# What is a "meta person"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 27, 2018, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-meta-person/823602 "2018-10-27T20:15:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![freebird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d78d45/32.png) [@freebird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freebird)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-meta-person/823602/1 "2018-10-27T20:15:48Z")
What’s a “meta person”? I don’t understand that term, although I know “meta” means “itself”. What does it mean exactly? I heard it here: [Lecture: 2017 Maps of Meaning 01: Context and Background - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8Xc2_FtpHI&feature=youtu.be&list=PL22J3VaeABQAT-0aSPq-OKOpQlHyR4k5h&t=6639) (It’s at the correct time). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-meta-person/823602/2 "2018-10-27T20:30:53Z")
> [@freebird](#): > > “meta” means “itself”. Not really. I’d say “meta” means something like “beyond” or “outside” or “a level above.” [Urban dictionary](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=meta) defines it as “about the thing itself. It’s seeing the thing from a higher perspective instead of from within the thing,” which isn’t a bad definition and may be along the lines of how the speaker you linked to is using the term. [Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meta-) defines it as “more comprehensive : transcending—usually used with the name of a discipline to designate a new but related discipline designed to deal critically with the original one.” ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-meta-person/823602/3 "2018-10-27T20:42:41Z")
It’s a person who is above himself. We all know guys like this. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-meta-person/823602/4 "2018-10-27T20:44:26Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > It’s a person who is above himself. We all know guys like this. Just guys?!? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-meta-person/823602/5 "2018-10-27T20:55:13Z")
It’s a Jordan Peterson lecture. It means what JP wants it to mean. I listened to about 3 minutes of it, and I gather the “meta-person” is a symbol of all the people who will judge you in your life: Parents, teachers, bosses, etc. I also learned that nature is female and culture is male. News you can use! You will be receiving a bill for 3 minutes of life. Please pay promptly. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-meta-person/823602/6 "2018-10-27T21:10:39Z")
I’m guessing someone who is over-the-top philosophical, or maybe someone who has valid thoughts but conveys them in a way that sounds needlessly complex. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-meta-person/823602/7 "2018-10-27T21:36:50Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > It’s a Jordan Peterson lecture. It means what JP wants it to mean. I listened to about 3 minutes of it, and I gather the “meta-person” is a symbol of all the people who will judge you in your life: Parents, teachers, bosses, etc. Sounds like at least a distant relative of Freud’s super-ego (Über-Ich). ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-meta-person/823602/8 "2018-10-27T21:47:33Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Just guys?!? Well if you know any metawomen … they’re a good bit rarer. Last one I met was at a graduate lecture of Fredric Jameson’s. Centuries ago. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-meta-person/823602/9 "2018-10-28T03:13:04Z")
I’m So Meta, Even This Acronym 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-meta-person/823602/10 "2018-10-28T03:52:02Z")
Meta can i think be used in different senses depending on the context - some of those senses sticking strictly to the origin of the word, some less so. If you look at older words such as “metaphor” and “metastasis”, you can perhaps see more clearly than if you look at more modern ones. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-meta-person/823602/11 "2018-10-28T04:06:21Z")
I never meta-person I didn’t like. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-meta-person/823602/12 "2018-10-28T04:08:36Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-meta-person/823602/13 "2018-10-28T05:49:31Z")
They’re people who received superpowers as a result of a particle accelerator explosion. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-meta-person/823602/14 "2018-10-29T13:02:04Z")
Uncle Sam? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-meta-person/823602/15 "2018-10-29T16:21:23Z")
I have to admit, I’m getting meta, a little meta all the time (can’t get no worse). ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-meta-person/823602/16 "2018-10-29T16:36:43Z")
Someone who is very interested in World Peace ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-meta-person/823602/17 "2018-10-29T17:01:09Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > They’re people who received superpowers as a result of a particle accelerator explosion. What sort of superpowers would MetaMan have? No boring lectures unless he gets the Lovelace/Babbage\* power of pulling down a screen for showing presentations no matter where he is. - example can be found in the webcomic, [here](http://sydneypadua.com/2dgoggles/lovelace-and-babbage-vs-the-organist-part-8/). Screen power usage is near the bottom. (The first bad pun is in the third panel.) This index for the comics is here: [http://sydneypadua.com/2dgoggles/comics/](http://sydneypadua.com/2dgoggles/comics/) Sadly, it’s no longer being updated. ---
**Author:** ![Crazy\_Canuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazy_canuck/32/5282_2.png) [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-meta-person/823602/18 "2018-10-29T17:39:38Z")
Wouldn’t MetaMan just be Deadpool, or any other character determined to break the fourth wall? ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-meta-person/823602/19 "2018-10-30T04:29:59Z")
Metaman could be one who shows up in unexpected stories or universes, as if he belongs. Or he could cause current events to also happen in other universes at the same time… Or something. 🙂