Dr. Jordan B. Peterson

And this is one paragraph, that story, right? It's like 12 lines long. It's a stunning miracle of...

And this is one paragraph, that story, right? It's like 12 lines long. It's a stunning miracle of...

an answer to that question. So the first would be, you could practice gratitude. And you could make the case that if you're not screaming in agony because you're on fire right now, You have lots of things to be fortunate about. You know, when people who have passed through extremely harrowing experiences, they often learn that.

an answer to that question. So the first would be, you could practice gratitude. And you could make the case that if you're not screaming in agony because you're on fire right now, You have lots of things to be fortunate about. You know, when people who have passed through extremely harrowing experiences, they often learn that.

It's like, oh, the sorts of things that I thought were terrible are almost negligible. And there's so many good things happening to me all the time around me that are invisible to me, maybe because of my arrogance, that... I'm just blind to them. So the practice of gratitude, that's a standard religious exercise, I would say, across the domains of valid religious systems. What else? Humility.

It's like, oh, the sorts of things that I thought were terrible are almost negligible. And there's so many good things happening to me all the time around me that are invisible to me, maybe because of my arrogance, that... I'm just blind to them. So the practice of gratitude, that's a standard religious exercise, I would say, across the domains of valid religious systems. What else? Humility.

So one of the things that distinguishes Cain from Abel is that when Cain fails, he thinks it's God's fault, or society, or other people, or it's externalized blame. When Abel fails, he learns.

So one of the things that distinguishes Cain from Abel is that when Cain fails, he thinks it's God's fault, or society, or other people, or it's externalized blame. When Abel fails, he learns.

And that's the proper sacrificial attitude because you might... So for example, if you're a man and you're getting nowhere with women, it's very easy for you to become extremely hostile to women, which is not going to help you out much, generally speaking, in the relationship market.

And that's the proper sacrificial attitude because you might... So for example, if you're a man and you're getting nowhere with women, it's very easy for you to become extremely hostile to women, which is not going to help you out much, generally speaking, in the relationship market.

And you can certainly understand why that might be because if you've had 50 encounters with women you're attracted to and every single one of them resulted in maybe not only rejection, but contemptuous rejection, you can certainly understand why you might conclude from that that there's something seriously wrong with women.

And you can certainly understand why that might be because if you've had 50 encounters with women you're attracted to and every single one of them resulted in maybe not only rejection, but contemptuous rejection, you can certainly understand why you might conclude from that that there's something seriously wrong with women.

But you could flip that and you could presume that by definition, if you're failing in that regard, there's some changes that should be made. And it really does depend on your initial stance with regard to the situation.

But you could flip that and you could presume that by definition, if you're failing in that regard, there's some changes that should be made. And it really does depend on your initial stance with regard to the situation.

One of the things that comes through very clearly with regards to the upward-aiming Israelites, they're not all upward-aiming, but the upward-aiming ones in the Old Testament is whenever a cataclysm visits them, they assume it's their fault. And that's a hell of a thing to take onto yourself, right? If I'm failing, it's my fault.

One of the things that comes through very clearly with regards to the upward-aiming Israelites, they're not all upward-aiming, but the upward-aiming ones in the Old Testament is whenever a cataclysm visits them, they assume it's their fault. And that's a hell of a thing to take onto yourself, right? If I'm failing, it's my fault.

And you can certainly understand why that's difficult, because a certain amount of misery seems to visit people arbitrarily. But there's almost no failure, regardless of how arbitrary, that you can't learn from. And there isn't anything better that you can do with failure, no matter how unjust. than to learn from it.

And you can certainly understand why that's difficult, because a certain amount of misery seems to visit people arbitrarily. But there's almost no failure, regardless of how arbitrary, that you can't learn from. And there isn't anything better that you can do with failure, no matter how unjust. than to learn from it.

And so as a general attitude, how did I go wrong here is a hyper useful existential stance, right? And it's also a bulwark against hopelessness because, you know, even if it was 95% situational and 5% you, if you adjusted that 5%, maybe that'd be enough so that the next time that situation arises, you'd come out on the positive side of it. And you're also not a torment to other people then because

And so as a general attitude, how did I go wrong here is a hyper useful existential stance, right? And it's also a bulwark against hopelessness because, you know, even if it was 95% situational and 5% you, if you adjusted that 5%, maybe that'd be enough so that the next time that situation arises, you'd come out on the positive side of it. And you're also not a torment to other people then because