Jordan Peterson | The Dark Night of the Soul

You know, when you think, well, what does this idea of soul mean, and it's not intellect, it's something like, it's something like consciousness allied with character, I think. And I think the reason that it's valued so much is that, because you've got to ask yourself, well, what do you really have when it comes down to it? So life is suffering, let's say, and, you know, you can, you can pile up worldly goods, and the God in the Old Testament doesn't seem to have anything against that, really, right? In fact, the people who he favors seem to prosper quite nicely in the world. But they also have to make a choice between whether they're going to fundamentally sustain their character or whether they're going to prosper in the world when push comes to shove. And the idea constantly is that really what you have in the world that allows you the best possible defense against the suffering that's intrinsic to being is your character. That's what you have, period. And I don't think there is anything that's more psychologically true than that, you know, because everything else, well, first of all, your relationships with others depend on your character. You know, when people are really after you for one reason or another, and they're accusing you of all sorts of things, and you're guilty because you have a past that's laden with characterological errors, then it's very easy for people to take you down because they'll poke until they hit a place where you're guilty, and then you're done because you'll do yourself in with your own judgment. There's a sacrificial idea here, too, which is, you know, now and then you're going to be faced with a situation where it's something you really want or your character. Maybe you'll have to lie about something, you know, and you'll think, ah, what difference does it make? You know, I'll lie about it. Well, now you know that you're the sort of person that will, in fact, deceive yourself about the nature of reality if something shiny is dangled in front of you. And that's not good because it undermines your faith in yourself. And when you're really in trouble, they call that the dark night of the soul. When you're really in trouble, that's what you've got. You've got whether or not you can trust yourself, and that's it, you know, when things are really harsh. And so if you've betrayed yourself in that manner, then you weaken yourself under the worst possible circumstances, and that's really not a good thing. So this is very practical advice. It's not casual moralizing. There's very little casual moralizing in these stories.