The main types of worldviews - their features, strengths and weaknesses, pros and cons

Types of worldviews changed along with human evolution and the formation of moral, ethical and cultural values. Epochs replace one another, some views on the world remain unchanged and continue to influence human society, others disappear without a trace.

Concept of worldview

A person’s worldview is a complex mechanism that consists of ideas about the world around him and a system of moral values of a particular individual. This structure of the psyche combines opinions, actions and ethical standards that are acceptable for a particular person.

In other words, a worldview is a system of views on the world and the place of man, society and humanity in it, on a person’s relationship to the world and to himself, as well as the basic life positions of people corresponding to these views, their ideals, principles of activity, and value orientations.

Synonyms for the term “worldview” are worldview, worldview, attitude, mentality, way of thinking.

The main features of the worldview are systematic (static) and procedural (constantly in dynamics).

Factors in shaping worldview:

The social environment in which a person finds himself.
The social conditions in which the individual is placed.
Political system.

The role of worldview in human life

According to research, a person’s actions directly depend on his worldview. It is more important than experience and knowledge, which indicates its actual significance in the life of every person. Worldview serves as a tool for forming values, goals and plans for future life. It is worth noting that differences in worldview provide significant assistance in the process of socialization as they create a process of screening out people with different views of the world.

Is it possible to change one's worldview during the course of one's life? Yes, this is due to the process of acquiring new knowledge and skills. Often, after periods of age-related crises, people radically change their attitude towards life and its structure. Worldview can be corrected, changed, improved, but it is important that it does not contradict the true system of values. The Human Design System helps you figure out your true and false values. This is a unique opportunity to obtain information about yourself, your interests, positive and negative qualities.

The formation of a worldview is based on the self-concept, which determines the true characteristics of a person. In the process of life, a person often retreats from his worldview and begins to move along the path of the “false self.” To avoid this, create an individual rave map based on your data. It will provide you with information about in what aspects of life you are prone to delusion.

A transcript of the individual bodyograph is available on our website in PDF format. It is especially important to use rave cards in situations where a person cannot find his life guidelines.

Worldview provides the opportunity to focus on specific goals, both in theoretical and practical activities. A person relies on his own vision of the world and chooses the life position that best suits his interests. In addition, worldview provides the opportunity to determine the true values of life and culture, by focusing on their perception by a specific person. Based on what worldview a person adheres to, he begins to realize what methods of achieving his goals he should use.

Worldview structure

Worldview structure is what a worldview is made of. Worldview is formed from:

knowledge;
ideas;
principles (point of view);
convictions (steadfastness on any issue);
ideals (goals);
spiritual and moral values (that which has no monetary value);
life attitudes.

A worldview cannot be formed once and for a lifetime; it is a gradual process. There are two ways to form it:

spontaneous - based on everyday experience, under the influence of the surrounding life (solving a problem with a fight is bad, because at home and at school they scolded you for it);
conscious - based on rational activity, which is aimed at understanding the world around us (“What you do will return to you” is part of Buddhist philosophy, which a person can come to through his observations).

How to change your worldview: tips from psychologists

You may be asking the question: “If a worldview is formed independently through a passive path, then why change it?” But this view of the world remains superficial. Would you like your personal values to depend on other people's opinions? You can change your worldview, but in adulthood it is more difficult to do this.

How you can try to change your worldview:

Analyze your beliefs. Think about your attitude towards life. Self-analysis is a powerful weapon if used in moderation without turning it into self-flagellation. Identify the things that don't satisfy you.
Weigh all the pros and cons of established beliefs. What happens if you remove some of them from your life?
Work on problem areas. Since the initial worldview is formed through the family, problems with the perception of the world almost always arise due to improper upbringing and childhood trauma. Therefore, it is recommended to consult a psychologist to work out all the pain points.
After analyzing and processing traumas, remove from your life all beliefs that cause discomfort or do not bring you any benefit.
Motivate yourself. It is important to remember why you abandoned your previous beliefs. Discipline, patience and self-control will help you stick to your new position. And the realization that you have freed yourself from the burden of attitudes that interfere with you and have become a better person will be your guiding star on the path to a new “me.”

Many factors influence the formation of a worldview. If you want change, but are afraid that it is too late, then take the course “How to remove self-doubt from your head. And in just 14 days, believe in yourself.” In just 2 weeks, you can believe in yourself and never doubt your abilities again, regardless of age or upbringing.

Levels of worldview

There are two levels of worldview:

Everyday or everyday practical, which is formed in ordinary life. It is influenced by the emotional and psychological side, which is responsible for sensory knowledge of the world. Emotions and feelings act as sources of knowledge.
Theoretical or rational, which is formed as a result of understanding the world by the mind. Associated with the cognitive-intellectual side. The sources are reason and mind.

Ways and features of worldview formation

The formation of a worldview occurs due to the fact that in the process of life a person tends to rely on a certain philosophical position. Determining one’s own position is quite a long and protracted process, therefore, in the absence of philosophical movements, the process of finding oneself and one’s guidelines would take up the entire conscious life. This is due to the fact that in the process of learning about the world around us, a person experiences significant events, acquires new knowledge and learns to draw conclusions. Therefore, the formation of a worldview without the presence of specific movements would take significantly more time. Sociologists and psychologists tend to agree that the process of worldview formation can occur in two forms: spontaneous and conscious.

It is worth noting that the most difficult process of forming a worldview occurs in adolescence, when the human psyche is not properly developed. The older a person gets, the fewer decisions he makes based on momentary impulses. There are two ways to form a worldview:

Spontaneous. Worldview is formed in the process of life, when some events and phenomena overlap others. The main aspect of this path is the focus on one’s own interests and personal motives. Most often, this form is built on the sensory-emotional standards of an individual person.
Conscious. Worldview is formed on the basis of receiving reliable information about the world. In this case, the worldview is formed based on: people and their patterns of behavior, norms, rules, scientific knowledge, perception of information and a predisposition to art.

The worldview itself must be studied as a mechanism for mastering the world with a practical component, where the main task is to carry out the process of mastering the world. There are three forms of actually knowing the world and forming a full-fledged opinion about it:

Attitude is a system of feelings, thoughts and emotional manifestations of a person.
Worldview is the processing of information about the world, situations and personal opinions.
Worldview - acts as models that provide support in understanding and accepting one’s worldview.

Three functions of worldview

Worldview is an integral part of human life. Based on his worldview, a person makes decisions and acts.

A person's worldview has three functions:

Cognitive - the worldview is not only formed from our knowledge, but also gives us knowledge.
Value-orientation - the formation of a person’s life values.
Practical - influence on human actions.

Elements of worldview

A person’s worldview can be divided into elements:

Attitude is our emotions and feelings. The way we experience the world.
Worldview is the picture of the world that a person has formed. The way a person relates to the world.
Worldview - based on acquired knowledge and experience. The way a person looks at the world, his views.
Attitude is a worldview and understanding of the world. That is, this is our attitude to the world and our system of views on any issues.
Mentality is a worldview, but not of one person, but of a group of people (for example, a nation or ethnic group).

Classification

We have our own, original views, opinions that are not subject to standards and a stereotyped view of life, saturated with labels and attitudes.

The picture on the right shows the main components of our thinking:

The worldview is determined by a person’s primary opinion about the world, so to speak, the level of comfortable or uncomfortable being in it, the level of sensory and emotional state, which is not subject to rigid and rational comprehension.
Worldview is a more holistic idea of the world, of people and of oneself, determined by the level of reason and meaning, the formation of elementary connections with people and the world around us.
The set of concepts, starting with an abstract concept and ending with systems of interrelations of concepts existing in the psyche of the individual, is determined by a worldview - the only thing that is impossible without linguistic means. You can’t explain anything to yourself without saying an explanation to yourself.

The classification of worldview types also has divisions into components, which include cognitive, historical and geographical affiliations.

The emotional foundation (nervous system, character type, etc.), norms and practices are directly related to the components.

Let's consider our worldview and its types from a historical position. These types of worldviews have formed and taken their place throughout history.

The historical classification of worldview types consists of three main components. Let's try to find out what types of worldview science distinguishes.

Ways of thinking

The following ways of thinking can manifest themselves in a person’s worldview:

Dogmatism is built on already existing dogmas, that is, rules and theories. For example, in a religious worldview, we take dogmas from religion and follow them. They guide our decisions and actions.
Reasonable criticism - in this case we understand that worldviews can change. We question reality.
Skepticism is when we doubt the very possibility of knowing the world or what we understand correctly. It is regular thought and reflection.

Recommendations for development

The importance of worldview

I think it will not be a secret for you to know that a person achieves success not only thanks to favorable events and hard work. What matters is his way of thinking. Have you heard stories about people who won a million, but after a short period of time they became poor again?

And about how billionaires lost everything, getting into countless debts, but literally a year later they were at the top again?

The right questions

What matters is not how much you have at the moment, but how you use it.

So take a moment and ask yourself these questions:

Where I am? It seems like a strange question that causes bewilderment, but before you go somewhere, you should look back and look carefully. Really, right? Otherwise, there is a risk of getting to the wrong place, or, having chosen a completely unsafe road, and not getting anywhere, receiving only injuries and mutilations. This is where the created and accumulated ideas and knowledge will come in handy; they will serve as a guide.
Who am I? The essence of a person has the following forms of manifestation: spirit, body and mind. What development goals do you set for yourself? What do you think is more dominant in you and what characteristics does each component have? And, of course, what is the meaning of life, purpose?
How do I interact with the surrounding reality? How do I build relationships, how do I compete, or get my way? How do I show interest, love and other feelings? What do I present to the world, what part of myself? Do I trust others?
What am I? What makes me happy and what makes me sad? Why do I get angry and how do I calm down? What do I think about myself? What are my main character traits? What am I grateful to myself for? Why am I ashamed? It is these and similar questions that every person must ask himself; only with the help of them can he explore and know himself. Then there will be no need to grab onto the opinions of people around you, trying on their assessments on yourself.
And the last, important question: “What do I want?” It’s not enough to look around the place you’re in, it’s also important to understand what result you want to achieve at the end of the journey, otherwise you can endlessly go with the flow, getting disappointed and feeling angry every time because you “washed up” on the wrong shore. This is the final stage of knowing myself, when I understand what I am like, I can plan my activities depending on my skills and characteristics.

Types of worldviews

In the historical approach, there are 4 types of worldviews: mythological, religious, philosophical and scientific.

Initially, it was mythology that was the foundation on which the value system in society rested. It became one of the factors that determined people's behavior. The mythological worldview presupposes an emotional and imaginative vision of reality and endowing it with fantastic properties. In ancient times, emotional experience prevailed over rational experience and reflected a person’s fear of the unknown, unusual, and unfamiliar. It was difficult for people to correctly build cause-and-effect relationships, which is why they began to explain natural and social phenomena through fiction.

When primitiveness faded into the background, religion replaced myth. Unlike mythology, it brought with it dogmatism, a clearly formulated system of values and rules. Examples of right and wrong, good and bad, permissible and unacceptable have appeared. Then the deep questions of human existence (about origin, birth and death) found their answers in belief in the supernatural and, as a result, a religious worldview .

Later, philosophy arose, which was designed to structure and systematize various views on the world, society and man. to the forefront of the philosophical worldview .

The scientific worldview was the result of a theoretical understanding of the results of scientific activity - experiments, experiments, calculations. The scientific worldview reflects the generalized results of mankind’s knowledge of the world.

We can observe all 4 historical types of worldview today. They are reflected in how we relate to certain aspects of existence.

Religion and us

Historians are convinced that the defining feature of a religious worldview is the prevention of social tension in a class society.

With the emergence of social and material inequality, it became necessary to create a system in order to prevent social riots, coups, and any mass disturbances. This is connected with the imposition of a religious worldview, which has taken over the baton of primacy from mythology.

The religious worldview is more progressive than the mythological one, since a person with it is more free. In Christianity, for example, the concept of free will is clearly expressed. This is confirmed by the fact that the religious worldview preaches the theory that God controls our lives, but we ourselves are responsible for our destiny.

The religious worldview understands the figure of the deity somewhat differently. In mythology, Gods are corporeal beings with all their sins, and in any religion God appears as a supernatural, perfect and non-corporeal being.

The main features of the religious worldview are the division into the otherworldly and the real world, the fact that the Gods are considered as the highest moral beings, whom the religious worldview calls to be equal to, and a certain freedom of human choice.

No matter how many analysts claim that an ever smaller number of humanity is susceptible to this type of worldview, that the religious worldview has to gradually retreat from its leading position in modern times, nevertheless, the number of believers is steadily growing.