The idea of “loving others as you love yourself” as both a commandment and a reflection of self-perception. The depth of love and trust for others often mirrors one’s self-acceptance, if someone struggles to fully trust or appreciate themselves, that difficulty can project outward, impacting relationships. This concept encourages self-improvement, suggesting that to positively influence the world around us, it is essential to first address and enhance inner perspectives and values.

Humility is redefined here, not as self-deprecation, but as a path of growth and self-expansion. True humility involves recognizing that one is not as good as they could be and actively seeking improvement. This perspective encourages learning from those ahead while teaching those who follow, fostering a reciprocal and supportive community. The joy and societal value of helping others grow not only enriches personal life but also strengthens society as a whole.

Highlights of the Podcast

00:04 – Dr. Peterson’s Influence on Self-Understanding

01:08 – Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

02:14 – Redefining Humility

04:11 – Humility as Active Learning and Teaching

05:13 – Joy in Helping Others

06:21 – Biblical Teachings as Layers

Dr Matt Chalmers [00:00:04] So I was watching Dr. Peterson’s lecture on the Sermon on the Mount, which if you have not watched that, it’s pretty good. I mean, I haven’t seen anything Peterson’s put out that wasn’t awesome. His Nietzsche thing. I’m still I’ve I’ve watched I’m halfway through it again because I mean, I’ve watched it 3 or 4 times to get it. It’s pretty, pretty impressive. Now, the fun thing was, is that and this is why I love psychology, as you start to, you know, psychology and philosophy blend in really, really easily. And so when you start really learning this stuff and you start applying it, it’s pretty impressive. One of the things I learned from NLP in the whole it’s up if you’re not familiar with it, there’s a coaching system where you focus on communication, but you really focus on how you view the world and how the world views you. And it kind of a whole thing of to fix the world around you, to fix your problems, you fix yourself and the way you do that then has secondary ramifications on everything around you.

Dr Matt Chalmers [00:01:08] And it’s kind of interesting because when I was watching Dr. Peterson’s thing this morning, one of the things that was over was, you know, love your neighbor as yourself. The funny thing is, is that while that is obviously a commandment, it’s also a statement of fact. You can only love someone as much as you love yourself If you have trust issues with yourself, that’s going to be reflective upon the people around you. So you’re going to have trust issues with them as well. If you have issues with, you know, either trust or liking or loving yourself, you’re going to have issues with the same thing on everybody around you because the way you view yourself, the way you set up your version of reality, is going to be highly dependent upon the filters you set up and then how you interact with the world around you. So. The the the piece about that that I find interesting is that if it’s you’re supposed to love everybody around you and just do a good job. And you have to realize that that starts with yourself, then I think that’s a that’s an interesting piece for humility.

Dr Matt Chalmers [00:02:14] For a while, I’ve had a different definition of humility than anybody else. I don’t like the definition of humility where people look at it and it’s self-deprecating. It’s like, well, you know, make sure you understand that you’re not as good as you think you are. That’s humility. And I I’ve always hated that because humility has always been in any religion, Humility is tied to godliness. And so and I’ve never viewed godliness as being constrictive or confining or or reductive. And self-deprecation is by definition, all of those things. So it’s more of an expansive growth function. So it’s not that, you know, you should look at me like you’re not as good as you think. The inverse is not that it’s the inverse, but the other thing is the way you actually look at it is you’re not as good as you could be. Because that is an expansion, that is a growth function. And so when you start looking at, you know, I’m not as good as I could be, it completely changes the whole functionality of everything that you’re looking at.

Dr Matt Chalmers [00:03:11] So what ends up happening is that you have to understand, okay, let’s say that I’m pretty good at what I do. I’m a six on a ten scale in the specific vertical hierarchy. Vertical we’re looking at right? The vertical in the higher here, looking at the humility function would be I’m a six. So if self-actualization is primary two, this is a predicate to it. Kind of like being scared is a predicate to being brave. You can’t be brave without being scared first, right? So you can’t practice humility without recognizing where you are. So self-actualization. Okay. I’m a six, right? Which means for me to be humble, I need to recognize that there’s a seven and eight and I need to go seek them out and become better as a person so that as I get better in this deal, I can then love everybody around me better. And the actual function of that is I have to recognize that if I’m looking to go up, learn from the seventh in the eight, I’ve got to turn around and be willing to teach the fives, the force in the fives. And so that functional, active piece of humility is I need to I realize I am not as good as I could be.

Dr Matt Chalmers [00:04:11] So I need to learn and I need to then turn around and help other people on their path. That’s the function act of humility, which ties into, you know, love thy neighbor as thyself. Make yourself better so that you can then help everybody else. That reciprocity function, which Dr. Peterson points out, is very, very, very big throughout the whole Judeo-Christian text. So that function and the reason that I feel like that is the way it functions is because when you look at it, it’s in it’s objective available. Good. And what I mean by that is that it’s good for me and it’s good for society. And so the test I use for that is, does it make me feel good and does it make me a better person? And I will tell you that, you know, I don’t know about you, but whenever I help someone with a problem they have, when I help somebody become better than they were before, I feel really good. Like, I really, really like that feeling. Like it’s one of those things that is probably one of my favorite feelings is helping people be better than they were, not forcing them and helping them on their path, on their journey.

Dr Matt Chalmers [00:05:13] And so that’s I would say that’s very good for me. I would also say from a societal standpoint, if a person was to help someone else become a better version of themselves, better, it’s a craft that are as, you know, nicer, better parent or whatever, but objective family better. You’re making society as a whole better. So in that action, that view of humility would then be a righteous good because it not only helps yourself, but it helps society as a whole. And so that piece kind of fits in as well. So it’s interesting because the whole thing kind of came together because of the way that the NLP teaches and, you know, the coaching function works, which I thought was really, really kind of cool because I’ve heard I’m sure everybody’s heard, you know, love, love thy neighbor as thyself, as a, you know, very common, you know, Christianity. Thank Jesus said it. And so it’s you know, we’ve all heard it. But to think about it on the on the secondary level of, you know, not only is it a commandment of you should do this, but the idea that, you know, because it’s of God, you’re going to do it no matter what.

Dr Matt Chalmers [00:06:21] And so that function of, okay, I am doing this because again, of the filters I put out, I’ve got to realize that again, this is another thing and I would say a pretty basic function of Christianity. I’ve got to look at myself and figure out what it is about me that’s holding me back from loving myself in this loving society better. So I just thought was an interesting point I thought was interesting. I’m sure that as I put this out to tax my guys and I’m sure that you guys have your opinions on that one, I’d like to know what you think of that train of thought, because I’m not saying that it’s not a commandment. I’m just saying that it’s a deeper function, which is the vast majority of the Bible, in my opinion. You read it once and you go, it means this thing. And then you learn some more and you read it again. You go, it also means this, which is why it’s such a unbelievably deep and profound tax, regardless of what you think of the the underlying religious themes. But that was sort of the idea. That’s kind of what I was thinking about. So, you know. I’d like to know your opinion on that. Drop them in the comments or I’ll as normal. I’ll see you guys. They can all talk to you about that. All right. So I changed my thing. It’s now physiology over pharmacology. That’s my. That’s my sign off. So if you guys have any questions about that, I’m sure I can go over it Friday. Thanks for your time.

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Dr. Matt Chalmers

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