gain what they want. Right? And

prideful, compassionate fools fall for

it. Why? to elevate their compassion to

the highest place.

Not a wise move. What's

Adam's sin?

What do men want?

They want to impress women.

I worked with lawyers for years, you

know, high-end lawyers, people who ran

law firms, who were partners of senior

law firms, and they made a lot of money.

$1,000 an hour, a lot of money.

Why were they interested in the money?

Well, there are materialistic reasons

for being interested in money. We don't

have to cover them. But most of them

regarded the money, especially their

bonuses, as what did they say? That's

how we keep score. What did that mean?

Well, that was how the men rankordered

themselves in the status hierarchy

within the firms. And that's very common

among men. They're rankordering status

all the time. Why? Because women peel

from the top. The biggest predictor of a

woman's attractiveness to a a man's

attractiveness to a woman

cross-culturally is his comparative

status among other men. It's a walloping

predictor. It's by far the biggest

contributor. And we said why? Well, why?

Well, because a woman doesn't need

another infant,

right? She needs someone who can help.

And how does she find out? Well, she

sees who wins the contest among men, and

she assumes that the winner is the

winner, and so why not have him? And

it's a perfectly reasonable way of

conducting an analysis. It can be gamed,

but that's a different story.

So, what's Adam's sin?

He tries to impress Eve.

So when she comes to him announcing

her new relationship with the serpentine

he says no problem dear whatever you

want and fails to

establish the proper borders of order

what happens that's the fall of mankind

okay so what does that mean it's very

complicated idea there's a Christian

idea deep Christian idea that suffering

is the consequence of sin and that the

worst sin let's say is the sin of pride.

Adam and Eve both fall prey to the sin

of pride in the feminine way and the

masculine way. Adam says, "I got this,

baby." And Eve says, "We can even clutch

the serpent to our breasts." Right?

Right. That's their That's their typical

forms of pathology. What happens to

people who bite off more than they can

chew? What happens to people who attempt

to incorporate and digest the inedible?

they fall. That's what happens to Adam

and Eve. Pride comes before a fall.

Okay. So, what does that have to do with

suffering? That's a complicated

question, right? Because you might think

and and rightly so. You know, that

suffering itself seems to be built into

the structure of the world, right? I

mean, we're fragile. We can be hurt. Our

children are hurt. They stumble. They

scrape their knees. They break their

arms and legs. They develop terrible diseases like we all do. There seems to

diseases like we all do. There seems to be an element of suffering and

be an element of suffering and vulnerability built into the world. What

vulnerability built into the world. What else causes suffering?

else causes suffering? Biting off more than you can chew.

Biting off more than you can chew. Right? So you imagine how many times

Right? So you imagine how many times you're struggling forward in

you're struggling forward in disenchanted misery

disenchanted misery because you've

because you've fallen away from what you should pursue.

fallen away from what you should pursue. because you've falsely arrandized

because you've falsely arrandized yourself or taken on a task,

yourself or taken on a task, claimed to be able to take on a task or

claimed to be able to take on a task or to have a skill that you don't possess.

to have a skill that you don't possess. Setting yourself up for a fall. What's

Setting yourself up for a fall. What's the consequence of that misery?

the consequence of that misery? How much of the misery of the world is

How much of the misery of the world is that? That's a real interesting

that? That's a real interesting question. You know, we actually don't

question. You know, we actually don't know, right? We we've established let's

know, right? We we've established let's say in the course of this dialogue that

say in the course of this dialogue that there's a certain amount of suffering

there's a certain amount of suffering that's a mere consequence of the

that's a mere consequence of the structure of the world. The arbitrary

structure of the world. The arbitrary nature of reality, you know, the sort of

nature of reality, you know, the sort of random distribution of vulnerability and

random distribution of vulnerability and illness. But by the same token,

illness. But by the same token, man, you can do a lot of stupid things

man, you can do a lot of stupid things to make your life worse. And so, you got

to make your life worse. And so, you got to ask yourself, if you stop doing those

to ask yourself, if you stop doing those stupid things and you aimed in the

stupid things and you aimed in the proper direction, how much of the

proper direction, how much of the suffering that's attendant on life would

suffering that's attendant on life would vanish? And the answer is, well, quite a

vanish? And the answer is, well, quite a lot. Cuz you know that when you when

lot. Cuz you know that when you when you're doing your best, when you have

you're doing your best, when you have your act together, when you're not

your act together, when you're not pridefully overreaching, when you're not

pridefully overreaching, when you're not overextending yourself, when you're not

overextending yourself, when you're not acting falsely, when you're not trying

acting falsely, when you're not trying to usurp and claim what's not yours,

to usurp and claim what's not yours, when you're not trying to be the

when you're not trying to be the pinnacle of the moral order, let's say,

pinnacle of the moral order, let's say, life's a lot better. And then it's an

life's a lot better. And then it's an open question. Well, how much better

open question. Well, how much better would it be if you were really good at

would it be if you were really good at that? And then there's another question

that? And then there's another question which would be how much better would

which would be how much better would life be in total if everyone was doing

life be in total if everyone was doing that right if everyone was walking with

that right if everyone was walking with God in the garden instead of taking to

God in the garden instead of taking to themselves the right to define the moral

themselves the right to define the moral order.

order. How much suffering would vanish? All of

How much suffering would vanish? All of it.

It's hard for me to see how all suffering could vanish given our mortal

suffering could vanish given our mortal constraints. But

constraints. But you can sure take a bad situation and

you can sure take a bad situation and make it worse with stupidity.

make it worse with stupidity. So

So the Christian insistence that suffering

the Christian insistence that suffering enters the world with sin, maybe it's

enters the world with sin, maybe it's more the suffering that makes the world

more the suffering that makes the world unbearable enters the world with sin.

unbearable enters the world with sin. Right? Because there's nothing more

Right? Because there's nothing more effortful than the work you have to do

effortful than the work you have to do to dig yourself out of the hole that you

to dig yourself out of the hole that you dug and fell in. And you see this is

dug and fell in. And you see this is sort of what happens to Adam and Eve in

sort of what happens to Adam and Eve in immediate aftermath of the fall because

immediate aftermath of the fall because God tells Eve that she's going to suffer

God tells Eve that she's going to suffer in life. She's going to suffer in

in life. She's going to suffer in consequence of her children's dependence

consequence of her children's dependence on her and her role as the primary

on her and her role as the primary contributor to reproduction and she's

contributor to reproduction and she's going to suffer under the dominion of

going to suffer under the dominion of her husband.

her husband. Why? Well, they're both fallen

Why? Well, they're both fallen creatures. Why would women suffer under

creatures. Why would women suffer under the dominion of their husbands? This

the dominion of their husbands? This isn't something God says should happen,

isn't something God says should happen, right? It's not a definition of the

right? It's not a definition of the moral order. It's a definition of the

moral order. It's a definition of the fallen moral order.

fallen moral order. Women are attracted to high status men.

Women are attracted to high status men. The degree to which a woman is attracted

The degree to which a woman is attracted to a man is proportionate to his

to a man is proportionate to his comparative status. Women are attracted

comparative status. Women are attracted to men whose status exceeds their own.

to men whose status exceeds their own. What's the implication of that? They're

What's the implication of that? They're going to be under the dominion of their

going to be under the dominion of their husband.

husband. If the husband is fallen, then they're

If the husband is fallen, then they're going to be under the dominion of his

going to be under the dominion of his tyranny. Right? So that's the definition

tyranny. Right? So that's the definition of the fallen world for women. What's

of the fallen world for women. What's the definition of the fallen world for

the definition of the fallen world for men? Well, God says

men? Well, God says you're going to have to toil in the

you're going to have to toil in the fields and it will bring forth thorns

fields and it will bring forth thorns and thistles. You'll make your way

and thistles. You'll make your way forward effortully and you'll return to

forward effortully and you'll return to the dust from which you emerged.

the dust from which you emerged. When is work toilsome and effortful?

It's particularly toilsome and effortful when you're

when you're digging yourself out of the hole that

digging yourself out of the hole that you dug and fell in. Well, you can you

you dug and fell in. Well, you can you can understand this. You know, there are

can understand this. You know, there are times in your life where you're you're

times in your life where you're you're putting a lot of effort into something.

putting a lot of effort into something. It's not exactly work, right? You're

It's not exactly work, right? You're highly motivated to do it. Well, why?

highly motivated to do it. Well, why? Well, because it called to you. because

Well, because it called to you. because you're certain that you're engaging in a

you're certain that you're engaging in a that you're aiming at something that is

that you're aiming at something that is morally valid. Let's say that your

morally valid. Let's say that your conscience isn't going to upgrade you

conscience isn't going to upgrade you for that's intrinsically interesting.

for that's intrinsically interesting. Right? If you're engaged in work that

Right? If you're engaged in work that isn't

isn't the result of sin, so to speak, then is

the result of sin, so to speak, then is it toil or is it play? And you could ask

it toil or is it play? And you could ask yourself, you know, when your life is

yourself, you know, when your life is optimized and you're doing something

optimized and you're doing something that

that is in the nature of your true calling,

is in the nature of your true calling, when you're walking with God in the

when you're walking with God in the garden, when you've reestablished that

garden, when you've reestablished that relationship,

relationship, then

then the

the sacrifices that you have to make to move

sacrifices that you have to make to move forward

forward aren't painful.

aren't painful. And you you understand that cuz you can

And you you understand that cuz you can see that at the best moments of your

see that at the best moments of your life, you work but in harmony with

life, you work but in harmony with things in not in contradiction to them.

things in not in contradiction to them. And that working in harmony, there's a

And that working in harmony, there's a tremendous pleasure in that. You know,

tremendous pleasure in that. You know, children's play is effortful. If they're

children's play is effortful. If they're really playing hard, they're on the edge

really playing hard, they're on the edge of their developmental ability, right?

of their developmental ability, right? They're stretching themselves, but

They're stretching themselves, but there's nothing about that that isn't

there's nothing about that that isn't joyful. And so there's an insistence, an

joyful. And so there's an insistence, an implicit insistence in the story of Adam

implicit insistence in the story of Adam and Eve that work aimed properly would

and Eve that work aimed properly would be play and play in the eternal garden.

be play and play in the eternal garden. And so one of the things you might want

And so one of the things you might want to ask yourself is that if your toil is

to ask yourself is that if your toil is not play,

not play, how wrong is your aim?

how wrong is your aim? And then the next question is, well,

And then the next question is, well, what should you aim for?

what should you aim for? All right.

All right. The biblical library does what it can to

The biblical library does what it can to answer that question, too. What should

answer that question, too. What should you aim for? God is characterized in the

you aim for? God is characterized in the biblical stories as the source of the

biblical stories as the source of the ultimate aim. That's a good way of

ultimate aim. That's a good way of thinking about it. So, imagine that

thinking about it. So, imagine that there are things in your life that

there are things in your life that interest you and compel you and pull you

interest you and compel you and pull you forward.

forward. They call to you. Now imagine that as

They call to you. Now imagine that as you mature what interests and calls to

you mature what interests and calls to you and pulls you forward changes,

you and pulls you forward changes, right? But the fact that something

right? But the fact that something interests you and calls to you and

interests you and calls to you and motivates your transformation, that

motivates your transformation, that doesn't change. God is defined in the

doesn't change. God is defined in the Old Testament corpus as the spirit

Old Testament corpus as the spirit behind all transformational aims.

behind all transformational aims. Right? So you can imagine that the thing

Right? So you can imagine that the thing that beckons to you and calls you to

that beckons to you and calls you to develop and mature further varies in its

develop and mature further varies in its specific manifestations depending on

specific manifestations depending on your time and your place and your

your time and your place and your temperament, but that there's something

temperament, but that there's something behind that that shines through all of

behind that that shines through all of those things that beckon and call and

those things that beckon and call and fill you with enthusiasm. And that's the

fill you with enthusiasm. And that's the deity at the pinnacle of Jacob's ladder,

deity at the pinnacle of Jacob's ladder, which is the ever neverending spiral of

which is the ever neverending spiral of upward aim. That's a definition. And

upward aim. That's a definition. And that people are called upon to exist in

that people are called upon to exist in relationship to that spirit. That's the

relationship to that spirit. That's the covenant between man and God. What's

covenant between man and God. What's how's that spirit characterized in

how's that spirit characterized in Genesis?

Genesis? God, the source of ultimate aim or the

God, the source of ultimate aim or the target of ultimate aim is characterized

target of ultimate aim is characterized as the

as the spirit that

spirit that broods upon the primeval water. That's

broods upon the primeval water. That's the opening part of Genesis. What does

the opening part of Genesis. What does that mean? Well, there's no water yet in

that mean? Well, there's no water yet in in creation. That comes later. What's

in creation. That comes later. What's the water?

the water? The Hebrew is to vabu. And it doesn't

The Hebrew is to vabu. And it doesn't exactly mean water. It means something

exactly mean water. It means something like

like potential or possibility or chaos.

God is the spirit that extracts the habitable order that is good out of a

habitable order that is good out of a pre-existent

pre-existent potential or chaos. And human beings are

potential or chaos. And human beings are made in that image. What does that mean?

made in that image. What does that mean? This is what you do in your life.

This is what you do in your life. What do you perceive when you wake up in

What do you perceive when you wake up in the morning? Well, you think, well, I

the morning? Well, you think, well, I perceive my bed. I perceive my carpet. I

perceive my bed. I perceive my carpet. I perceive my curtains.

perceive my curtains. That just shows how materialistic you

That just shows how materialistic you are in your conceptualizations because

are in your conceptualizations because that's not what you perceive. What you

that's not what you perceive. What you perceive is the possibility that's

perceive is the possibility that's making itself available to you for the

making itself available to you for the day. Right? Think about how you wake up.

day. Right? Think about how you wake up. First of all, you're asleep. You're

First of all, you're asleep. You're unconscious. There's nothing happening.

unconscious. There's nothing happening. Then poof, daylight. You're awake.

Then poof, daylight. You're awake. You're awake. And what are you

You're awake. And what are you contending with? Maybe you're terrified.

contending with? Maybe you're terrified. Why? You're terrified

Why? You're terrified by all the potential left over that you

by all the potential left over that you haven't realized because you've been

haven't realized because you've been offering inappropriate sacrifices at

offering inappropriate sacrifices at your job. That's what that means. Or

your job. That's what that means. Or maybe you wake up enthusiastic and

maybe you wake up enthusiastic and optimistic and you can see that there's

optimistic and you can see that there's many things that

many things that exist in possibility for you that you

exist in possibility for you that you could wrestle into the order that's

could wrestle into the order that's good. Right? And so then you can leap

good. Right? And so then you can leap out of bed enthusiastically and begin to

out of bed enthusiastically and begin to to what? Subdue and order the world.

to what? Subdue and order the world. Right? And that's that's the nature of

Right? And that's that's the nature of consciousness itself. But consciousness

consciousness itself. But consciousness itself which is being as far as human

itself which is being as far as human beings are concerned because what is

beings are concerned because what is non-concious being?

non-concious being? It's the spirit that grapples with the

It's the spirit that grapples with the possibility of the world. Is the

possibility of the world. Is the possibility real? Well, can you do one

possibility real? Well, can you do one thing or another? Can you do one thing

thing or another? Can you do one thing or five other things? Do you have

or five other things? Do you have choice?

choice? Well, you treat everybody like they have

Well, you treat everybody like they have choice. You treat people like they have

choice. You treat people like they have responsible choice. You assume that on

responsible choice. You assume that on your own account. It appears to you that

your own account. It appears to you that you have that ability to go this way or

you have that ability to go this way or that way. In what? In the realm of

that way. In what? In the realm of potential. Well, that's what that's why

potential. Well, that's what that's why human beings are made in the image of

human beings are made in the image of God. Well, that's why that's an accurate

God. Well, that's why that's an accurate representation is we're doing the same

representation is we're doing the same thing at the local level that the spirit

thing at the local level that the spirit that gives rise to everything is deemed

that gives rise to everything is deemed to have done at the beginning of time

to have done at the beginning of time and to be continually doing.

and to be continually doing. Right? We have something to do. What?

Right? We have something to do. What? Transform possibility into actuality in

Transform possibility into actuality in what manner? How about in the manner

what manner? How about in the manner that aims up? We're transforming chaotic

that aims up? We're transforming chaotic potential

potential with our aim to what? To establish the

with our aim to what? To establish the kingdom of heaven or what? It's

kingdom of heaven or what? It's alternative hell. We've done that

alternative hell. We've done that plenty, especially in the 20th century,

plenty, especially in the 20th century, by aiming down, by lying, by being

by aiming down, by lying, by being prideful,

prideful, by being usurpers of the moral order.

by being usurpers of the moral order. That's a communist ideologue in a

That's a communist ideologue in a nutshell. And what did they produce with

nutshell. And what did they produce with their downward aiming, wrestling with

their downward aiming, wrestling with potential? Hell, is it real?

Wait till you get there and you'll find out. And maybe you've had a few side

out. And maybe you've had a few side trips already, right? It's as real as

trips already, right? It's as real as pain and suffering. It's as real as

pain and suffering. It's as real as pointless pain and suffering, right?

pointless pain and suffering, right? It's as real as self-inflicted pointless

It's as real as self-inflicted pointless pain and suffering. Or maybe it's as

pain and suffering. Or maybe it's as real as the pointless pain and suffering

real as the pointless pain and suffering that you inflict with your carelessness

that you inflict with your carelessness and your deception and your pride even

and your deception and your pride even on the people you love. That's a good

on the people you love. That's a good definition of hell. Is that real?

definition of hell. Is that real? You can just ask yourself that question.

You can just ask yourself that question. And everybody knows the answer to that

And everybody knows the answer to that question. Is the alternative real? The

question. Is the alternative real? The upward aim?

upward aim? All of the great heroes of the New Old

All of the great heroes of the New Old Testament, they

Testament, they they sacrifice themselves to the good.

they sacrifice themselves to the good. That's what they're doing when they're

That's what they're doing when they're building altars. So I want to tell you

building altars. So I want to tell you that story because this is very useful

that story because this is very useful to know. I said the entire biblical

to know. I said the entire biblical library is an investigation into

library is an investigation into sacrifice. This really becomes clear in

sacrifice. This really becomes clear in the story of Cain and Abel. Now, Adam

the story of Cain and Abel. Now, Adam and Eve are fated to work. Okay? So,

and Eve are fated to work. Okay? So, let's make an equation here so that

let's make an equation here so that everybody understands what's going on.

everybody understands what's going on. There's no difference

There's no difference between

between work and sacrifice. So, that's a key to

work and sacrifice. So, that's a key to understanding the biblical text. Why?

understanding the biblical text. Why? Well, what the hell do you think you're

Well, what the hell do you think you're doing when you're working? You're

doing when you're working? You're sacrificing the present to the future or

sacrificing the present to the future or you're sacrificing your immediate wants

you're sacrificing your immediate wants to the community. It's a sacrificial

to the community. It's a sacrificial gesture, right? work. It's the

gesture, right? work. It's the definition of work. You're giving up

definition of work. You're giving up something now. You're offering something

something now. You're offering something now to what?

now to what? To stabilize

To stabilize the community in the future, including

the community in the future, including your future self. It's a sacrificial

your future self. It's a sacrificial gesture. Work is sacrifice. Okay. So

gesture. Work is sacrifice. Okay. So once you know that, you can understand

once you know that, you can understand let's say the story of Cain and Abel,

let's say the story of Cain and Abel, which is the story that I'll close with.

which is the story that I'll close with. Cain and Abel are the first two

Cain and Abel are the first two human beings in the fallen world. So in

human beings in the fallen world. So in the actual world, in the world of

the actual world, in the world of history, in the world we occupy, they're

history, in the world we occupy, they're born and not made by God. And they

born and not made by God. And they represent two patterns of sacrifice. The

represent two patterns of sacrifice. The two patterns of sacrifice that

two patterns of sacrifice that characterize culture and psyche,

characterize culture and psyche, individual and community, the

individual and community, the fundamental patterns. Just like Adam and

fundamental patterns. Just like Adam and Eve are the fundamental patterns of

Eve are the fundamental patterns of masculinity and femininity, Cain and

masculinity and femininity, Cain and Abel, the hostile brothers, are the twin

Abel, the hostile brothers, are the twin patterns of sacrifice or work that

patterns of sacrifice or work that characterize the human approach to

characterize the human approach to reality. Abel, who's Abel? Abel aims up.

reality. Abel, who's Abel? Abel aims up. He makes the sacrifices that are of the

He makes the sacrifices that are of the highest quality. Abel is a herder and he

highest quality. Abel is a herder and he takes the best animals and he butchers

takes the best animals and he butchers them and he takes the best cut and he

them and he takes the best cut and he takes the best pieces of that and he

takes the best pieces of that and he emulates it on an altar because he wants

emulates it on an altar because he wants to dramatize because that's what he's

to dramatize because that's what he's doing. Playing out the idea that the

doing. Playing out the idea that the best is what will satisfy the spirit of

best is what will satisfy the spirit of the cosmic order. Do you believe that?

the cosmic order. Do you believe that? Well, you either believe that or the

Well, you either believe that or the opposite. Like those are your options.

opposite. Like those are your options. There's a no non-belief option here. You

There's a no non-belief option here. You believe one thing or another.

believe one thing or another. If you offer your best, will you be

If you offer your best, will you be accepted? Because that's God's

accepted? Because that's God's pronouncement to Cain. Cain takes the

pronouncement to Cain. Cain takes the opposite stance. He offers what's second

opposite stance. He offers what's second best and

best and doesn't work. Well, is that true? Well,

doesn't work. Well, is that true? Well, how often have you offered anything but

how often have you offered anything but your best and had it work? And then you

your best and had it work? And then you might think, well, why would you even

might think, well, why would you even think it could work? Because life is

think it could work? Because life is very difficult. It's very difficult. And

very difficult. It's very difficult. And if you're going to make a success out of

if you're going to make a success out of it or something that isn't an absolute

it or something that isn't an absolute hell, it's fairly probable that you're

hell, it's fairly probable that you're going to have to bring your best to the

going to have to bring your best to the table. Because like, you think, who do

table. Because like, you think, who do you think you are? You think you're the

you think you are? You think you're the sort of person who can defy the

sort of person who can defy the structure of reality itself that you can

structure of reality itself that you can fool yourself and other people and the

fool yourself and other people and the natural order and God by offering what's

natural order and God by offering what's second rate and succeeding. That's your

second rate and succeeding. That's your theory. That's not a wise theory. Not in

theory. That's not a wise theory. Not in the face of the difficulties of life.

the face of the difficulties of life. That's Cain's theory. That's what he

That's Cain's theory. That's what he tries to do. And what happens to him? It

tries to do. And what happens to him? It says in the text, his countenance falls.

says in the text, his countenance falls. What does that mean? He's bitter,

What does that mean? He's bitter, resentful, miserable, unhappy, and

resentful, miserable, unhappy, and vengeful. Well, why? Well, because he's

vengeful. Well, why? Well, because he's being rejected. Well, why is he being

being rejected. Well, why is he being rejected? Because he's not bringing his

rejected? Because he's not bringing his best to the table. And so, what does

best to the table. And so, what does Cain do? Well, he doesn't do what Abel

Cain do? Well, he doesn't do what Abel does. Abel always aims up, right? He

does. Abel always aims up, right? He makes the sacrifices that are acceptable

makes the sacrifices that are acceptable to God. That's his story because he

to God. That's his story because he brings what's of the highest quality to

brings what's of the highest quality to the table. Cain doesn't Cain

the table. Cain doesn't Cain fails, is bitter, miserable, and

fails, is bitter, miserable, and resentful. And what does he do? Well, he

resentful. And what does he do? Well, he doesn't admit it cuz he's not able.

doesn't admit it cuz he's not able. He calls out God. And so, he has a

He calls out God. And so, he has a little chat with God just like we all do

little chat with God just like we all do when we're bitter and failing. How did

when we're bitter and failing. How did you make this world where I'm breaking

you make this world where I'm breaking myself in half and all that's happening

myself in half and all that's happening is I'm failing and my brother Abel, the

is I'm failing and my brother Abel, the sun shines on him. Everything he does

sun shines on him. Everything he does touches to gold.

touches to gold. What the hell's wrong with the moral

What the hell's wrong with the moral order? What's wrong with the spirit who

order? What's wrong with the spirit who created existence itself? That's Cain's

created existence itself? That's Cain's challenge to God.

challenge to God. That's a hell of a thing to think about

That's a hell of a thing to think about failure as a consequence of second rate

failure as a consequence of second rate effort. It's like, well, I'm failing

effort. It's like, well, I'm failing because God made the world wrong.

because God made the world wrong. There isn't a more prideful presumption

There isn't a more prideful presumption than that. And it doesn't really work on

than that. And it doesn't really work on God. And God says to Cain, "If you did

God. And God says to Cain, "If you did well, you'd be accepted." And and what

well, you'd be accepted." And and what does that mean? It means if you brought

does that mean? It means if you brought absolutely everything you had to bear on

absolutely everything you had to bear on the circumstances at hand and you left

the circumstances at hand and you left nothing behind, if you were willing to

nothing behind, if you were willing to sacrifice everything necessary,

sacrifice everything necessary, you could have what you needed and

you could have what you needed and wanted. But nothing short of that will

wanted. But nothing short of that will suffice. Right? That's why it's ne this

suffice. Right? That's why it's ne this is why Christ in the gospels calls upon

is why Christ in the gospels calls upon his followers to abandon even their

his followers to abandon even their brothers and sisters and mothers and

brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers if they're going to walk uphill.

fathers if they're going to walk uphill. This is why Abraham is called upon to

This is why Abraham is called upon to sacrifice Isaiah to God. It's like

sacrifice Isaiah to God. It's like everything is to be sacrificed to the

everything is to be sacrificed to the upward aim. And that's what God insists

upward aim. And that's what God insists upon. And he's characterized as the

upon. And he's characterized as the spirit that makes that insistence. And

spirit that makes that insistence. And we're characterized in relationship to

we're characterized in relationship to that spirit.

And ca God says something else which doesn't make Cain the least bit happy.

doesn't make Cain the least bit happy. Cain believes that the reason he's

Cain believes that the reason he's bitter and resentful and miserable and

bitter and resentful and miserable and vengeful and cursing God and shaking his

vengeful and cursing God and shaking his fist at the sky in this prideful manner

fist at the sky in this prideful manner is because he's failing.

is because he's failing. And God says, "That's not why you're

And God says, "That's not why you're miserable, buddy. There's an intervening

miserable, buddy. There's an intervening variable you're not." He doesn't say

variable you're not." He doesn't say that cuz God's not a scientist. There's

that cuz God's not a scientist. There's an intervening variable you're not

an intervening variable you're not taking into account. What does he say to

taking into account. What does he say to Cain? He said,

Cain? He said, "Sin crouches at your door like a

"Sin crouches at your door like a sexually aroused predatory animal, and

sexually aroused predatory animal, and you invited it in to have its way with

you invited it in to have its way with you." And so, what does that mean? It's

you." And so, what does that mean? It's brilliant. It's so condensed. It's so

brilliant. It's so condensed. It's so brilliant. It's It's the most accurate

brilliant. It's It's the most accurate bit of psychology of resentment I've

bit of psychology of resentment I've ever seen. What does it mean? You fail.

ever seen. What does it mean? You fail. Okay. The causal consequence, you're

Okay. The causal consequence, you're bitter. Well, no. One of the causal

bitter. Well, no. One of the causal consequences could be you could wake the

consequences could be you could wake the hell up and start doing better and

hell up and start doing better and repent and confess and get your act

repent and confess and get your act together and atone and move on, right?

together and atone and move on, right? And learn. That's causal, too. You can't

And learn. That's causal, too. You can't blame your resentment, misery on your

blame your resentment, misery on your suffering. There's an intervening

suffering. There's an intervening spirit. What's that? The spirit of sin

spirit. What's that? The spirit of sin that crouches at your door. A predator,

that crouches at your door. A predator, a sexually aroused predator. Why that?

a sexually aroused predator. Why that? Well, because it wants to you. I'm I'm

Well, because it wants to you. I'm I'm dead serious about that. It's a me very

dead serious about that. It's a me very ancient metaphor. That metaphor of

ancient metaphor. That metaphor of what would you say the seinal quality of

what would you say the seinal quality of evil. What's evil? It's something you

evil. What's evil? It's something you invite in, right? It's something that

invite in, right? It's something that you creatively

you creatively engage with. That's the sexual metaphor.

engage with. That's the sexual metaphor. It's something you brood on. It's

It's something you brood on. It's something you allow to inhabit you. It's

something you allow to inhabit you. It's something that possesses you. the

something that possesses you. the terrible people who do terrible things,

terrible people who do terrible things, the people who shoot up high schools.

the people who shoot up high schools. It's like 2,000 hours of fantasizing

It's like 2,000 hours of fantasizing before they pull the trigger. And what's

before they pull the trigger. And what's the what's that? A result of bitterness

the what's that? A result of bitterness and resentment. But that's not all. It's

and resentment. But that's not all. It's the invitation of something in to take

the invitation of something in to take possession of them. And so that's what

possession of them. And so that's what God accuses Cain of. And that makes him

God accuses Cain of. And that makes him extremely

extremely unhappy. As you might imagine,

unhappy. As you might imagine, you're miserable because you're not

you're miserable because you're not making the right sacrifices. You're

making the right sacrifices. You're resentful because you off invited in the

resentful because you off invited in the spirit of sin itself. It's all to be

spirit of sin itself. It's all to be laid at your feet. The last thing Cain

laid at your feet. The last thing Cain wants to hear,

wants to hear, the most corrective possible piece of

the most corrective possible piece of advice, which he instantly rejects, what

advice, which he instantly rejects, what does he do? He kills Abel. What does it

does he do? He kills Abel. What does it mean? If you're resentful enough and

mean? If you're resentful enough and you're vengeful enough, you'll destroy

you're vengeful enough, you'll destroy your own ideal, right? You'll destroy

your own ideal, right? You'll destroy everything. Why?

everything. Why? To attain revenge on the source of your

To attain revenge on the source of your suffering, right? To fment bloody

suffering, right? To fment bloody rebellion against God. That's what Cain

rebellion against God. That's what Cain does. That's what the spirit of

does. That's what the spirit of bitterness forever does. Cain makes the

bitterness forever does. Cain makes the wrong sacrifices.

wrong sacrifices. He sacrifices the ideal itself to his

He sacrifices the ideal itself to his own pride. And then he tells God, "My

own pride. And then he tells God, "My sin is greater than I can bear." Well,

sin is greater than I can bear." Well, why? Destroy your ideal as a consequence

why? Destroy your ideal as a consequence of bitterness.

of bitterness. You've got nowhere to go. Cain is

You've got nowhere to go. Cain is destined to wander the land of Nod.

destined to wander the land of Nod. Where's that? That's where children go

Where's that? That's where children go when they're asleep.

when they're asleep. Sin badly enough, you'll take escape in

Sin badly enough, you'll take escape in unconsciousness.

Why does Cain wander? Because he's a bitter psychopath and no one wants to be

bitter psychopath and no one wants to be near him. And so he takes the pathway of

near him. And so he takes the pathway of the itinerant vagrant who's so

the itinerant vagrant who's so pathological in his orientation that

pathological in his orientation that anyone decent will step away from him.

anyone decent will step away from him. What's the consequence of Cain's failure

What's the consequence of Cain's failure to sacrifice?

His descendants are worse. His descendants are the first

His descendants are the first worshippers of technology.

worshippers of technology. They're the first

They're the first vengeful tit fortat genocidal agents.

vengeful tit fortat genocidal agents. Lamek,

Lamek, one of Cain's descendants,

says, "You kill Cain and you offend Cain and you die. you offend me, seven or 70

and you die. you offend me, seven or 70 die. What does it mean? The pattern of

die. What does it mean? The pattern of resentful bitterness that Cain that

resentful bitterness that Cain that characterizes Cain can make itself

characterizes Cain can make itself manifest in the broader community and

manifest in the broader community and turn everything into a genocidal

turn everything into a genocidal nightmare.

nightmare. Right? What follows

Right? What follows the flood,

the flood, right? The flood that washes away

right? The flood that washes away Cain's descendants,

Cain's descendants, right?

right? sacrifice. That's the essence of

sacrifice. That's the essence of adaptation.

adaptation. That's the essence of maturation. It's

That's the essence of maturation. It's the fundament upon which the community

the fundament upon which the community is predicated. I'll end with this.

is predicated. I'll end with this. For 2,000 years, we've put a symbol at

For 2,000 years, we've put a symbol at the center of our culture, right? In so

the center of our culture, right? In so far as our cultures are Christian. And

far as our cultures are Christian. And by the center, I mean literally the

by the center, I mean literally the center.

center. The cathedral at the center of the town

The cathedral at the center of the town or city. The altar at the center of the

or city. The altar at the center of the cathedral. The crucifix at the center of

cathedral. The crucifix at the center of the altar. Why?

the altar. Why? Because it's a symbol of the ultimate

Because it's a symbol of the ultimate sacrifice.

sacrifice. Right? The full sacrifice of self

Right? The full sacrifice of self in service of future, others,

in service of future, others, community and God. Is that the principle

community and God. Is that the principle upon which the community is founded? The

upon which the community is founded? The principle upon which the community is

principle upon which the community is founded is sacrifice. What's the

founded is sacrifice. What's the ultimate sacrifice?

ultimate sacrifice? What's the sacrifice of everything to

What's the sacrifice of everything to what's good? Right? That's the

what's good? Right? That's the fundamental story of

of Judeo-Christian culture. Is it true?

Is it true? Try making your life try walking through

Try making your life try walking through your life successfully

your life successfully without making the proper sacrifices

without making the proper sacrifices upward and find out whether or not it's

upward and find out whether or not it's true.

All right, everyone. Thank you very much.

[Applause] [Music]

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YouTube Transcript:Jordan Peterson Live on Tour: The Hidden Key to a Fulfilling Life