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Worldview Essay | Personal Worldview Essay With an Example
July 31, 2021 by Prasanna
Worldview Essay: The worldview basically means perspective. The present society comprises numerous worldviews. A great many people will in general force convictions from various religions, however regularly stick to one principle worldview. A worldview to me is the get-together of convictions that shape what we do consistently and structures our general view on life.
A worldview is a finished arrangement of how we see the world and interact with it. A worldview is a basic series of expectations to which one submits that fills in as a system for comprehension and deciphering reality and profoundly shapes one’s conduct. The worldview of an individual is typically affected by the individual’s social foundation, educational encounters, and childhood.
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Example Essay on Worldview
A worldview is an assemblage of one’s conviction that will assist with deciding how one will respond and impart dependent on groundbreaking thoughts, issues, conflicts, and as a general rule, life’s difficulties; it is the thing that one depends on to address those intense inquiries according to the present issues. A worldview will decide what you look like at any circumstance, from fetus removal, religion, gay marriage or to more unremarkable issues, it is that intrinsic conviction that you have figured in your life that will decide those results.
A worldview includes one ‘s assortment of presuppositions, feelings and qualities from which an individual attempts to comprehend and bode well out of the world and life. A worldview is a calculated plan by which we intentionally or unwittingly spot or fit all that we accept and by which we decipher and judge reality. A worldview is, as a matter of first importance, clarification and understanding of the world and second, utilization of this view to life.”
Everybody takes a gander at the world in their own particular manner. Furthermore, sometime down the road, we meet individuals who have a comparative worldview. It’s simple for us with such individuals and we are companions with them, get hitched, bring up youngsters. In such families, there are many fewer struggles and mistaken assumptions, since guardians truly look one way. I accept that it is in the family that we are acquainted with the primary standards of the worldview. Later the world has its effect on everybody. We get beneficial experience, draw data from books, films, correspondence. Accordingly, we become ourselves. Every one of us is, dislike the others, and every year doesn’t resemble his previous self. Everything changes. Our organization has numerous administrations and you can pick the vital one.
Now and again in our life, there are circumstances when individuals cardinally change their viewpoint. Regularly this is influenced by life conditions, misfortunes, and others. Somebody comprehends that he fouled up, doubted and was in a rush. As is commonly said, it’s never past the point where it is possible to begin once more or fix botches. We as a whole reserve the option to another opportunity. The primary concern is to have the option to exploit this opportunity and not to rehash our missteps twice. Our online trustful exposition proofreader is great.
Obviously, we are not conceived as ideal and shaped. All you need to accomplish all through life. In history, there are numerous models where individuals have accomplished much throughout everyday life, notwithstanding the conditions of their introduction to the world and childhood. The primary concern is to plainly see the objective before you and push ahead.
Taking everything into account, I need to say that individuals truly need very little: a most loved work, from which you continually get joy, a dearest family, great wellbeing and the capacity to cheer at what we have. However, you can’t turn into an aloof being. Recollect that to some degree, we as a whole make the world wherein we live. We should be somewhat kinder to other people, we won’t just think often about ourselves, we won’t neglect to say thanks to God for everything and figure out how to appreciate life. Scholarly Writing Service can assist you with composing the worldview articles like this.
Personal Worldview Essay Example
Everybody has a worldview. Have you at any point contemplated your worldview? For what reason do you accept what you accept? A great many people feel that the expression “worldview” is firmly connected to religion. This understanding is an incredible truth. worldview is certifiably not a scholarly subject, it is exceptionally commonsense. worldview is the sum of one’s conviction framework. This is the way somebody sees the world and gets it. What we accept how is our worldview affects how would we live on the planet. It influences each everyday issue. worldview contacts somebody’s assessment on starting points and ethical quality: where individuals came from, what is good and bad.
My worldview has been moulded and extended throughout my lifetime by various impacts. My family, companions, collaborators, educators, and even outsiders madly affect my life that has somehow changed how I see society and my general surroundings. The three primary segments that assistance to shape my worldview are Ethics, Human Nature, and God since they formed my considerations, encounters, instruction and life choices. I feel the most grounded part of my worldview is my gigantic feeling of morals. They help to direct my activities and choices regularly. Morals to me establish the frameworks of an individual’s personality. I feel that an individual with a great person will naturally have a solid worldview.
My worldview doesn’t nonetheless, limit my comprehension of other worldviews. I see how others can frame their convictions and presently have a superior comprehension of different religions essay and conviction frameworks in view of this course. As I would see it, large numbers of us go to our worldviews as a result of the confidence we have in our encounters. We will in general believe the individuals who are nearest to us and as kids depend on those equivalent individuals to show us good and bad. I have been instructed to confide in God; be that as it may, numerous kids in numerous societies all throughout the planet are educated to confide in the convictions of their progenitors.
Confidence comes from those you trust, on the off chance that you can depend on somebody and their activities, or their lessons can be demonstrated to be sound consistently, you structure confidence in that individual or their convictions. This learning interaction has fortified my worldview, and on account of this, I don’t feel that my convictions are being referred to. This course has made me fully aware of numerous worldviews that I didn’t know existed, and instructed me that suppositions I had about others were false. I feel that I am content until further notice with my own convictions, and feel that my worldview is genuinely bound together.
This task has been trying for me since I have needed to examine my own convictions. I needed to choose which worldviews were the most imperative to me and why. I then, at that point needed to comprehend my sentiments about how others see this.
FAQ’s on Worldview Essay
Question 1. How would you describe worldview?
Answer: A worldview is a finished arrangement of how we see the world and interact with it. A worldview is a basic series of expectations to which one submits that fills in as a system for comprehension and deciphering reality and profoundly shapes one’s conduct.
Question 2. What things affect a person’s worldview?
Answer: The worldview of an individual is typically affected by the individual’s social foundation, educational encounters, and childhood.
Question 3. What are the common examples of worldview?
Answer: Our worldview might incorporate presumptions in regards to fundamental human instinct, the making of the earth, the starting points of biodiversity, the connections of circumstances and logical results, the idea of good and insidiousness, dependability of government, the unwavering quality of science, the job of religion, essential good standards, and so forth.
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65 Worldview Examples
Chris Drew (PhD)
Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]
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A worldview is a belief system that shapes one’s perceptions, values, and actions. It is an anchor upon which we can live out our lives so that it’s consistent with our underlying belief system.
There are four types of worldviews. These are: attitudinal, ideological, religious, and philosophical. Within each of these categories, we can identify examples of worldviews such as optimism, libertarianism, monotheism, and stoicism.
List of Worldviews Discussed in this Article
Ambitiousness | Tolerance | ||
Pessimism | Compassion | Friendliness | Cautiousness |
Resilience | Respect | Skepticism | Thoughtfulness |
Individualism | Authoritarianism | ||
Anarchism | Environmentalism | ||
Socialism | Constitutionalism | Localism | |
Communism | Agrarianism | Globalism | Progressivism |
Republicanism | Monarchism | Popularism | |
Technocracy | Progressivism | ||
Christianity | Sikhism | Islamism | Buddhism |
Hinduism | Mormonism | Catholicism | Protestantism |
Jainism | Daoism | Judaism | Atheism |
Pluralism | |||
Moral Absolutism | Secularism | Stoicism | |
Confucianism | Structuralism | Materialism | |
Worldview Examples
1. attitudinal worldviews.
An attitudinal worldview is a general disposition that someone has. It can be seen as the core features of a person’s personal character that tend to be consistent enough that they are seen as a person’s personality.
Examples of attitudinal worldviews include optimism, pessimism, compassion, thoughtfulness, and adventurousness.
The most common metaphor we use when exploring attitudinal worldviews is that of glass-half-full versus glass-half-empty. This metaphor makes us think of two people looking at the same glass of water. One person says “that glass is half full”. They are an optimist because they’re reflecting on what they have. The other person says “that glass is half empty”. They are a pessimist because they’re reflecting on what they’re missing.
In performance reviews at work, an employer will often refer to a person’s attitudinal worldview. They might talk about their work ethic, optimism, or cooperativeness as things that offer value to the team.
Similarly, in school report cards, teachers might reflect on a student’s friendliness, resilience, or growth mindset .
List of Attitudinal Worldviews
Optimism | Tolerance | Work Ethic | |
Pessimism | Compassion | Friendliness | Cautiousness |
Resilience | Skepticism | Thoughtfulness |
2. Ideological Worldviews
Ideological worldviews are worldviews based upon a person’s values and ideals. They stem from a personal idea of how the world should be structured both politically and economically.
Examples of ideological worldviews include capitalism, socialism, communism, social democracy, libertarianism, agrarianism, and totalitarianism.
These ideological worldviews might underpin the way you vote and your perception of what rights and freedoms people should have. For example, a socialist might be more focused on social equality and ensuring people get the education and healthcare they need regardless of their income.
By contrast, capitalists might be more concerned with ensuring people have the freedom to start a business and build wealth for themselves and their families.
Interestingly, there is a gender slant in ideological worldviews. If we were to look at a distribution curve, we would see that women are distributed more closely toward communitarian worldviews, while men are distributed more closely toward individualistic worldviews.
List of Ideological Worldviews
Individualism | Collectivism | Authoritarianism | |
Totalitarianism | Environmentalism | ||
Libertarianism | Constitutionalism | Localism | |
Agrarianism | Globalism | Progressivism | |
Republicanism | Pluralism | Populism | |
Technocracy | Progressivism | Conservativism | Democracy |
3. Religious Worldviews
Your religious worldview refers to your beliefs about god and spirituality. Even people who do not believe in a god or are unsure can be classified as having a religious worldview (agnosticism and atheism).
We can also break down religious worldviews into a few key types, including monotheism, polytheism , and atheism.
Most of the world’s major religions are monotheistic, including Christianity, Islamism, Mormonism, Catholicism, and Judaism.
People with a strong belief in an organized religion may turn to their founding texts (e.g. the Bible, Quran, etc.) to help shape their worldview. Through these texts, they develop beliefs around morality, how to live a good life, gender relations, and even what to eat and when to eat it!
List of Religious Worldviews
Christianity | Sikhism | Islamism | Buddhism |
Hinduism | Mormonism | Catholicism | Protestantism |
Jainism | Daoism | Judaism | Atheism |
4. Philosophical Worldviews
Philosophical worldviews refer to your beliefs about fundamental questions like the nature of existence, truth, knowledge, and social relations.
While philosophical worldviews are similar to, and informed by, religious and ideological worldviews, your philosophy tends to be a set of epistemological beliefs based upon critical reasoning and systematic and rational inquiry.
Philosophical worldviews are also often informed by schools of thought that emerge from academic study such as pluralism, moral relativism, Marxism, postmodernism, and intellectual conservativism.
For example, the philosophy of stoicism is based upon a school of thought that dates back to ancient Greece. This philosophical worldview teaches that humans should change the things they can and accept the things they cannot change. It encourages personal reflection on to build up wisdom, temperance, courage, and justice .
List of Philosophical Worldviews
Pluralism | Moral Relativism | Marxism | Postmodernism |
Conservativism | Classical Liberalism | Existentialism | Humanism |
Moral Absolutism | Secularism | Stoicism | Utilitarianism |
Determinism | Confucianism | Structuralism | Materialism |
The Influence of Culture on Worldviews
While we like to think that we use personal intellect and free thought to come to our worldview, the truth is that our worldviews are very much influenced by our cultures.
For example, the vast majority of people who grow up in Islamic families tend to be Muslims in adulthood; the same goes with Christianity. While small changes occur from generation to generation, there is a clear intergeneration passing-down of worldviews.
Similarly, we can see that societies like the United States are highly individualistic whereas societies in Scandinavia are more communitarian in nature. The mere exposure to worldviews through family, friends, and media can fundamentally influence the values we consciously choose to adopt in adulthood.
This is not to say you don’t have agency to choose for yourself; rather, it is to say that on a sociological level, some worldviews have more of a foothold in some cultures than others, demonstrating the impact on your situated context on how you perceive the world around you.
What is your Worldview? – How to Determine It
Most people have a rough idea of their own worldview to start with. If you’re not able to articulate your worldview right now, you would want to start by asking yourself some questions.
These questions might include questions like:
- What words would you use to describe your personality? (Attitudinal worldviews)
- What are your core beliefs when it comes to politics and economics? (Ideological worldviews)
- What are your beliefs about God and spirituality? (Religious worldviews)
You could also do a wide range of reading to get a better sense of the world if you feel like you need to be more informed before stating what your worldview is. A common book people read is Sophie’s Choice , a fictional book about a girl who is discovering her opinions about philosophy.
Similarly, you may want to take classes on world religions and politics to get a better idea of what your fundamental belief systems are .
A person’s worldview is a deeply-held set of beliefs that are shaped by a range of factors, including family, culture, religion, and education. It can also change over time. Big events in life, such as the birth of a child, can shake a person’s fundamental belief system and make them re-think their entire worldview.
Similarly, many people don’t know what their personal worldview is. For those people, self-reflection, consultation with people they admire, and exploration of a range of philosophical and religious perspectives can help them to develop a personal belief system.
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1 thought on “65 Worldview Examples”
Thanks alot the article actually as made me learn many things about worldviews,and I believe it will shape mine too about my beliefs and deeper convictions about the world around me and beyond.
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- Relationships
My World View, In Four Paragraphs
A question on my nephew's college application made me ponder my own response..
Posted January 29, 2016
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My younger nephew, a high school senior, is applying to colleges this year. Because I am a doting aunt (and also I have a background in writing and editing), I volunteered to look at his application essays and offer my thoughts before he added the essays to the applications.
My nephew was happy to take me up on my suggestion; the result for me has been a ringside seat at the nerve-racking process of applying to college these days.
I have read and been impressed by his responses to a broad variety of essay questions, including: how he will explore his intellectual and academic interests at College A; why College B is a good fit for him and what led him to apply there; his greatest high school learning experience outside the classroom; how he overcame failure; and how he exhibited outstanding leadership .
The last essay I read was a response to this question: How has your past shaped your world view? College D placed a 100-word limit on the response, and my nephew crafted a pithy, graceful and meaningful reply that I am certain would have won my admiration even if I weren't related to him.
After we finished our review session on this essay and I drove the four miles back to my home, I found that the question stayed in my mind. I will admit that, when I saw this question, my first thought was: “He’s 17; how could he have a world view?” My second thought was: “If he does have a world view, how can he possibly express it in 100 words?”
My nephew’s completed essay was the answer to both of those questions, leaving me with only my third thought, which I addressed to myself: “How has your past shaped your world view?”
Because I am a tad more than three times my nephew’s age (and never mind what “tad” means here), I challenged myself to answer the question in 350 words. Here, in the following four paragraphs (350 words on the nose), is my response. I don't plan to apply to college again, but I found the exercise helpful nonetheless. It reminded me of where I came from and where—in the years to come—I still hope to go.
My preteen and teenage years were shaped by two sets of forces—internal and external. One internal force was my love of reading, which in high school developed into a love of literature and writing I have carried with me ever since. I also loved music—especially singer-songwriters Laura Nyro and Joni Mitchell, as well as the Broadway musicals my mother adored. As I grew older, I embraced jazz and classical music, too. Literature and music remain my inspirations and my salvation: The works of the great writers, composers and performers prove to me that human beings are capable of sublime achievements.
The external forces that shaped me were the historical events I lived through as a child, teenager and young adult. The civil rights movement of the 1960s—the passionate, ongoing struggle by African Americans for equality and dignity in all areas of life, including education , housing, employment and voting—influenced me profoundly. The assassinations of President Kennedy, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy also seared marks on my soul, as did the protests against the Vietnam War. The powerful women’s movement opened my eyes to the infuriating truth that much of the world regards women as second-class citizens.
In college I planned to pursue my love of literature by going to graduate school and becoming an English professor. But the struggles of the world weighed on me. Eventually I changed course to become a journalist, hoping to save—or at least enlighten—the world through reporting and writing. After 20 years in this field, I returned home to care for my mother in her last years. I learned that helping to ease the suffering of one person can, in its own way, be just as rewarding.
With cruelty and injustice at a fever pitch now in this country and overseas, my once- optimistic world view has dimmed. I worry that humankind’s worst impulses may finally win out. I hope I can remember what literature and music have taught me about humankind’s greatest achievements. I also hope I can find another way to make a difference.
Copyright © 2016 by Susan Hooper
“The Blue Marble” Photograph of Earth taken December 7, 1972 by NASA/Apollo 17 Crew / Wikimedia Commons / In the public domain per NASA
Susan Hooper , a freelance writer, is a former newspaper reporter and government press secretary.
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project WORLDVIEW copyright 2024 Project Worldview Home Choices We Make home all our books & publications are now FREE!
Worldviews — An Introduction
important: Welcome to those starting the basic Global Education Course here. We suggest you read over the four sections below, study the " Related Words, Beliefs, Background entries" (from the Project Worldview Cultural Literacy Encyclopedia,) take the four "self tests" you'll also find below, read the We Are The Choices We Make essay, then visit some "More to Explore" links and, for more inspiration, spend some time with the numerous " Thoughts to Take With You" quotes presented thereafter. You'll then be better prepared to move on to choice #1 and begin your systematic investigation of all of the fifty-two Choices We Make choices in order.
1. Worldviews and Knowledge, Worldview Themes and Examples Roughly speaking, your worldview is about your beliefs, your values, finding answers to life's big questions — including where you came from and how you fit into the bigger scheme of things — and finding meaning in life. Its creation begins with fitting together facts — occurrences in the real world, independent of belief that can be verified and demonstrated to be consistent with experience of reality More precisely, your 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 i ncreasingly becomes the source of your goals and desires, and as such it shapes your behavior and values. In a still bigger sense, w hat a "best fit" worldview that humanity collectively comes up with ultimately attempts to describe or map is Reality . T he central tenet in the search for objective reality , claims E.O. Wilson i n his 1998 book, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge , is the unification of knowledge . He writes, "When we have unified enough knowledge, we will understand who we are and why we are here." If one omits the word "objective," capitalizes "Reality," broadens knowledge to include not only explicit knowledge but also tacit knowledge (see three entries in the list of "Related Words...") , and thinks of unifying in terms of connecting as making whole that which belongs together, we believe he is right. In a philosophy class, one might, perhaps rather tediously, consider worldviews in terms of epistemology, axiology, teleology, theology, metaphysics —and perhaps even anthropology , and cosmology . We believe 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 —and how you treat other people, work with them and perhaps join with them in bigger pursuits. 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. Project Worldview uses worldview themes in connecting knowledge with human activity — most fundamentally thinking, feeling, joining, and doing —and characterizing worldviews. Project Worldview has formally identified and designated 104 such instances where beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and behavior come together in a way that is expressed in similar fashion by lots of people, and given them formal names and descriptions. Later — in the We Are The Choices We Make essay — we'll describe how these 104 themes are paired up to define 52 choices. But for now let's consider the themes individually. The first of these 104 worldview themes is titled "Humbly Unsure." Its description* consists of 107 words, including: " I can’t forget the complexity of the world or the smallness / ignorance of any one person." Many such worldview themes can be used together to characterize an individual’s worldview. ** Project Worldview not only promotes such characterization, but provides computer based analysis tools to give this a quantitative aspect. These tools also can point out internal inconsistencies / contradictions in your worldview. For example a person strongly valuing both "Humbly Unsure" and (another of the 104 themes) "The True Believer" themes would represent something of a contradiction in that the description of this second theme begins "My faith in what I believe is free from doubt" —whereas a " Humbly Unsure" someone is full of doubt, just as someone who thinks of himself or herself as a (another of the 104 themes) "Skeptic" believes "knowledge is generally accompanied by some degree of uncertainty and doubt." Speaking of humility, Project Worldview recognizes that characterizing worldviews is very challenging given all of the variables and uncertainties involved. And it recognizes that such efforts can oversimplify the worldview of even a single, ordinary person, with seemingly black & white well-defined simplistic (Manichean) beliefs lacking in shades of gray. Consider the following complaint (voiced in its early days) regarding worldview themes: " I believe that we have to move beyond our desire to place people and things into defined boxes. People are much too complicated...Perfect knowledge of an individual's worldview or more completely 'what is it like to be that person' is only available to the individual involved." But— believing that even an imperfect worldview theme based structure was better than none, and viewing it as a potentially wonderful tool for understanding both people and "the confusion of existence"— it has nonetheless continuing in refining it.*** * this description is from early Project Worldview contributor Donella H. Meadows (1942-2001)—systems thinker, co-author of The Limits to Growth , teacher, gardener, global citizen and MacArthur Prize winner. ** for examples of the worldviews of actual people characterized using Project Worldview themes, click here ***For more on this and other responses to complaints / critiques of Project Worldview, click here. . Related Words, Beliefs, Background --part 1 (18 entries) self test #1 for intro to worldviews
2. Concepts, the Brain, Emotions, Learning and Worldview Development Starting as an infant with crying to get your mother's attention, what you do to better fit into the surrounding environment becomes increasingly sophisticated. Worldviews develop not only with your increasing language capability and concept acquisition, and as you emotionally mature, but also with your learning about the surrounding environment. Such learning proceeds via a feedback process that most basically begins with sensing you're uncomfortable and taking steps to rectify the situation. Aided by both parents and formal schooling, the tabula rasa of your mind steadily (metaphorically) fills as you experience and learn. Your worldview and behavior change accordingly. 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, an orange, a beach ball, a tennis ball, toy cars, a globe, etc — you eventually form a concept of "roundness" — that some of the objects handled fit into and 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... ...As your brain develops and connections between multitudes of cells that reside there, called neurons , grow. Some of these — like mirror neurons — are specialized. They turn on (or fire) both when you initiate a particular action and when you observe another individual performing the same action. Thus their sympathetic firing "mirrors" the action of another. According to some neuroscientists, the roots of empathy can be traced to neural networks in the brain with such mirror properties. Intriguing — but probably too simplistic — right brain / left brain conceptions gained popularity in the 1970s. Brain science (neuroscience) today —including a computational model of the brain — readily connects with basing predictions on worldviews. In particular it does this through a promising new theory about brain function known as predictive processing . This involves your brain 's continual updating of a mental model of the external environment you live in —a model which is ultimately internalized inside your head in endless numbers of neural connections. This model generates predictions of what should be perceived by human (or higher animal) senses, and those predictions are compared to sensory input actually received. The information based on differences uncovered in this comparison provides feedback used to update / improve the model and guide subsequent behavior like activation of the motor system, etc. All this can function at a low level without involving conscious thinking. Something similar happens at a higher level within conscious thinking humans —we call this comprehensive higher level mental model of the environment / Reality involved one's worldview! Of course worldviews and human behavior in general are profoundly affected by emotions. Most generally, human beings are thinking, feeling, joining, and doing creatures. Later — with our playing cards characterization of worldview themes —we'll link each of these four fundamental activities related to being human with a playing card suits (diamonds, hearts, clubs, spades.). For example, worldview themes most heavily involving feelings will be linked with "hearts" cards. Given all of the interconnections between how we learn, acquire concepts, relate to language, interact with other people, come to value certain abstract ideals, etc. and our feelings, it seems pointless to try and distinguish where thinking — or any of these other activities — ends, and feelings begin! Suffice it to say that as we grow, our worldviews can change as we learn to protect our feelings (with emotional armor) and acquire / discard so-called emotional baggage or shed armor. And that mature, healthy worldviews can be linked to emotional intelligence . Finally, just as we employ coping mechanisms to shield ourselves from pain, on a lighter note, sometimes we respond to (perhaps futile?) attempts to made sense of the world with laughter ! Related Words, Beliefs, Background --part 2 (17 entries) self test #2 for intro to worldviews
3. Self Concept / Self Actualization, Relating to Others, Values, Conflict Resolution Fa med psychologist Abraham Maslow was known for helping people understand something he called self actualization and thought of as the ultimate personal development state. Happy, self actualized people, according to Maslow, have achieved, "the full use and exploitation of talent, capacities, potentialities, etc." They are confident and find their way through life better partly due to a better understanding of themselves. Getting to this state begins with a healthy self concept — the part of one's worldview that includes an organized mental framework of concepts and conceptual schemes a person needs to understand himself or herself. It provides a structure of knowledge upon which explanations of one's behavior can be based along with future behavioral plans and expectations. Obviously a healthy self concept is an important part of a healthy worldview —but sadly many people struggle along the road to emotional maturity . This is not surprising. As Maslow wrote, “The struggle between fear and courage, between defense and growth, between pathology and health is an eternal, intrapsychic struggle.” The early teen-age years represent a particularly difficult time in this struggle —partly due to puberty-related physiological / hormonal changes, and partly due to the fact that children in this age group are often rather lacking in empathy. Indeed many are simply hurtfully mean! While one's self concept can greatly suffer from painful lessons in this "School of Hard Knocks," learning to meaningfully relate to others really begins during these years. With growing up and increasingly engaging in a group activity, many discover that joining with other people can be a powerful way to accomplish things that would be much more difficult to do by themselves. And they discover the occasional need to change their attitude / modify their behavior to better fit in. And / or to become more comfortable in relating to others. Ideally behavior is both driven by, and consistent with, sense of right and wrong ( ethics ), beliefs and values. Such coherence in an individual's worldview can be an important source of strength — one that leads to increased self esteem , greater effectiveness in interacting with others, and to becoming a healthy, more authentic , more self actualized person. But beyond understanding one's own worldview, most find that their ability to relate well to other people depends on understanding where those other people are coming from: their feelings, beliefs, values, etc. Encounters with those whose behavior / lifestyle is quite different from our own is important in both understanding ourselves and the society we are part of. Many find that making sense of others' behavior requires understanding their worldview — something that may present challenges to one's 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. Clarifying your values and both 1) affirming them in terms meaningful to others, and 2) exploring the implications of practicing and applying them — and being able to do both of these in relation to different cultural traditions or within the framework of various diverse belief systems / worldviews is known as values articulation. Certainly living your values / " practicing what your preach " is an important part of helping other people come to understand you. And engaging with them in conflict resolution (should disputes between you arise) will be easier if they have this understanding and if they respect you despite disagreement. As you might expect, differences in the underlying worldviews are typically of critical importance in disputes all over the world which arise over conflicting values, ethical concerns, societal stresses, technology assessment, environmental or quality of life issues, etc. Finding common ground, identifying bridge values , etc. is an essential part of working to resolve intractable conflicts. These typically involve complex issues, communication difficulties, and deep-seated, often unacknowledged differences in worldviews. The people on opposing sides often feel threatened by the other side — indeed they may feel that their sense of identity, cherished beliefs or way of life is being attacked. Besides involving conflicting worldviews, such conflicts can also involve material goods, resources, or involve some concrete real or potential impacts on people and their environment — impacts that are threatening. Sadly, many conflicts —especially in disinformation / conspiracy theory plagued parts of the world— increasingly involve alternate sets of facts. All of this is especially relevant in the USA today, given the culture war that seemingly polarizes society and, many feel, threatens democracy. Not only is democracy threatened, but many feel that another conflict poses an even more serious long-term threat. This conflict involves what to do about growing evidence of global climate change which — unless resolved — threatens the continued quality of not only human life, but the health of ecosystems in general, on our planet. Related Words, Beliefs, Background — part 3 ( 17 entries) self test #3 for intro to worldviews
4. Education, Beliefs, Spirituality, Worldview Development and Assessment We believe mature worldviews connect with "the big picture" and what is deemed fundamentally important. For many people, one's education and learning from meaningful experience of Reality extends for many decades, and their worldview continues to evolve. The previous section was initially concerned with character education , which plays an important part in shaping healthy, self-actualized individuals. It ended with reference to the global environment and thus touches one aspect of something else Project Worldview seeks to promote: global education . This provides a "big picture" look at whole systems. It emphasizes the interconnections and interdependencies that traditional, reductionist education often overlooks. It extends boundaries of concern, and strives to involve the whole person — seen as a thinking, feeling, joining, and doing creature. A more focused aspect of global education involves promoting the worldview development of individual people. This is what inspires the global education symbol — with a globe centered on the head of a young person. After a traditional K-12 educational system experience, and even a year or two of college, many people seek to become specialists. Ideally that transition should occur only when one is equipped with a good general educational foundation. Accordingly many people first establish basic working knowledge and cultural literacy in various fields — which might variously be labeled health and safety, liberal arts , financial literacy, scientific literacy, technological literacy, etc. — and then move on to specialized study set in a particular field of knowledge. While this specialization can provide worldviews with important input, its typically narrow focus is a concern. Seems many move on and never re-examine childish beliefs, perhaps relics of parental biases, from a more mature perspective. At the heart of this — and what you'll squarely face in Project Worldview's Choices We Make choice #1 — is the issue of reason vs. faith . This is essentially the distinction between belief supported by facts and concepts — ultimately linked to observation and experience, which fit together in a coherent way as part of a useful, logical framework — and belief for which there is no such basis, but instead only one’s unshaken feeling of confidence, trust, and willingness to believe. One's beliefs can change — although for some it can be a very slow process if it happens at all. For example, those who once believed in a personal God can become non-believing secular humanists — or atheists can embrace God. Certainly new experiences and new knowledge can trigger changes in beliefs. New evidence justifying belief can dispel long-held faith in something. But sometimes knowledge is lacking and an evidence-based answer is not to be had. There can be a place for "wishful thinking" or believing in what might be called " useful fiction " — which can be linked to adopting healthy beliefs. This is especially true when adopting certain beliefs with psychological benefits (examples: belief in an afterlife, belief in the idea that human beings are all connected to each other in an unseen way. ) While many can be comfortable doing no such thing , others — including many very rational people — find that faith has a place in their lives. Faith is often is founded on strong feeling. Feeling connects with one of three traditionally recognized learning domains : the affective. The two others—the cognitive and the psychomotor (or conative) domains—loosely connect with thinking and doing. Together these provide three of the four Project Worldview theme card suits as in connecting thinking <==> diamonds; with feeling <==> hearts; with joining <==> clubs; and with doing (especially as related to nature) <==>spades . This scheme can be used in a new way of metaphorically looking at something long associated with a broad field of human concern. It is a field whose usual definition is problematic for science: spirituality . Spirituality is traditionally defined in terms of souls or spirits. Science —in the narrowly focused fashion that has led to such technological marvels as the smart phones so many of us depend on— finds no solid evidence for souls and spirits. Those who value science, but nonetheless think of themselves as having a "spiritual" component, might appreciate an alternate definition. Here it is: spirituality is the domain at the intersection of what both our thinking heads and our feeling hearts tell us is fundamentally important. And using the words of Manish Mishra-Marezetti and Jennifer Nordsrom, this appreciation of spirituality can be extended into the joining and doing realms. In their book Justice on Earth , they write, " In spiritual circles, it is sometimes said that the biggest step one can take is from one’s head to one’s heart. In a similar matter, when it comes to justice-making, the biggest and most important step may be moving from one’s head to embodied action." We can more concisely summarize Project Worldview 's interest in promoting concern with what is deemed fundamentally important, with global education, and with character education, by saying it is about promoting w orldview literacy. This 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. Finally, we need to distinguish one's worldview from one's behavior and personality. Worldviews are fundamental than each of these. Worldviews typically shape behavior. Your behavior can be succinctly linked to what you do; defining personality is much more challenging. Following Carver and Connor-Smith writing in the 2010 Annual Review of Psychology , personality can be defined as “the dynamic organization within the person of the psychological and physical systems that underlie that person’s patterns of actions, thoughts, and feelings.” And note that increasingly the academic psychology community uses a five factor model to facilitate discussion of individual personality differences. These factors are: 1) openness to experience, 2) conscientiousness, 3) neuroticism, 4) agreeableness, and 5) extraversion. Enough of setting the stage for your exploration of knowledge, beliefs, spirituality, values, etc. based on what this website provides. The "turning you loose" part of your active participation in this drama will primarily involve your looking over descriptions of worldview themes, considering paired choices of them, and reading definitions/ descriptions of words, background terms, beliefs, etc. (from Project Worldview Cultural Literacy Encyclopedia.) The Project Worldview website employs worldview themes with a playing cards categorization built on 104 worldview themes (version 5.0) presented on fifty-two double-sided playing cards in the form of paired choices. (Or alternatively in a booklet form.) With this classification scheme, the themes are split into four groups of twenty six with each group linked to the cards suit: diamonds, hearts, clubs, and spades. (Note: the sixteen most basic themes — connected with eight basic choices — are called meta themes and are on the "aces" and "kings" cards.). The Project Worldview website and related books can help you step back and examine your attitudes, beliefs, values, etc. Like a good life coach , it can help you with much that's important, including figuring out what you believe in / value, and why. It can help you determine the basis for your beliefs (such as reason, faith, etc.), which of your beliefs or values are justified based on evidence, which conflict with other beliefs or values, which beliefs are important to your emotional / mental health, etc. With the aid of thousands of "More to Explore" links, it can help you fully explore each worldview theme, choose between related — but often opposing — themes, and assess how compatible your own worldview is with the theme(s). Its computer-based analysis tools can help you quantitatively compare your worldview to that of another specific individual, and to twelve other "generic worldviews" (including those of "Humanist Progressive," "USA Conservative," "Pro Science," "Pro Environment," two forms of Christianity, and other traditional / alternative religious, spiritual, and economic orientations. It can also help you find its internal inconsistencies / contradictions. In short, t he Project Worldview website seeks to promote your worldview literacy and help you sort out "the confusion of existence." With this objective —and the hope that people develop healthy worldviews that bring happiness and promote planetary well-being— Project Worldview presents its latest (version 5.0 based) Choices We Make cards and booklet offering. The We Are the Choices We Make essay provides a good introduction to them and how they can promote dialogue and shape our future. (Note an earlier approach —version 2.0 and 3.0 based—metaphorically involves looking for answers to life's big questions and " Shopping in the Reality Marketplace" .) Related Words, Beliefs, Background — part 4 (17 entries ) self test #4 for intro to worldviews
More to Explore -- Worldviews--An Introduction |
--"a discipline aimed at constructing a new philosophy (in the sense of worldview) by using systems concepts" (from online encyclopedia) |
, is a principle suggesting that the structure of a language influences its speakers' worldview or cognition, and thus people's perceptions are relative to their spoken language (from online encyclopedia) |
(from online encyclopedia) |
(some worldviews built around two opposites--evil vs. good, yin & yang, etc., from online encyclopedia) |
(from online encyclopedia) |
(from online encyclopedia) |
(from online encyclopedia) |
(from online encyclopedia) |
(from online encyclopedia) |
(from online encyclopedia) |
(from online encyclopedia) |
(from online encyclopedia) |
(a theory of human development, from online encyclopedia) |
(Choice Overload explained, from thedecisionlab.com website) |
(info about book from online encyclopedia) |
(from ) |
(from ) |
(links to various scholarly papers) |
(from website) |
(classic 1994 paper by Leo Apostel, etal) |
" (article on website; see also Feb 2011 .) |
(classic 1998 paper) |
(essay from website) |
E by Judy Woodruff ( July 31 2024) |
(in Nov 24 2021) |
( from Aug 11 2022) |
(in September 2 2020) |
(post on gofluent.com website Mar 13, 2020) |
(review by Joshua Kim Oct 22 2018 blogs post) |
(re: LSD and psilocibyn use & worldviews book review by Tom Bissell in June 4 2018) |
(Essay 2016 contribution to Edge.org) |
(Nov 17 2014 essay) |
by Ajit Varki & Danny Brower (link to author’s UCSD website with excerpts, reviews of this 2013 book) |
( 2012 book review by William Saletan) |
(from Nov 30 2011) |
( review of this 2010 book) |
(read excerpts from this 2010 book) |
(2004 book) |
(1999 book) |
(more about this 2011 book) |
(from book ) |
(Naugle is professor of philosophy at Dallas Baptist University) |
(1983 paper offers academic, faith-based, perspective) |
(Funk is an Oregon State University engineering professor) |
(excerpts from 2nd edition of book) |
(Christian perspective, on Focus on the Family website) |
(review by Michael Gerson of this 2015 book posted on website) |
( review by William Saletan of 2012 book) |
(UCTV 2008 program on nature of conscious perceptual experience) |
(more on this 2006 book that sketches "an emerging worldview that returns soul to the cosmos") |
( 2002 article about how language shapes one's worldview) |
(connects conflicts and underlying worldviews) |
(2011 book re: how "personalization filters serve up...autopropaganda") |
(international social scientists' ongoing study) |
(2004 paper by philosophy professor) |
("exploring the foundations and boundaries of physics and cosmology") |
(the values heavy theory behind Bristol's "Life Journey's Maps") |
(from his 1997 book ) |
(from April 1974 article in ) |
(the origin of laughter and worldview development) |
(book review of this important 1998 book) |
(book review by Robin McVie in Feb 28 2016) |
(September 2015 review of theory of Donald Hoffman) |
(in May 6 2013) |
(article re: how political beliefs prejudice us, December 2011) |
(offers over 2700 free videos on all topics, emphasis on math & science) |
(videos / "Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world") |
(Education Portal website) |
(website with links to free classes, textbooks, ebooks, etc. ) |
("thousands of video lectures from the world's top scholars") |
(from teaching about religion website) |
(an "I Know What's Best for You" approach?) |
("seeking answers to the big questions of life, the truth about life and death") |
(commentary on this 1996 book by Joyce Ramay, UU minister) |
(review of 2007 book by chair of Boston University Religion Dept.) |
(excerpt from ) |
(report on 2009 study led by D. Albarracin) |
("An Educated Person is Familiar With the Bible") |
(a personality quiz about your religious and spiritual beliefs from Beliefnet. com) |
(from website) |
Thoughts to Take With You:
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article on Thinking
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In a similar matter, when it comes to justice-making, the biggest and most important step may be moving from one’s head to embodied action…We must build communities that are spiritually and relationally resilient so we have the strength to resist painful patterns of power and oppression…We must begin building the capacity to live differently.” |
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"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.