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Worldviews--An Introduction
1.
Worldview Related Key Definitions
A
worldview
is a
conceptual framework and a set of beliefs used to make sense out of a complex,
seemingly chaotic Reality based on your
perceptions, experience and learning. Besides
incorporating a purpose or "raison d’etre," it provides an outlook
or expectation for the world as it exists or is perceived to exist–one that
you base predictions about the future on. It
continually evolves–indeed, you spend the rest of your life testing and
refining it, based on feedback you get. As
it develops, it increasingly it becomes the source of your goals and
desires, and as such it shapes your behavior and values.
Worldview
Literacy refers to mastery of the concepts, terminology, and background
related to a wide range of beliefs and worldview component themes and at least
basic understanding of these beliefs and themes. Such mastery and
understanding are indicative of someone whose own worldview is well developed.
This shows one has benefited from past or ongoing consideration of many
diverse beliefs and worldview themes and has selectively incorporated a few of
them into his or her worldview only after an examination of how compatible they
are with the rest of the framework.
Worldview Themes refer to the
beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and behavior that come together in a way that is
articulated in similar fashion by lots of people. Project Worldview
has formally identified eighty one of them--with formal names and descriptions.
Many such themes can be used to characterize a person's worldview.
2. Concepts and Worldview Development
As a child, as you grow and experience the world, you see relationships,
categorize, discriminate and generalize about what your senses reveal. You
replace the sensory experiences and memories with abstract generalized ideas and
understanding in forming concepts. For example, after handling
many similar but different objects-- rectangular blocks, orange, beach ball,
tennis ball, toy cars, globe, etc--you eventually form a concept of
"roundness"–that some of the objects handled fit with, others
don’t.
The conceptualization process involves observing, abstracting, recalling
memories, discriminating, categorizing, etc. You fit many concepts together into schemes,
and structure your conceptual schemes into a framework. Though the rate of
acquiring new concepts generally slows as you age, your conceptual framework can
change as new experiences provide new insights. In this way, your comprehensive
conception of the world as a whole, that is, your worldview, develops.
Related Words, Beliefs, Background --20 entries
3. Language, Values, and Worldview Development
Worldviews
develop as your language acquisition and literacy grows. Increasing
technological literacy is typically linked to acquiring new skills and
capabilities. Behavior can change accordingly. Ideally your behavior will be both driven by
and consistent with your beliefs and values. Such coherence in your worldview
can be an important source of strength--one that leads to increased self
esteem, greater effectiveness in interacting with others, and to your becoming a
healthy, self actualized person. If you understand your worldview, you can better
understand your own behavior and values--but you live in a world that also
includes other people. Encounters with those whose
behavior / lifestyle is quite different from your own are important in both
understanding yourself and the society you are part of. You may find that
making sense of their behavior requires understanding their worldview--something that may present challenges to your own beliefs and values. Likewise,
if others understand your worldview, they can better
understand your behavior and values. When one makes a value judgment, one makes
a statement about the way the world "ought to" be--and of course
people do this differently depending on their worldviews.
So as you'd expect, differences in the underlying worldviews are typically of critical
importance in disputes which arise over conflicting values, ethical concerns, societal stresses,
technology assessment, environmental or quality of life issues, etc.
Related Words, Beliefs, Background--19 entries
4.Using Worldview Themes to Assess Worldviews; Examining Beliefs
In a
philosophy class, one might consider worldviews in terms of
epistemological, metaphysical, cosmological, teleological, theological,
anthropological, and axiological beliefs. A more accessible approach is to
undertake this assessment in terms of worldview themes. A worldview theme
typically links beliefs with behaviors, orientations, and values. Your worldview
fundamentally affects what you perceive, think, feel, and do. Certain beliefs,
thoughts, feelings and behaviors often come together in a way that is
articulated in similar fashion repeatedly by multitudes of people. Given a name
and formal description, this is called a worldview
theme. Many such themes can
be used to characterize an individual’s worldview.
This project Worldview website provides
eighty one worldview themes, presented on fifty-two cards or frames, for doing just that.
It will help you both fully explore each theme and assess how compatible your own worldview is with it.
Starting points for doing this are Characterizing
Your Worldview--An Overview and the Basic
Choices follow up, or Shopping in
the The
Reality Marketplace.
After acquainting yourself with the individual themes,
the website's Top Cards and Discards Program
can provide a quick characterization of your overall worldview. The more
involved Quick Worldview
Analysis Program will begin your quantitative look at it. Analyzing your own worldview in
terms of its component parts is a big step forward in the ongoing process of
discovering who you are, relating to other people and understanding how you fit
into the world. Likewise the process of examining your beliefs,
values, and long-term behavior with respect to their consistency, coherence and
the extent to which they promote both your own well being and the health of
society in general is one that should be encouraged!
Related
Words, Beliefs, Background
--18 entries
| Worldview (from online encyclopedia) |
| Conceptual System (from online encyclopedia) |
| Concept (from online encyclopedia) |
| Belief (from online encyclopedia) |
| Value Theory (from online encyclopedia) |
| Mental Model (from online encyclopedia) |
| Cognitive Model (from online encyclopedia) |
| Cognized Environment (from online encyclopedia) |
| Model Dependent Realism (from online encyclopedia) |
| Memetics (from online encyclopedia) |
| Spiral Dynamics (a theory of human development, from online encyclopedia) |
| Worldview Watch #27: Critical Thinking, Prayer, and the Free Inquiry Path to a Worldview |
| "What is a Worldview?", by F. Heylighen (from Principia Cybernetica Web) |
| Center Leo Apostel (Belgium research group promoting development of world views that integrate the results of different disciplines) |
| Worldviews: from fragmentation to integration (classic 1994 paper by Leo Apostel, etal) |
| "How Language Shapes Thought" by Lera Boroditsky (article on Edge website; see also Feb 2011 Sci. Am.) |
| "How to Acquire a Concept" by Eric Margolis (classic 1998 paper) |
| Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages by Guy Deutscher (NY Times review of this 2010 book) |
| The Evolution of Childhood: Relationships, Emotions, Mind by Melvin Konner (read excerpts from this 2010 book) |
| Worldviews: An Introduction to the History and Philosophy of Science, by Richard DeWitt (2004 book) |
| Worldviews: Crosscultural Explorations of Human Beliefs, by Ninian Smart (1999 book) |
| Worldviews, Science and Us, by Gershenson, Aerts, and Edmonds (2007 book about Philosophy & Complexity) |
| Worldviews and their Components -- A Theoretical Framework (from book Viewing the World Ecologically) |
| A Worldview Bibliography, by David Naugle (Naugle is professor of philosophy at Dallas Baptist University) |
| On Worldviews, by James Olthuis (1983 paper offers academic, faith-based, perspective) |
| "What is a Worldview?" by Ken Funk (Funk is an Oregon State University engineering professor) |
| The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog , by James Sire (excerpts from 2nd edition of book) |
| Worldviews, by Tracy F. Munsil (Christian perspective, on Focus on the Family website) |
| The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently--And Why, by Richard Nisbett |
| What We See with Fred Dretske (UCTV 2008 program on nature of conscious perceptual experience) |
| "You Are What You Speak" (New Scientist 2002 article about how language shapes one's worldview) |
| "Cultural and Worldview Frames", by Michelle LeBaron (connects conflicts and underlying worldviews) |
| The Filter Bubble by Eli Pariser (2011 book re: how "personalization filters serve up...autopropaganda") |
| World Values Survey (international social scientists' ongoing study) |
| Beyond Concepts: Ontology as Reality Representation, by Barry Smith (2004 paper by philosophy professor) |
| The Foundational Questions Institute ("exploring the foundations and boundaries of physics and cosmology") |
| Worldview, by Scott Bristol (the values heavy theory behind Bristol's "Life Journey's Maps") |
| Criteria for Evaluating Worldviews, by J. Kineman (from his 1997 book Theory of Autevolution) |
| U Turn: What If You Woke Up One Morning and Realized You Were Living the Wrong Life, by Bruce Grierson (2007 book) |
| Life Strategies--Doing What Works, Doing What Matters by Phil McGraw (read excerpts of 2000 book at Google Books) |
| Humor, Sublimity, and Incongruity, by John Marmysz (the origin of laughter and worldview development) |
| Consilience--The Unity of Knowledge, by Edward O. Wilson (book review of this important 1998 book) |
| "The Myth of Objectivity" by Daniel Klein (article re: how political beliefs prejudice us, The Atlantic December 2011) |
| Khan Academy (offers over 2700 free videos on all topics, emphasis on math & science) |
| TED: Ideas Worth Spreading (videos / "Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world") |
| Free Online Courses and Education (Education Portal website) |
| Online College Classes (website with links to free classes, textbooks, ebooks, etc. ) |
| Academic Earth ("thousands of video lectures from the world's top scholars") |
| Worldview Diversity (from teaching about religion website) |
| Worldview Tests, by Kenneth Richard Samples (nine methods for testing worldviews; fundamentalist perspective) |
| Worldview Weekend (an "I Know What's Best for You" approach?) |
| The Truth Contest ("seeking answers to the big questions of life, the truth about life and death") |
| The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph Kett, and James Trefil |
| Character Education Partnership (goal: developing "people of good character for a just and compassionate society") |
| Religious Literacy, by Stephen Prothero (review of 2007 book by chair of Boston University Religion Dept.) |
| Even Secular Parents Are Religious Educators, by Roberta Nelson (excerpt from Parenting Beyond Belief) |
| Those Unsure of Own Beliefs More Resistant to Beliefs of Others (report on 2009 study led by D. Albarracin) |
| Bible Literacy Project ("An Educated Person is Familiar With the Bible") |
| Belief-O-Matic (a personality quiz about your religious and spiritual beliefs from Beliefnet. com) |
| The Worldview Quiz (from Reason for the Common Good website) |
| Links to Scholarly Papers related to Worldviews |
|
"The project of world-view construction consists...[of]...elucidating... the whole of reality starting from certain parts." |
Leo Apostel, etal. in "Worldviews: from fragmentation to integration". |
| "[T]here is in mankind a persistent tendency to achieve a comprehensive interpretation, a Weltanschauung, or philosophy, in which a picture of reality is combined with a sense of meaning and value and with principles of action..." | Wilhelm Dilthy, from The Encyclopedia of Philosophy |
| "If we make fundamentally different meaning of the world, then all our attempts to improve communication...will fail because we may not be addressing our deeper differences that continue to fuel conflicts" | Michelle LeBaron, from "Cultural and Worldview Frames" |
| "If you consider a worldview a private matter and take steps to prevent the open discussion of worldviews, you are in fact imposing your worldview on others; by doing so you...effectively restrict public discourse to trivialities and ungrounded assertions." | Ken Funk, Oregon State University |
| [A worldview consists of]"...beliefs and assumptions by which an individual makes sense of experiences that are hidden deep within the language and traditions of the surrounding society" | Mary Clark, from In Search of Human Nature |
| "An acceptable worldview will avoid 'self-stultification', but will have component parts that hang together as a coherent whole" | Kenneth Richard Samples, from "Worldview Tests" |
| "A worldview supplies a particular community with...basic assumptions about what is real and what is unreal, and criteria for distinguishing what is true from what is false" | Center for Sacred Sciences |
| "Our children long for realistic maps of a future they can be proud of. Where are the cartographers of human purpose?" | World Future Society |
| "By understanding the processes by which worldviews come about and develop over time we may well be able to map out routes and strategies (unlearning?) for conscious future developments...As the world we live in is very much shaped by the relative dominance /subordination of various worldviews we might be able to work out how to turn the volume down on some and turn it up on others ..." | Andrew Langford, Gaia University |
"As you shop in "The Reality Marketplace" avoid
spending your "reality cash" too early, before you have
seen
everything. "
from Coming of Age in the Global Village,
by
Stephen P. Cook, with Donella H. Meadows.
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