The Significance of Snakes in Human History | Jordan B Peterson

Humans innately understand that a nearby snake is a threat, and maybe the sensible thing to do is to stomp it.
This is our human story lain out through different narratives.
Watch the full lecture on personality here:
• 2017 Personality 04/05...
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[@seankrkovich2869]

As a child, snakes were my favorite animal.

[@kyttiecat239]

Humans have the same instinctual attraction to serpents like chimps, as he said. That evolutionary trait of curiosity is the reason we became the apex species on the planet. Its odd that primates are one of the only creatures to be fascinated by what can kill us.

[@Jo-xk3pk]

Ok Hitler..... Kidding lol

[@TheDominionOfElites]

Im a teacher for young kids. Today I was teaching about wild animals, not pets but all the large african type safari animals kids love. Giraffes, Elephants, Lions, you know the deal. At the end of the lesson, the kids got to draw the animal they would most like to see. 4 kids chose to draw snakes, and all of them, - with no coordination, not sitting near each other, no mention of trees for the whole class - drew a snake alongside a tree. It was absolutely fascinating, I took photos of their drawings and I had to come back here and rewatch this. Happy to share the images if I ever remember to check replies on this

[@TheDanhewitt]

jungle book?

[@sextwister]

I'm interested lol

[@user-tm5em4vu7u]

What if all those children have been shown biblical books, with photos, that show the snake and tree next to it, with Adam and Eve.

[@zephod]

That’s a mega chimp, man!

[@DeconvertedMan]

:D

[@faithfuljeremiah8717]

Who?? Peterson!

[@eliassis576]

@@faithfuljeremiah8717 every person is a chimp in a way. you realize it if you think long enough,dummy :)

[@eliassis576]

we share tons of characteristics,we're just more evolved..

[@eliassis576]

but I guess you just want to mindlessly offend anyway.

[@DeconvertedMan]

I enjoy JBP's talks and stuff so much, hope he comes back soon - we REALLY need him now!

[@aerdon0856]

He's back!

[@Galaxy12146]

Thx Dr.JP

[@thekingofcool2105]

Clean your snakes!

[@OokamiKageGinGetsu]

"Holy shit, that's a big snake!" JBP is so damn funny.

[@lucidhooded4147]

yea lol. I what to hear what that call sounds like.

[@andreventinhas5507]

They only feel...they don't listen and see in the ground...so it's normal is action in the field...

[@michaelleblanc7283]

" Adam was not alone in the Garden of Eden, however, and does not deserve all the credit; much is due to Eve, the first woman, and Satan, the first consultant. " 'Mark Twain' - Notebook, 1867

[@seankrkovich2869]

What? That doesn't make sense. Credit for what?

[@Bluecloudprod]

@@seankrkovich2869 Credit for the Downfall of Humankind is what Twain was referencing.

[@mosimosi9829]

@@Bluecloudprod isn't eve made responsible for the downfall, rather than adam

[@MarianMurphy-rz8ej]

@@seankrkovich2869the fall of man and subsequently all creation. Those overpaid consultants at it again 😂

[@MarianMurphy-rz8ej]

@@mosimosi9829woman’s intuition eh?

[@BrotherTree1]

Amazing representation of the pathologisation of evil and danger in the fight to resolve this dilemma with being creative and conservative to create sustainability for our survival and evolution of our own selves and the environment and it's other inhabitants, dangerous or not, around us. I think it's the balance and integration between generating the class or umbrella of problems so that we can implement one or limited sets of solutions towards them out of short-term convenience vs. sophistication and nuance with every type of problem and having nuanced and different specific solutions for each of those problems so that we don't stagnate. That way, we're considering bolstering our defenses and offenses so that we're simultaneously maintaining whilst growing to survive as well as we can, and impart similar strategies to other living phenomena that are capable of such philosophies.

[@maximusm0104]

@@Alex-qf2lb thank you

[@0oohnegative]

Snakes are the ultimate fear-based scapegoat. Learn how to handle your snakes or avoid them and respect them entirely.

[@Morrowindur]

Reptiles... Very interesting, indeed.

[@AlastorTheNPDemon]

I've always felt connected to snakes and other reptiles and I used to feel extremely protective of them. I'm not sure if it's a spiritual thing, a borderline psychotic self-concept, or whatever you want to call it, but I like the idea of being one of these "reptilian shapeshifters" who appears to be human but is fundamentally a different species. It helps me deal with the mediocrity of being an unwilling atheist, and it sort of gives me a feeling of belonging to a magical othered group.

[@trevoraboussafy6900]

Snakes, why is always snakes. I hate snakes.

[@bradsillasen1972]

@0:34 I can't think of one venomous snake species (he inappropriately says poisonous) which preys on primates. Venomous snakebites on humans are a result of a snakes defensive response. Some pythons and boas are capable of taking small primates as prey but of course they are not venomous. Peterson seems to be demonstrating a careless handling of facts in this situation. I can only wonder what other misrepresentations I miss due to my inexperience with particular subject matter.

[@randomstringofjejeje]

Is that even relevant? If there is an evolved trait that exists in human or primates, it is not caused by something happening now, but driven by a cause in the environment for an extended amount of time that can predate the current times by millions of years. It is not like every evolved trait disappears immediately once a species no longer need it.

[@bradsillasen1972]

@@randomstringofjejeje I agree with your comment regarding evolved traits ...that's basic. I'm questioning the overall credibility of Peterson's opinions based on his, at least in some cases, sloppy handling of information. In this case I believe he is outside of his domain of expertise and that is revealed by the erroneous suppositions I pointed out. One might extrapolate that observation to cast suspicion on his opinions in general. He's more of an entertainer than a credible purveyor of information. I would cast him as more of a "Salad Chef" :)

[@navychap82]

And who are you?

[@babelbabel2298]

​@@bradsillasen1972Sloppy handling of information? There's more of that than people could imagine. Even he said that his talk in debates is 95% rhetoric driven by self interest,"victory" in a debate, not by some kind of 'objective truth' exploration.. which is absolutely TERRIFYING. Does he even know what he said there? No he's not aware of what he said... 95%..truth is what i want, what i like, what makes me more misserable.. 'and i will teach everyone that, as if everyone has the same misserable biases that i do'. Well, that's a bit immoral on a massive scale

[@bradsillasen1972]

@@babelbabel2298 Very well said. I completely agree.

[@andv993]

Mega-chimps is probably the best way I have seen to describe human beings

[@Ali_Shafai]

We need a series of conversations between Jordan and Sadhguru. Even a few minutes spent talking about snakes as part of that talk will be awesome!

[@desertstar7664]

Good idea, this will drive a huge number of people to Jordan Peterson

[@desertstar7664]

I would like to see Jordan Peterson and Sadhguru on a talk show talking snakes

[@iconsumedmt1350]

Sash guru is a hippie grifter

[@desertstar7664]

@@iconsumedmt1350 Lol then lets bring them together for a debate. You shall know them from by their fruits

[@iconsumedmt1350]

@@desertstar7664 sadhguru believes all plastic should be banned. No hyperbole, ALL plastic!

[@johncondon4647]

The Creative Process functions very well while in "Emergency Mode", albeit in a chaotic and unstructured way. (“Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully." ~Samuel Johnson) Good luck getting any routine maintenance done during extreme emergencies, however. (unless your routines are ironclad. US Special Forces train for such adversity.) Proper Incorporation (within oneself) of a creative breakthrough under extreme conditions requires time and peace away from the conflict that helped create it. Perfect meta example is the discovery of Nuclear Weapons and the massive cultural shifts it has caused to cope with such power. Same thing goes for the micro culture of the individual.

[@christopherblackhall2832]

Never step on a snek, sneks just want to be alone

[@MarianMurphy-rz8ej]

Really? They seem conjoined at the hip and mind to me in a collectivist state. They slither in packs in my life experience. Better to conceal themselves.

[@danylaley]

Jordan looked more playful in the way he laughed back then. More energetic and less serious. He also smiled more.

[@drjoaoventura]

01:30 "The Bicameral Mind" at "Westworld" S01E10

[@drjoaoventura]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/nKSciKyrqsdmoLs

[@drjoaoventura]

WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD

[@drjoaoventura]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJucc3mNgLpsecU

[@roseadams8003]

Snakes hide. They are never direct. Scared crawly things

[@donralf2977]

By that logic are people with turrets more paranoid

[@MarianMurphy-rz8ej]

Tourette’s is Phineas Gage coupled with zyklon b seeping into a persons mind and man’s inhumanity to man in cloaking the human mind and spirit in darkness and claustrophobic surveillance of their thoughts and the channelling of demonic entities and thoughts thereby coupled with exposure to the corrupt and profane media platforms of our time that has normalised and mainstreamed egregious and offensive language and diluted and mitigated the offensiveness of inappropriate language having utterly fried a persons sensibilities and sensitivities

[@marsisthegodofwar]

I bought 4 ball pythons July 15th, 2022. My life has changed dramatically since then.

[@constantinandries5705]

In my humble opinion, snakes represent pure instinct, unaware, and without any free will (similar to how Sam Harris sees all creatures). In this way, snakes (and reptiles in general) are the opposite of individuation. What do you think?

[@jonolas1626]

Nice one there on Sam Harris XD

[@daedricdragon5976]

I think that's an interesting take on the idea of snakes. Pure instinct. The animalistic side of mankind that creeps about in life, completely or largely unconscious, and in an imperative, dire need of growth. Moreover, that growth can and should come about through the process of individuation, the integration of the unconscious, or perhaps, in other words, the wild, primal force of nature within. Yet, I would also like to ask for your opinion on Sam Harris' views on free will and its possible connection to the individuation process. Why do you believe that the snake possibly represents a lack of free will, and that we might be able to achieve a freedom of will through that process? Or is it a metaphorical view you hold on this specific matter?

[@constantinandries5705]

​@@daedricdragon5976 I believe that Sam Harris' views on free will are largely based on Richard Dawkins theory of memes and on Dennett's views on Consciousness. Jung had a more sophisticated explanation for this same lack of free will, when he introduced his theory of archetypes. As I understand it, the individuation process (which follows from the theory of archetypes) is a struggle for awareness and integration of instincts. There are two reasons for why I believe that the snake represents unconscious drives: 1. neuropsychologically the part of the brain that is most primitive, and responsible for instincts, is the reptilian brain, which is called such because we share it with reptiles; 2. mythologically the snake is sometimes portrayed as instinct: 1. In genesis, God asks both Adam and Eve for an explanation, but God expects no answer from the snake, possibly because the snake has no reason, but only pure instinct. 2. There is an English folktale about a snake or a scorpion, who bites a turtle that helps him cross a river, due to his innate nature, or instinct. (There is also the story of Medusa, but I will not go into that.) The reason why I believe individuation is a way of achieving free will rests on the idea of awareness. By becoming aware of an unconscious drive, you have the choice to resist its impulse. And, once conscious of that drive, you could integrate it, so that it doesn't possess you, but you are the one controlling it. Again, this is supported by 1. neuropsychology: The prefrontal cortex, is largely responsible for both awareness and executive functions, one of which is volition (or free will), thus suggesting that awareness and free will are closely linked. 2. In Hindu mythology, the kundalini serpent has to rise through the 7 chakras for the process of enlightenment (or self-realization) to happen. (I believe that Jung was inspired deeply by this myth when he proposed the process of individuation). Let me know what you think.

[@daedricdragon5976]

@@constantinandries5705 I think you laid out several interesting points there. From what I were able to collect of that, it seems as if you are attempting to make a connection, quite explicitly, between the concept of awareness and the idea of free will, and needless to say, I think that’s where we disagree. Before I try to tackle that, I have to say I have no problem with the way you link the concept of snake to the idea of unconscious, animalistic, drives. You try to posit that by drawing on the neuropsychology and neurophysiology of the brain, that is, the existence of the primitive, reptilian brain which is responsible for instinctual actions and is named as such because we share it with reptiles. Additionally, you pointed out the mythological depictions of snakes as instinct; by giving examples both from the bible and folktales, which, I have to admit, I found quite informative. Furthermore, and this is where I think there is perhaps a misunderstanding at place, you attempted to predicate your claims of free will-awareness association on the neuropsychology of the brain, as well as more mythological/metaphorical representations. Now, I would say the point I’m trying to make is that the notion of free will, from the viewpoint of intellectuals such as Sam Harris, is a notion largely or completely explicable and understandable in rigorous (Perhaps not even that rigorous) scientific terms. It is, after all, for him and all those who share the same boat as him, a scientific subject. And unlike the advocates of free will (a group of individuals, of which, Jordan Peterson and possibly Carl Jung himself, were presumably members) who usually refer to metaphorical and/or archetypal ways to think about this subject, opponents of this notion strongly differ in their mode of contemplating this concept. In Sam Harris’s view, every action you take as well as all the decisions you make stem from factors that are either genetic in nature or environmental. Everything that you do, every word you utter and every idea you think, is the result of an array of phenomena taking place in your mind. And the mind, as we know it, is nothing but a concept, and a very useful one at that, which itself exists due to certain electrochemical reactions in the brain. The brain, in turn, is a very physical object, the shape and operation of which is totally determined by biological (genes) factors that themselves are physical and totally at the mercy of the law of cause and effect, aka; determinism. So, everything we do is due to determinism, or random chance, or a combination of both, neither of which aids the idea of free will. And that is everything; including the achievement and state of awareness. I do believe that awareness of the sort you talk about can and preferably should be pursued, and I do believe that the teachings of great minds such as Carl Jung, of whom I am a fervent fan, helps in that endeavor. Yet I have to admit, I do not see how ideas regarding awareness of that sort can be indicative of the existence of free will. Interested to know your opinion on this. And sorry if talked too much :)

[@ladymercy5275]

No. Free will is what happens when the chimp with a fetish for fire decided it was going to learn how to make that happen on purpose. Same with snakes. That's why the serpent in the fairy tale of genesis (which existed in unwritten form _before_ Judeo-Christian mythology mind you, because it's the _first chapter_ of that book series) brings humanity to the brink of understanding good and evil, or between order and chaos depending on the translations... certainty vs. uncertainty. Fear of the unknown compared to love for this moment. You want to scare some chimps? Throw a snake at them, and you know this because you've been paying attention to Jordan Peterson who told you how to accomplish that reaction from them; as a Professor of Pscyhology, he knows how to think like someone he's not, by finding within himself some overlapping similarities despite the differences. So, what if you want to scare some snakes instead? Throw a chimp at them? Not likely. Well, since Jordan Peterson hasn't (to my knowledge) given you instructions for just how to do that exactly, so you need to empathize with your intended victims. Generate a list of things you don't like to happen to your self, and try those until you get the response you're looking for, using your own perspective on reality as a hypothetical template for others' as well. That's malevolence, but it's also power. The book of Genesis wasn't a story of good-guys vs. bad-guys. Prehistory humans didn't tell this tale _over and over_ again, delivering the metaphors to people they didn't know existed yet (us) just to curse at snakes. It's deeper than that. It's a cautionary of things you can't help but do anyways. Individuals have free will. That's not a choice that's being offered, it is done. If you don't want to accept responsibility for what happened in such-and-such terrain, for your personal slice of awareness in the world, then the only way to do that is to surrender your individuality. That's the paradox that generates a snake eating its own tail when you consider _"Is acting on free will good or evil?"_ The point is that you can't figure that one out with just math, you don't know for any given situation until you're try, yet most vexing of all (and the metaphysical reason why time exists to begin with) it changes, all the time, so if you want to live a perfect life (I wouldn't recommend it) then you have to **pay attention,** like _all the time._ Those allegorical chimps couldn't sleep a wink that day, because they knew a snake was nearby. They had an *attention deficit,* because their world was *disordered.* Yah. Seriously. That's how that works. Just follow the neurochemical trails. So whether or not for the good or evil of the world, free will is a tool that leverages _knowledge_ to make any significant changes in your environment. How do you get knowledge? You pay attention. It's an exchange. You don't learn how to protect your family from snakes, fire, whatever's ailing you by pretending it doesn't exist. You have to _learn_ about it, voluntarily getting as close as you dare, but respecting the danger enough so that you can live the next day to share what you've learned for the next generation. What's cool about it is that chimps _do_ this. They have a natural curiosity towards danger. Our ancestors didn't know why, citing "because God said so" is obviously an excuse to wave-away the requirement for an explanation when the person doesn't have any. That doesn't change the fact that their observations about human behavior were **spot on.** This is a problem-solution that is still relevant today; it might be a permanent state of affairs in reality; certainly the scholars who have faithfully recorded this knowledge specifically for hundreds (HUNDREDS) of generations thought so, because the Garden of Eden isn't just a physical place. If you listen, _really_ listen to what are saying, they are telling us that the Garden of Eden is a *mental state* that when experienced causes a person to mature in a certain way. Want to check for yourself? Do this. Go to the Search bar on youtube and just type: "you either," then consider what the auto-complete function fills out for the rest of that sentence, based on similar searches by other users. That's a significant sample of what's on humanity's mind, like _all the time_ almost. Either. Polarity. Things that happen are either good or evil. It's the most basic unit that can be measured as a metric against whether a person has free will to make a a change in their life, or not. The double-edge blade that cuts both ways here is that in order to learn how to handle fire, you have to keep some around as a reminder, so that you can learn about it when it's relatively safe to do so. Same with snakes, and same with malevolence in general. So no, Lucifer, the Lightbringer, Prometheus if you prefer, that archetypal figure who represents humanity learning to hold _fire_ in our _hands_--FIRE, in our HANDS--that doesn't represent a loss of freewill. It's exactly the opposite. Do you ever think about what that looks like to other animal on our planet? WE'RE the dragons in this story. Humans are the supernatural creatures. We fucking _fly_ now, due in no small part to the combustion process that happens in every propulsion system devised from the mechanics of Modern Science--it's literally the same chemical reaction as flame on wood. The religious / fairly / folk tale told in the Book of Genesis centering around the Garden of Eden experiment was about how people _gained_ a sense of free will, but lost their innocence by engaging snakes.

[@HurricaneVIII]

Take a shot every time he says snakes

[@DJSTOEK]

😎😎😎😷😷😷

[@dantheman9784]

Being a snake handler I find this super interesting.

[@reech4135]

TROUBLE LMAO BIGIT

[@BigS4mu_]

If snakes and primates co evolved, Are you telling me, there maybe a snakeman? Just asking.

[@vartiksethi]

There is mention of snake humans in Sumerian and Hindu cultures. Their name is Annunaki(Sumerian)/Anunagas(South Indian name) which means snake like beings and are said to have come from a planet which comes close to earth every 3000 years called planet 'Nibiru' It's said that they mated with early humans which made us evolve from apes to modern human

[@thomasmitchell4128]

@@vartiksethi Makes as much sense as Christianity, Scientology, etc.

[@vartiksethi]

@@thomasmitchell4128 lol it's all just speculation and stories written in the scriptures

[@vartiksethi]

@@thomasmitchell4128 Also we've only been on the planet for a few thousand years. We can't be so sure that there was nothing better before us.

[@smithdakotalee]

Jokes aside, I think the theory is our eyes developed to see snakes in the grass and snakes developed venom to remain a threat.

[@no_tread_]

I guess this is the reason that I still smoke a bunch of weed at night. It makes me contemplate existance and death. I have to keep those thoughts on the front burner, else they would creep up on me. In the mornings when I wake up, I laugh at the fact that I am here yet another day. Then I decide to make the best of it, because why not? Acceptance that there are many snakes is the only way to move forward and be productive in life.

[@CloudWithoutASky]

isn't it ironic how Hitler had an eagle or a hawk fly above him? but yet Hitler was the snake, then the bird was going to swoop down and collect him to devour. and then it was the American Eagle who came swooping down to decisively end WWII, in America the Eagle is sort of perched, or perhaps about to grasp something as if she was comfortable in her own home, or protecting it, or fighting to feed its offspring. The American Eagle always held 13 arrows referencing the 13 original colonies or states, and the olive branch represents prosperity and peace, or freedom. the arrows are symbolic of conflict. the Eagle has a perfect balanced mindset for Peace and War, America quotes, we want peace, but there will be a time for war and we will fight to protect our peace in hand.

[@babelbabel2298]

'We want peace".. "We think that we wan't peace but in fact we're the ones that started more wars than any other country ever did" Basically constantly in war or seeking war somewhere while promoting peace(in our own yard). Snake that is so venomous and snaky that it succeeded into camouflaging into an eagle. truly amazing

[@fckthemhoes88]

I just don't like rats.

[@DarkSaber-1111]

Just completely ignore that the demonization of snakes came from the indo-europeans and before them snakes were worshiped as healing animals and were considered sacred and divine

[@starcloakstarside9719]

Amused. I’m a Chimpanzee full of Snakes.

[@mpress469]

Spiritualy speaking (gender aside), matriarchal wisdom can begin with a fundamental understanding of the cyclical nature of reality (God). Represented by the snake in many creation myths, the living cycle has a trinity of a beginning (head), a middle and end (tail). As above so below, the sexes were created in the image of God's cyclical nature where Mother is the head and opening to all beginnings and Father holds the tail to all endings (through which the sowing of seeds allow for the next great matriarchal rebirth).The joining of the two (symbolized by the Ouroborus or the marriage ring) is the sacred union needed in assuring the creation and continuation of new life cycles. To speak of the present day God as "Our Father" is simply an admission to our collective positioning within the bigger cycle. As all mothers have direct experience with the creator quality of birthing, so is the direct experience of rebirthing the divinity within (baptism) belong to that which is spiritualy matriarchal. (John 3, verse 3-8). Sekhmet statues (ancient Egyptian) carry most of their weight in symbolic memory of what was a mother culture dedicated to the direct experience of baptism. As the leg shaped hairlocks extend from maternal breasts to the womb of rebirth, the lioness's head proportions are such that they highlight the bust of a second animal figure. The Lioness's ears as eyes and eyes as nose (nostrils) brings to life the figure of a reptile. 'Neath the halo headress of the solar egg, the lioness's egg fertilization process being internal (Set) and the reptile's egg fertilization process being external (Setting), such being key components to the safety of entering the trans-egoic or "born again" state. The life threatening fear associated with the predatory nature of a lion and/or crocodile encounter are reflective of the intense ego death experience associated with the transpersonal awakening process. In spiritualy matriarchal times, illumination could be seen as wearing the false beard (ancient Egyptian funerary ego death mask) as the high state of cyclical self knowing; high cyclical awareness of both our upper matriarchal half and our lower (later) patriarchal half (compared with a mini lower body replica, an "as above so below" tail end beard extension); in full recognition of her civilizational Underworld; her inevitable cyclical destiny. The male pharaoh wears his beard tapered in reverse, indicating a pointing upwards towards the patriarchal head, divine representative of God's tail end cycle. To carry the Ankh was perhaps to symbolically carry that upper and lower understanding. As the upper matriarchal womb symbolised the fertile birthing of civilization, below, the now Christian cross is carried to place emphasis on the lower (later) "End Times" Father principle of the great cycle. Ganesha, the elephant headed Hindu diety, displays a cyclical head to trunk symbolism and points to the Mother head of his matriarchal elephant society. A whole temple was dedicated to the ancient Egyptian goddess Hathor, who is the matriarchal "Uterus" personified. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gGHQYa2AiKp5gZI In the name of the Father, the Son and the holy ghosted... ? ... inevitability.

[@automatapast4354]

Themtube must dislike this man. I might get a notification of a new video maybe every couple of months. Yet meaningless trash quickly floods my feed.

[@radwanparvez]

Why indian culture adored snakes? Does that metaphor works on Indian subcontinent?

[@puneetmishra4726]

He said in another video that snakes representes "the unknown". The unknown is neither negative nor positive. It both terrifies and intrigues people. That's why different cultures have so different takes on reptiles like dragons in European mythology represent evil while in China they represent good. This is very different from other animals like lions who have are associated with similar symbols throughout the world.

[@radwanparvez]

@@puneetmishra4726 Ok That's a good answer. But I'm not clear on the point - "It's neither negative, nor positive". In your example, you also said, in European culture dragon has evil/negative connotation while in eastern it has good/positive. Even, in the Abrahamic religions, snake is a form of devil and in the eastern/Hindu mythology snake stays above Shiva's head. So, doesn't it mean, "The Unknown" can take Both the positive and negative; not "neither" ? However, the next pressing question should be, What elements on those human societies constrained snake symbolism as positive or negative?

[@puneetmishra4726]

@@radwanparvez I think neither is better answer because it is unknown, we don't know. Snakes are not all good in Hindu mythology. Vishnu, always depicted as sleeping on a snake-bed, also beats the shit out of Kalia snake as Krishnā. His servant Garuda, the great eagle is archenemy of snakes. Nagas, the mythological snakes, are very unpredictable characters in Hindu mythos. Sometimes they are helping and sometimes they cause havoc, reflecting the unpredictability of snakes. Indra slays the serpent Vritra (kinds like Thor in Nordic mythology) and frees the rivers ending the great draught. The point of snake in Hindu iconography is to show distinction between gods and humans. Humans by nature are afraid of snakes. Gods on the other hand have no such apprehensions. So they have no problem with having a snake in neck or dancing on its head. As Dr. Peterson himself says, "reptiles are very unpredictable to primates. They get afraid of them, and at the same time, get intrigued by them. Thus they have such conflicting opinion of them". I don't think I can explain better.

[@radwanparvez]

​@@puneetmishra4726 My main point was to point out the distinction of snake symbolism in different cultures. I hope you won't disagree with me on the point that, though many culture took snake as a symbol for evil (Of course It has a lot about the evolutionary history behind the curtain), depiction of snake in eastern/ hindu or whatever is very much distinct from that view. If you disagree on that, then it will be futile for me to continue the conversation, cause it is my observational assumption. If you agree or Dr. Peterson agree, then also it begs the question that, what happened in the history of evolution in these eastern side of the world differently. My question would be simple, "How the SAME (or maybe not very same) UNKNOWN creates something diffrent in different part of the world? " I must say, I'm not trying to belittle his hypothesis. I'm only curious. And I felt his lecture didn't explored this question. Maybe he did in another lecture, and I didn't see!

[@puneetmishra4726]

@@radwanparvez actually, snakes have positive symbolism in more or less every culture except in Abrahamic religions. Snakes in various mythologies have been associated with wisdom, healing, fertility and guardianship. But they are also associated with misfortune, chaos, draught, etc. And every mythology, western or eastern has mixed and unpredictable take on snakes (just like snakes are unpredictable and different people see them differently).

[@Saa42808]

I hope he would take shahada before being imprisoned by his brilliant mind.

[@ImWhatsHot]

As a child I had no idea what animals were or any harm or good they could do. I had to he taught of the animals.... I'm thankful I was taught right about most things concerning the world. It helps when it comes to understanding the good and evil. I thank God for the TRUTH in my life.

[@babelbabel2298]

the only problem is that truth is beyond and evil

[@danielparker7789]

I saw a snake today. It reminded me of Jordan Peterson.

[@migueljofre-]

a mega chimp

[@jasonwhitman3367]

Who taught you not to talk like that❔

[@Trilltrillion]

This man was addicted to Xanax in his 50s it’s arduous to take anything that he says, as legitimate

[@e-negative8220]

lol I would use other things to discredit him not fighting addiction, but yeh he is off many a time

[@caleb-gw8oo]

I would love to know exactly why Peterson believes in evolution. He doesn't deny God exists but he still accepts the idea that people were evolved from monkeys at the same time so I'd like to know what it is exactly that caused him to believe that

[@AntonDoesMusic]

Well, a common misconception is that we evolved from monkeys. We are apes. We and monkeys share a common ancestor. That being said, I'm in the same boat as him. It's hard to boil it down accurately to one or two sentences. But I'll try my best. It starts as an initial rejection of religion, particularly the one into which you're born. You reject it because you learn the ways of science. Then you go to college and study philosophy and ethics, and you understand that there's no logical or scientific reasoning to be a "good" person. There's nothing irrational about doing whatever you want to do to get whatever it is you want. Humanity, the Earth, our Sun, and possibly the Universe itself are all finite. So if it's all going to end and fade away one day, what's the point? Especially if you don't believe in an afterlife or a "Higher" being of some sort. So you begin to read tons of religious material, even from dead religions that aren't practiced anymore. You understand that all of these books and stories are a way to attempt to explain why it is we should be "good" to each other. So you hang onto your scientific findings for all of your logical reasoning, but you adopt and appreciate religious findings for your ethical reasoning.

[@caleb-gw8oo]

@@AntonDoesMusic honestly if there really was no reason to be good when being all in for yourself is the most "pleasureable" then everybody would be doing that. I think people eventually realized that it's the results of their actions that cause things to be a certain way. Eventually people realized that every desicion you make or don't make leaves a ripple in the water so in order to better your species you do what you think is right. I think our concience is why we do what's right but is it because of God we have a concience or is it a result of biological mutations?

[@EdwinRiveraTheOneThatGotAway]

@@AntonDoesMusic PhaQue

[@AntonDoesMusic]

@@caleb-gw8oo Well, I wouldn't so hastily get behind the idea that everyone understands that their decisions "leaves a ripple in the water" as you put it. I think there are plenty of people, even in advanced western civilizations, who don't think about the fact that the decisions they make actually matter. How else could you explain why nihilism is catching on like wildfire among younger people? I also don't believe that being religious automatically makes you a good person, and I don't think that the absence of religion makes you a bad person. But I think, given enough generations, the abolition of religion will have many of us asking ourselves, "What's the fucking point?" Especially if we stop and think about it. If we don't think about, or analyze it, we would hopefully act in a way that is reciprocal and beneficial. And the question of conscience: I don't think it's a result of "biological mutations" but it definitely isn't an overnight gift from God, either. It probably formed after who-knows-how-many generations of people interacting with each other and figuring out what mode of action of productive and benevolent versus which behavior is destructive and malevolent. We're still figuring it out, and we've been figuring it out from countless angles for hundreds of years, and haven't quite figured it out universally.

[@caleb-gw8oo]

@@AntonDoesMusic hmm no obviously not everyone accepts the idea that there is always consequences to our actions though I do think it's the ones that do that are the ones that progress society or our species in general. And I think over time people have learned to watch those that take responsibility and see what happens and they decided that that's the best role to take, not everyone but the most important ones. I feel with the rise of nihilism there is also a push in the opposite direction which is why Jordan is becoming so popular at the same time. I also think that it's possible with a lack of religion comes gain in nihilism. Without a supportive belief system it's a lot easier to take the path of no responsibility which is why people take it. People also aren't born with knowing what their place in the world is or what it is they should do to find out so they have to look towards their environment in order to figure it out. And when you're born in a society that's nihilistic then it's pretty hard to see what the results of your actions have on other people, which I think is what brings about totalitarian societies.

[@sextwister]

The N word activates one of the only language circuits that we share with chimps