Hello,
In this week’s edition, I explain why freedom is a precondition to wrestle with meaning. Then, I talk with author and columnist Mary Harrington about modern motherhood, the motivations of feminists, and the meaning of feminism. From the archives, I discuss the factors that motivate a successful teacher and the qualities they possess.
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Advice
Determine The Course Of Your Life With Freedom
In Exodus, God tells Moses that the Israelites need to be free. There must be an association between Israel, the people who wrestle with God, and the idea of being called out of slavery. Interestingly enough, “Israel” does not mean those who “believe in God”; it means those who “wrestle with God.” That is what we do. We all wrestle with meaning, purpose, and significance. We wonder about the reality of ethical endeavor, and we are tormented by our consciences for not living up to our moral obligations. We shirk our responsibility — or do not. We wrestle with good and evil.
We tend to identify the impulse toward freedom and responsibility as positive and good, so to give it a high ethical standing is quite reasonable. How do you determine the course of your life under conditions of duress? You think about your course. You think painfully about it. You search your conscience and try to reconfigure your life. You think about the problems that beset you in every way you possibly can. Maybe you talk your problems over with people who you love, you try to generate a solution in your discussion, and you do that all honestly. That is all wrestling — and you cannot do that without freedom.
If your highest moral calling, in some sense, is to wrestle with God, then freedom is a precondition. If you are only doing what someone is telling you, which is what you would be doing if you were enslaved, you are not wrestling with God; you are just doing what the tyrant tells you. So maybe it is necessary for this wrestling to take place so that we can continually orient and reorient toward what is good.
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Last week, psychologist and academic Dr. Jordan B. Peterson joined businessman and X-owner Elon Musk at Gigafactory Texas for a conversation discussing topics from various areas of their expertise. You can now watch the discussion unfold between these two brilliant minds and engaging conversationalists, available exclusively on DailyWire+ and X.
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The Foundation Of Elon Musk’s Philosophy
In this portion of Dr. Peterson and Musk’s discussion, Musk describes when he began asking questions about the meaning of life, what led him to the resolution of his existential crisis, how he developed such a curious nature, and why he is motivated to continue learning.
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Reappropriating Feminism, Maternity, And The Woman’s Role | Mary Harrington | EP 466
This week, I talk with Mary Harrington, who is an editor for UnHerd and author of “Feminism Against Progress.” We discuss how women contributed to civil society before joining the workforce, the fatal flaw of a male-dominated system, the two fundamental reproductive strategies, the commodification of female sexuality, and the utility of radical loyalty and solidarity between partners.
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Can An Introverted Person Be A Successful Teacher?
In a question and answer session several years ago, a student asked me if, as an introvert, he could be a successful teacher. The data predicts the most successful teachers are both intelligent and conscientious. While introverts may not enjoy speaking in front of groups as much as extroverts, they can, indeed, learn to do so. To be a valuable teacher, one must be interested in teaching and willing to work hard at the craft.
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Thank you for reading,
Dr. Jordan B. Peterson
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