When born, a person is not yet a person, but gradually transforms into it, assimilating information about the world around him and forming his own views about it. Skills such as learning ability, assimilation, processing of the received data and their critical assessment help people develop a system of intellectual and emotional assessment of reality.
The principles, ideals and worldviews put together, supported by their respective actions, make up the essence of a person’s worldview. The summation of all system components is spiritual and practice individual.
Vision of the world
The system of man’s views on the surrounding reality and the ability to master it, his ethical values, the generalization of the natural scientific, technical, philosophical and other knowledge at his disposal, this is what a worldview is.
This term was first introduced at the end of the 18th century in the meaning of “view of the Universe” by the German philosopher Kant. Only from the second half of the 19th century. it began to mean a system based on judgments about the world and the place that a person occupies in it.
In fact, this concept means a complex interaction of various blocks of knowledge, beliefs, emotions, thoughts and moods, united in a kind of understanding of the surrounding reality by people and themselves in it.
Each individual individually, having his own set of opinions and views on reality, can unite in groups, communities, families or other organizations with people with similar opinions. Depending on what values, points of view or life programs determine their consciousness, this will result in the formation of peoples, various sectors of society, the intellectual or social elite, or classes.
The development of the worldview of civilizations
Observing natural phenomena, people from ancient times tried to give them at least some explanation. The easiest way to do this was to declare your existence and everything around the manifestation of the will of the gods. Thus, a supernatural and mythical vision of what was happening, which was basic for several millennia, was formed.
The main thing that such a world view explained was the illusory nature of life, since everything is predetermined by the gods, which most people confirmed by resigning themselves to this view of reality. Thanks to those individuals who went against the accepted judgments (did not obey the will of the gods), the history and, accordingly, the worldview in the minds of people and entire civilizations changed.
Discussing the existing orders of nature and comparing them, people have created a science such as philosophy. Thanks to the ability to know the surrounding reality in all its multifaceted nature, man has constantly improved the model of the Universe, the Earth and studied his place in it.
As experience gained in cognition of reality and tested in practice, civilizations appeared science, changed the worldview. For example, observations of changes in the starry sky formed the basis of astrology, and then astronomy.
Worldview structure
As you know, the formation of a worldview begins with two to three years of age. By the age of seven, children already have a personal worldview based on the experience and its practical application that they managed to get and process.
The main issues that characterize human activities at any age are:
- know what he wants;
- have an idea of how to achieve this;
- want exactly that;
- achieve what you want.
To understand what a world view is, one should know what structural elements it consists of:
- cognitive - includes all scientific, social, technical, everyday and other knowledge that is known to man and in the aggregate creates his universal understanding of the world;
- value-normative - includes ideals and beliefs that underlie the actions of each individual and make up his system of values;
- moral-volitional - combines the existing knowledge system with an emotional perception of reality and a person's determination of his place in society, the collective, the world and his attitude to it;
- practical - the worldview is considered full-fledged and is perceived as a guide to actions by which you can determine what values are at its core.
People throughout their lives can change their beliefs, but core values remain constant.
Essence of worldview
The main condition for the development of the human person is a constant study of the surrounding reality, the changes occurring in it and adaptation to them.
To understand what the essence of a worldview is, one should consider the levels of which it consists:
- Attitude - the ability of people to adapt to the environment and navigate it. At this level, cognition of the world is carried out through 5 senses and the work of the unconscious. Here is an emotional assessment of reality. For example, an unexpected feeling of joy and happiness occurs at the level of the unconscious before the brain begins to search for the cause that led to such a change in mood.
- Understanding is work at the level of consciousness, during which information about the surrounding reality is received and processed. During this process, 2 types of perception are manifested:
- Ordinary, during which a person makes his opinion about the desired standard of living, people around him, work, country, politicians, family relationships and much more.
- The theoretical type is a general knowledge of being, its place in the world, based on the available data of various sciences or philosophies.
The essence of the worldview is to bring all levels of perception of reality into a single system of values, knowledge and their emotional assessment in a certain position in life, confirmed by human actions.
Main types
The theoretical basis of the worldview is philosophy, and the practical - the spiritual integrity of man, confirmed by his activities. Conventionally, it can be divided into several types:
- Archaic - a period when humanity perceived the world alive and interacted with it, based on this knowledge. This type is characterized by totemism, one of the properties of which was the identification of people with animals, birds or natural phenomena.
- The next level of development is the mythological type of worldview, according to which everything visible and invisible tends not only to have an image, but also to interact with a person and with each other. People communicate with the gods, offer sacrifices to them, pray, build temples, observe rituals, and may even compete or oppose them.
- Religious type separates a person from the world of spirits. There are no gods on Olympus, but people have not lost faith in them. Other rites, dogmas, commandments appeared, but the authority of the gods was undeniable.
- The philosophical type is based on critical consciousness, which does not take old postulates for granted, but requires their logical confirmation.
Each type of worldview had its own principles. Depending on the changing views on the surrounding reality, all eras have their own values.
Basic principles
The main principles of worldview relate to the relationship of God with the world and are divided into:
- Atheism is the denial of the existence of the supernatural and the gods, and the basic principle of everything is matter, the study of which is possible only in a sensual way.
- Skepticism - the principle is based on doubts about the immutability of truth and the denial of the divine destiny of man and the meaning of his life. People who share these views believe that the individual must determine his own destiny, the main values of the worldview of which should consist in achieving the maximum number of pleasures.
- Pantheism is a belief in a certain foundation of the world that gave rise to all things. The form of studying reality in pantheism is observation of reality and deduction on the physical level, and mystical intuition on the spiritual.
- Creationism is a principle that affirms God as the root cause of everything, but separates the components that underlie the world from the nature of the Creator himself.
Summarizing what a worldview is, we can determine that it is the totality of all knowledge, feelings, views and assessments of a person’s reality in his understanding of the world.
Existing problems
The main problem of the worldview is the contradictions in people's views on the existing reality. Each individual sees it through his own lens of perception, in which beliefs and basic attitudes, confirmed in practice, are focused. It is the difference in what people focus on and make them so different.
For example, those who focus on money, accumulate capital, and those who lack them, produce poverty.
The influence of worldview on the level and quality of life of people is proved experimentally. As soon as a person changes his beliefs and focuses on new attitudes (wealth, health, love, career, and much more), the picture of the world begins to change gradually.
It is important to remember that the problem with changes is the delay in time. If a person for a long time believed that he could not become rich, it would take some time for the new views of the world outlook to be “rooted” in the subconscious.
Spiritual aspect
It used to be that people are individuals who receive spiritual experience throughout their lives. Modern sciences come to the conclusion that man is a spirit gaining experience in a physical body. Today, more and more attention is paid to studying the relationship between the Creator and his creation.
The spiritual worldview of people is built on the acceptance or denial of God. At the heart of harmony are:
- love for the world as a whole;
- acceptance of events as a manifestation of divine will;
- connecting to the energy of love through prayer;
- realization of one’s own life through harmonious living;
- balanced state in all areas of life.
In the absence of spiritual development, people are filled with grievances, adversities, illnesses and misunderstandings of the meaning of life.
Worldview today
The world community existing today is integrated on a global scale. The modern worldview of a person includes the sum of knowledge of all available sciences at the level of a layman. It is based on the knowledge of reality through 5 senses with further processing of information by the mind.
From the obtained data, a person builds his own picture of the world, which he can consciously influence and modify. The only thing that has remained unchanged is the goal of man. She is still in the knowledge of the world and place in it.
Main function
The role of worldview is to manage and direct human activity. It can be stated in two functions:
- activity through a system of values with a direction to the goal (the fundamental question - in the name of what I do it);
- determination of the strategy for its achievement (as I come to this).
The main function of the worldview is to determine a person’s place in the surrounding reality.
World consciousness
The totality of all the actions of each individual is an accomplished worldview. The diversity of human views on reality reveals the nature of world consciousness.
