Although seldom mentioned, I hope Joseph Campbell’s work is familiar to many members of this community, because of his influence on George Lucas, Star Wars, and most fantasy and speculative fiction.

I highly recommend his show Power of the Myth on Netflix.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Myth

Absolutely wonderfully insightful journey through the different myths of our ancestors

I'd also recommend his Mythos series. And his "Power of Myth" interview with Bill Moyers, which should be required viewing in every highschool.

There are so many things that so many people say should be "required learning in school". I sympathise the sentiment, but maybe it'd be better to habituate ourselves to somehow thinking about how each of us could solve the problem (for kids) instead of trying to elbow in our favourite subject in an already stuffed-to-the-brim curriculum. Just a thought.

Against my better judgement, I'll go ahead and bite.

There are two things in your comment I want to address. First, I'm not sure what you mean by "the problem," so I'll assume you mean the question of what constitutes a solid education. Second, there's an underlying debate here of another question, what is the purpose of education?

I'd argue the second question begets the first, for how can you determine what constitutes education until you know what the purpose of it is? For example, is the purpose to be trained for a job, or to be able to think critically and ask fundamental questions about the nature of life?

If the answer is the former, then I would agree with you that no lesson should be allowed unless it can be directly followed along to a relevant skill at a job. But I think the answer ought to be the latter, and in that case, the questions posted by Campbell's responses in "Power of Myth" and exploration of ideas and narratives that many of us simply take for granted, compel one to have serious reflection; even better that the pivot is Star Wars, a story with which many people are already well acquainted.

So, while I was using a rather casual colloquialism, hopefully this reasoning justifies its use :)

In case you’re curious as to why I read it, a good friend of mine gave me a copy after he read House of Leaves upon my recommendation a few years ago because it provided further insight into the book.

Probably a result of Jordan Peterson becoming famous. He mentions Campbell a lot.

Had the same thought. On this note, Peterson's reading list [1] is worth pursuing, however I'd dovetail it with less serious books for the sake of levity -- his reading list, like himself, can be pretty serious + severe.

[1] https://jordanbpeterson.com/books/book-list/

I came to read it by way of a fellow House of Leaves enthusiast’s recommendation. I don’t remotely care for Jordan Peterson.

But what do you think of his book list?

I like a surprising number of them. I’m surprised to see Demons mentioned; that’s been my favorite of his for over 5 years.

So I don’t like his platform, but he has some excellent taste in books.

Actually, I’ve had this book for years. I think Jordan Peterson is an exploitational personality who simply tells people what they want to hear.

Then again, George Lucas is among those who like it, so it’s not necessarily an intellectually valuable cohort.

I’m not in any JP fan club or anything, but that’s a bizarre assessment. Jordan Peterson is as far from someone who “tells ppl what they want to hear” as you can get. Which is one reason among a few why he is so unlikeable.

People are masochistic and self hating. They love it when an older man tells them to get your sorry life together bucko. Take small steps, and incrementally work your way up you piece of shit.