Your Own Personal Worldview

[kurokotetsu]

Well Escapust denizens and dwellers a maybe strange maybe not. I hope it makes you think a little while. What is you own persoanl view of the world? I don't mean the state of the world (although it is part of it). I mean how do you think about the world. What are your though processes? How do you think about our world? About the people in it? How do you think about thinking?

Hmmmm, I may not be explaining that very clearly. So to make it clearer I'll opst how I think I think.

Spoiler

I think in the world in terms of models. What is that? I have a model of something (let's say gravity) and I work with it, testing it by observing life aroung me. When new information arrives (Newton, Einstein) I update my model. And I think I see all things that way. I have a model of my mother. I have assumptions about her, about her reaction to factors, about her experesions (more mini-models). But when she acts outside me model I have to uopdate it, I have to cahnge the model of my mother to add the new information. And given my liking of mathematical models I've come to think about this worldview of mine. All models are incomplete. You have to cut corners, throw some information out, take some noise as relevant information, make simplifications, etc. And it has short comings. A model can be too simple (just met someone or have studied little the subject, like almost any subject) or overfitting (adding things that are irrelevant, like how my experiences in my country change my model of it to something that isn't that good)and all other problems. So I always try to doubt my models. Whenever new information is aviable I have to reevaluta my model. My model of economy for example is nowdays usaully under attack (with a lit of discussion with my friends having that as central theme) so I'm constantly chaningin it (also it is a very bad model, I know nothing of economy). And it is frustrating to me that most people treat something as absolute, that they have an absolute answer to anything. Their models are flawed too, even if they are better than mine. Always doubt your model, ia also something I believe in, because that way you can reach a better model. There is always room for improvement, and having a definite answer engates that.

So that is how I think about things (not concioussly all the time, obviously) but that is my own personal world view. Soooooo, what is yours?

PS I think this thread will be probably be doomed. Is my model about Escapist comments wrong?

 

[Esotera]

I view it as the original home of humanity in a much bigger universe, and it's a pretty interesting home at that. I also think we're a bit too short-term and focused on material possession at the minute, or at least my perception is such that most of us are too focused on acquiring wealth rather than having fun. There's an old proverb that once old men start planting trees of which they will never see the shade, society will be great...that sums it up pretty well.

 

[BobblyDrink]

I don't have a personally strong worldview, though to, probably slightly misquote, something from Buddha; It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.

Always thought there was something quite powerful to that. Impossible to always think like that, for me at least, but still find it a pretty nice quote.

 

[mistahzig1]

I'm partial to Camus' absurdism philosophy. Maybe that's why I'm so cynical irl

 

[Lethos]

There's an old proverb that once old men start planting trees of which they will never see the shade, society will be great.

That's a really nice proverb. I'm going to use that.

OT: My worldview is a bit conflicted. On one hand when it comes to individuals I'm quite cynical. I think I tend to assume the worst in people, and because of that I'm very reluctant to get to know and trust a lot of people. On the other hand when it comes to humanity as a whole I'm very optimistic. I think we can achieve amazing things, and our species is capable of transcending all our limitations.

I guess I hate people, but love humanity.

 

[VonEros]

My worldview is deeply rooted in an animist polytheist faith that in no way hampers me from enjoying technology and scientific advances. I see aspects of the divine in all things and that those aspects have incarnations that can be revered and sought out for council. That having been said, I also believe in reincarnation and that all experience educates and enriches the soul. That has led me to put a lower value on life than one might expect. My political worldview is becoming more and more focused on the growing gap between the "Haves" and the "Have-Nots" in the U.S. and the rest of the world. I am a hopeful creature, by trade, but it can be very hard to keep my head up when things seem to be so desperate for some. I hope that answers your question.

 

[Ratty]

I don't think anything in the universe has an inherent value, purpose or "meaning" aside from that which is given to it by life, humanity being the only intelligent life we know of. George Carlin expresses my more cynical views far better than I ever could. But I love people and animals and do believe that they have value, at least to me.

While I greatly admire (but could never follow) the early entirely or almost entirely faith-free philosophy of the Gautama Buddha. Which (VERY simplified) posits that the existence of the stable self is an illusion. YOU don't exist because what "you" are is different from year to year, minute to minute, microsecond to microsecond. The classic comparison is to a flame, it appears to be the same thing, and in a way it is, but it is actually a series of different chemical reactions. (Indeed "Nirvana" literally means "blown out" like a fire that no longer exists.) It is the yearning for stability and reassurance of self that drives us to desire, which causes suffering. The reason we accumulate physical objects is to try and reassure ourselves of our own stability, which doesn't actually exist. Again the philosophy comes back to the belief that desire is the source of suffering. So the ideal is to reach a state where you have no desire (even a desire to not feel pain) but I prefer to live while I'm alive, so like I said I could never follow this.

Most forms of Buddhism are based on later teachings which added a lot of supernatural elements by the way, and most people who consider themselves Buddhists don't follow the above described philosophy. Rather they just pray to Bodhisattvas or Buddhas for good fortune and hope/try for a better reincarnation.

 

[Muspelheim]

It's a great, big interlocking system, at once a soul revolting tangle and thorough clusterfuck, but also oddly structured and functional in its chaos. It exists, and grinds on as it does. The wisest thing to do is to make the best of it. We're here, now, and it doesn't have to be as shit as it is in some places.

I don't like the term "soul". It's a bit cumbersome, with unfortunate religious implications and meanings. I prefer the term "spark", the software that is required for operating the hardware, the mass of atoms arranged into bowels and chemicals racing up and down an amazing conduit construction of fat inside a bone bowl.
Every living thing on the planet is as one, as much as we are all individual. We're born, we live, we die. We influence the noosphere at every moment, and return to its collective when we, as individual biological constructions die. Then, part of what made us to us returns to new living creatures, and the cycle continues.

It is similar to how atoms that once made up the bodies of all from Djingis Khan to dinosaurs might very likely be part of your own body now. Some things are always present, though the greater form it takes changes with the planet itself.

I can't really imagine what the greater purpose could be for it all, if there is one. It is simply impossible for me to tell. I can only hope it's benevolent, but I'm likely better off just living out my time here and now, as good as I can. Perhaps we'll see sometime. Who knows. Anyone for some tea?

(And that was that, basically. If you managed to read it through, I owe you one cookie should we ever meet in person.)

 

[Descalon]

It exists, and grinds on as it does. The wisest thing to do is to make the best of it. We're here, now, and it doesn't have to be as shit as it is in some places.

*claps*...That was beautiful.

I've always tried to adhere to the philosophy of "Never lying to yourself". No matter what bullshit you spout unto others, don't try to justify it as anything less than a lie to yourself. I've probably never gotten around to a proper world view, because I really don't look that far. I care for me and mine, and I wish the best to everyone else. But I really can't care about something that doesn't affect me personally.

 

[Conner42]

I got off on a bit of tangent, so, I'm just going to put it here...

Spoiler

I guess I might still be more pessimistic than most, but...well, I wouldn't call myself cynical. I think I realized that I came out of that phase was when, during high school(Probably during my senior year), this one guy was talking about how much he thought the USA was a terrible country.

I know at one point I would have agreed with that, but...I guess I just don't anymore. I don't exactly have pride the country that I live, in fact, there are a lot of things where I carry shame about a lot of attitudes a lot of these idiots here still like to hold, but I wouldn't call this country terrible or even all that bad. In fact, I'd actually say it's pretty good and there things to actually like about living here. As far as my life goes, it's pretty stable and I have a decent amount of opportunities. Even with someone who's life isn't that stable and has it incredibly bad in this country is still going to be better off than people who actually have it pretty well in a different country.

But, the thing is, I also have a sort of sense of apathy to. I do think that we should help others in need(power and responsibility and all that), and even though I do think people should strive to help themselves, it doesn't mean that we should use that as an excuse to not help others who might really need it. But, as of now, I'm a little more focused on myself than others as I don't exactly have a want or desire to help others unless I'll get something out of it, though, I guess I still keep doing it for nothing in return anyways even if I'll feel worse in the long run :/

Ah well. This one person asked me of the things I was sure about, and, of course, giving out my existential answer was that I'm going to die. She seemed kind of saddened by that statement, as her answer was that she was sure that she had friends(which is something that I'm not sure I can say with any kind of certainty), but I explained that I didn't really view the fact that I'm sure that I'm going to die as a good or bad thing, it's just something that's going to happen(though, to be honest, I kind of do take comfort in the fact that I'm going to die eventually).

But, I guess to put it simply, I believe there's nothing to believe.

 

[Conner42]

I got off on a bit of tangent, so, I'm just going to put it here...

Spoiler

I guess I might still be more pessimistic than most, but...well, I wouldn't call myself cynical. I think I realized that I came out of that phase was when, during high school(Probably during my senior year), this one guy was talking about how much he thought the USA was a terrible country.

I know at one point I would have agreed with that, but...I guess I just don't anymore. I don't exactly have pride the country that I live, in fact, there are a lot of things where I carry shame about a lot of attitudes a lot of these idiots here still like to hold, but I wouldn't call this country terrible or even all that bad. In fact, I'd actually say it's pretty good and there things to actually like about living here. As far as my life goes, it's pretty stable and I have a decent amount of opportunities. Even with someone who's life isn't that stable and has it incredibly bad in this country is still going to be better off than people who actually have it pretty well in a different country.

But, the thing is, I also have a sort of sense of apathy to. I do think that we should help others in need(power and responsibility and all that), and even though I do think people should strive to help themselves, it doesn't mean that we should use that as an excuse to not help others who might really need it. But, as of now, I'm a little more focused on myself than others as I don't exactly have a want or desire to help others unless I'll get something out of it, though, I guess I still keep doing it for nothing in return anyways even if I'll feel worse in the long run :/

Ah well. This one person asked me of the things I was sure about, and, of course, giving out my existential answer was that I'm going to die. She seemed kind of saddened by that statement, as her answer was that she was sure that she had friends(which is something that I'm not sure I can say with any kind of certainty), but I explained that I didn't really view the fact that I'm sure that I'm going to die as a good or bad thing, it's just something that's going to happen(though, to be honest, I kind of do take comfort in the fact that I'm going to die eventually).

But, I guess to put it simply, I believe there's nothing to believe.

EDIT: Ummm, I'm not sure why this double posted...

 

[Akytalusia]

your way of thinking is a good one, though your eloquence requires critical attention. keep this is mind, and carry on.
as for me, my paradigm is one governed by similar rules and has led me to currently maintain philosophic parallels with taoism, buddhism, stoicism, nihilism and hard determinism. though i don't subscribe to any of these schools of thought, the similarities we share reassure me by letting me know i'm not the only one who's reached these conclusions. apparently there are quite a few people throughout history that have walked this path before me. and someday i hope i overcome the obstacles i've reached they themselves must have also reached, and perhaps themselves overcame.

 

[Lawnmooer]

How do you think about our world?

I typically use cold facts when thinking about the world in general, I try not to just use what other people tell me as influencing factors, rather I try and figure out things on my own. I reject popular theories that have little to no evidence and even with evidence I doubt them unless I gather evidence myself.

About the people in it?

I tend to think about people mostly as nebulous personalities, disconnected from their body (It's mostly I just don't think about their physical identity very much). It's one of the reasons why I find it hard to remember names of people I meet, since when I think about someone, I think of their personality, I think on how they're likely to react to various situations, their response to what I might say to them.

When I say I don't think about their physical identity very much, it doesn't mean I don't acknowledge it, I will pick up on expressions, micro-expressions and body language to get a much better picture of someones personality (The most common use of this is when someone says something but is thinking another, often can have very clear body language that contradicts what they say)

For me, people are generally just personalities that act in accordance to what they would perceive as the logical way of thinking about things, with very linear thought processes (The easiest to explain way of showing this is the old example of a children's toy with shapes and holes. A child trying to put a square peg into a circular hole will attempt it and then come to the conclusion that the square hole might be the way to go. Trial > Learning > Success)

How do you think about thinking?

As someone who never stops thinking (Literally, I will be constantly thinking about multiple things at any one time) I find that I have a slightly different thought process to most people. I don't do things that other people would say is logical, this can cause issues if I'm supposed to explain something to someone (I will often try to explain it how I see it and be met with confusion as my thought processes will just not be logical enough for other people to follow)

I know I often overthink things, trying to find the complex solution for the simple problem so much so that the simplest things will cause me great issue while complex problems will be simple (Example: Those child gates that people put on stairs to prevent children/small animals from accessing them will stop me dead in my tracks. Yet I can quite easily work on multiple mathmatical equations in my head while holding a conversation. The former being considered a simple task that anyone can do while the latter being considered extremely tough by most)

As far as other things like beliefs go, I don't have any strong beliefs. I can't see the logic in a majority of them (The closest I came to having a religious belief was when I was reading the Satanic Bible which referred to a lot of ways of looking at things that I shared, but I still see no evidence for something to believe in) though I must say, it sure does sound nice to have that security of a strong religious belief, that sense that you're not on your own and that there's more to life than years of a crappy desk job and multiple instances of grief and sorrow with intermittent periods of joy.

 

[MHR]

crabs [/youtube]

 

[FPLOON]

Remember that two <link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpGdG_zkpBk>walking sequences from Shawn of the Dead? ...Well, take them and replace Shawn with a dance-walking black guy with a standard Ipod Nano... That's basically equivalents to about 60% of my world thought process on a daily basis... (minus possible zombie outbreak or something like that...) The extra 30% is basically the <link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8AHS5zytm4>opening cutscene in Persona 3 FES, only replace the MC with the dance-walking black guy... and the final 10% is like the <link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5SawizzkhM>second opening to Death Note... only Light is now that same dance-walking back guy and L is the black guy's best friend IRL...


So yeah... My personal world overview is mainly drowned out by me dance-walking to the music off my Ipod Nano... (Man... To me, my personal world overview sounds too fucking ignorant... Must be a "teen" thing, despite currently being at the age of 21...)