The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth

Chapter 1 of Part 3 holds that your worldview becomes your own personal religion. No matter what your background happens to be, the ideas and beliefs that you hold most likely originate from your family culture. This formative realm helps you to navigate human behavior and relationships. However, as you grow up, it is important to evaluate how your childhood experiences have shaped your adult worldview. If you are in a constant state of awareness and revision, you can adapt to the world’s constant changes. The most effective religions are those that evolve.

Chapter 2 contends that in this context, science is also a form of religion because it is a way of interacting with the world. Scientific understanding results from questioning, and Peck holds that interrogating the world is essential to growth. If people fail to doubt and examine their surroundings and circumstances, they cannot fully evolve. However, Peck clarifies that his assertion does not mean that believing in a divine entity (or God) is a sign of ignorance. Instead, he believes that people’s perceptions of the divine will change when they assume a skeptical mindset.

In Chapter 3, Peck argues that the organized religion of a person’s childhood can complicate one’s self-regard, relationships, and worldview later in life.