How do you view the world?

Talk about anything under the sun or stars - but keep it civil. This is where we really get to know each other. Everyone is welcome, and invited!

What's your lens?

Religious
6
21%
Economic
1
4%
Political
3
11%
Interpersonal/Relational
8
29%
Scientific
7
25%
Random/Chaotic
3
11%
 
Total votes: 28

Eaquae Legit
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How do you view the world?

Postby Eaquae Legit » Fri May 25, 2007 2:58 am

We all look at the world in different ways. And I think each of us has a primary lens which we look through. For some people it is politics. For others, economics. For still others, religion.

We see different "primary motivators" in the movements of the world. We acknowledge other motivators, but they are subordinate to our primaries. This often leads to conflict in discussion, I believe, because people don't stop to recognise the underlying difference in worldview.

Perhaps and example is in order.

A religion-primary person looks around and sees how different religious beliefs inform actions. They see religious belief shaping political action: the Israel-Palestine conflict, for this sort of person, is primarily about the tension between Jewish and Muslim claims on the region.

Another way of phrasing this is, when faced with a large-scale example of conflict, where do you look first for an explanation?

So where do you fall? I've put a few options in the poll, but if your answer is "other," please explain. In fact, no matter what your answer is, please explain.
"Only for today, I will devote 10 minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul." -- Pope John XXIII

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Postby jotabe » Fri May 25, 2007 3:41 am

I'd have to say i do it scientifically.
Because even though i can examine a situation from several points of view, i also (try to) test scientifically every point of view. I examine politics, religion, economy, etc from a scientifical point of view, but i would think meaningless to examine science from a political, religious or economic perspective.

For the example of palestine-israel conflict, i wouldn't use religion, since i believe religion in this matter is more an excuse, a justification, than an actual agent (there was a time, before the 90's, when this war wasn't religious at all: both sides were pretty nationalistic). I rather think that the explanation lies in psychology, history and economy.
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Postby Luet » Fri May 25, 2007 8:56 am

I voted interpersonal/relational. While religion is the focus of my life, I don't feel like it colors my view of things as much my relationships and my personal feelings. Many times I wish this wasn't true as it has led me into heartbreak one too many times.
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Postby starlooker » Fri May 25, 2007 9:59 am

Interpersonal-relational.

I'm a counseling psychologist in training, so this is a bit of a no-brainer. Even before I had the actual title, I spent most of my time with my friends listening to them and figuring them out on a one-to-one level. My job is to listen to people, build relationships with people, understand them on an interpersonal/relational level. So, I start there.

This is probably why I am less interested in large-scale conflict and epics than I am in biographies and small-scale wars between friends.
There's another home somewhere,
There's another glimpse of sky...
There's another way to lean
into the wind, unafraid.
There's another life out there...

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Postby Young Val » Fri May 25, 2007 10:26 am

interpersonal/relational.


people. number one most important thing in my life. number one most interesting thing in my life. i love books and movies that are character-driven. my friends and family (blood, yes, but also forged. i'm a big big believer in the idea that "family" means more than a blood tie) are the most precious things to me. politically, religiously, my views are abstract and instinctual at best. i'm highly emotional and intuitive, and would never in a million years be called "rational."

but my relationships with other people are the most important, sacred thing in my life, and everything else orbits around them.
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well I have snozzed and lost
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I'll slug it out
I'm sick of waiting
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ringing joyful and triumphant

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Postby anonshadow » Fri May 25, 2007 11:08 am

Scientific, without a doubt. I believe that everything can be explained through science, and I prefer that explanation to any other.



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Postby Eaquae Legit » Fri May 25, 2007 11:44 am

I'm having a hard time clarifying my question, and I don't think I did a good job in the first place.

Why do people act the way they do? Why do events happen as they do?

This isn't about what motivates you so much as how you view what motivates others.
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Postby starlooker » Fri May 25, 2007 12:12 pm

Still interpersonal/relational.

I'm a social constructionist at heart. The world is built between people, from their language and relationships. This continues on to bigger structures. But, basically, the world is what people create with one another.
There's another home somewhere,
There's another glimpse of sky...
There's another way to lean
into the wind, unafraid.
There's another life out there...

~~Mary Chapin Carpenter

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Postby neo-dragon » Fri May 25, 2007 3:22 pm

Like most (if not all) people, I don't see the world through any one lens, but I suppose my primary one is scientific. All of the other choices are just products of human brain chemistry which developed through the laws of science. Don't misunderstand me when it comes to religion though. It probably sounds like I'm saying that God (or whatever Higher Power you believe in) is just a product of the human mind. What I believe is that God gave us free will, and thus it's our own thought processes that determine how we interpret religion. When I look at a conflict such as Israel-Palestine, I see religion being used as an excuse to express fears of "otherness", and a desire to protect one's own. These are feelings that natural selection has ingrained in the human psyche. When I look at romantic love, I acknowledge that underneath the surface the emotion of love is just a cascade of chemicals in the brain. It's nature's way of encouraging us to reproduce in order to pass on our genes.

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Postby zeroguy » Fri May 25, 2007 7:08 pm

Another way of phrasing this is, when faced with a large-scale example of conflict, where do you look first for an explanation?
Stupidity, misinterpretations, and lack of an error-free means of communication. Which answer is that?
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Postby Eaquae Legit » Fri May 25, 2007 11:01 pm

I think that could be under randomness/chaotic, but really, what are the underlying issues of the stupid mistakes?


Me, I tend to see things affected by religion. Probably because of school. People's beliefs about the divine/numinous affect nearly every aspect of their lives, consciously or unconsciously. It's caused nations to rise and to fall, it's credited with being the seed of modern capitalism, it's pervasive, everywhere.

For an obvious example, gay marriage. Some people think it's against God's will. Some people think there is no God, so they see nothing wrong. Still others think there is a God but God doesn't care about that. But all of them refer at some point to religion, one way or another.

Most religions offer a code of conduct for their followers. Even atheism often results in a certain moral code derived from the realisation of a lack of God. Religions encourage voting a certain way, either directly or indirectly. They encourage people to take up arms. They encourage people to give up everything and live a life of poverty and service.

Whether we spend a lot of time thinking about it or not, our perception of the numinous colours our lives in so many ways.

So, yes, indeed. I am one of those "religious lens" people.
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Postby zeroguy » Fri May 25, 2007 11:07 pm

I think that could be under randomness/chaotic, but really, what are the underlying issues of the stupid mistakes?
Not stupid mistakes, but inherent stupidity in people themselves.

By the way, must it always be a single rationale for all? I can't say some specific events were religiously motivated, and others politically?
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Postby Eaquae Legit » Fri May 25, 2007 11:33 pm

Oh, certainly. That's why I was asking about a primary motivator, not a single motivator.
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Postby zeroguy » Sat May 26, 2007 12:34 am

I can understand the primary motivator in a single instance (i.e. the primary motivator for event X is religion...) but for all instances? Or are you going for some kind of majority or average across cases or something?
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Postby Eaquae Legit » Sat May 26, 2007 12:54 am

*shrug* Sort of the "first instinct." Some people hold to their primary a lot tighter than others. Just something I've been observing in people around me recently. Some people don't hold very tightly at all. Depends. I was just curious what folks here thought.
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Postby Rei » Sat May 26, 2007 3:30 am

I think mine might best be called the lens of the book. I toyed with religious, and perhaps it's just that I'm not quite understanding religious the same way you are, but I don't think that's quite it. I also considered interpersonal/relational, but I'm not the most interested in individuals, usually, although how they relate to others is sometimes interesting. I just don't think I default to them quite enough. Instead, I tend to view life as having narration. A very distinct narration. And everything that happens in the world must fit the standards for the best story-telling. So when something happens, my first thoughts are along the lines of, "How does this fit the story?"
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Postby zeroguy » Sun May 27, 2007 5:37 pm

Fair enough, EL.

I also realized soon after posting that shoving things under the title of "stupidity" doesn't really say a whole lot. Any action or opinion by another that you don't agree with can be categorized thusly, so it does not say much about an initial motivator.

So, what I said was rather stupid, or at the very least not substantive and irrelevant. Just wanted to point that out before someone else did.
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Postby Olhado_ » Sun May 27, 2007 6:04 pm

This may sound strange to those who know my background, engineering, but I think I have to say political, most of the time, with financial some of the time too.

The reason is I feel everything that happens, locally and globally, has to do with politics. In other words has to do with some person or group (countries included) wanting to keep and maintain power.

This leads me to my secondary lens, financial. I want to figure out how I can make money from those pulling the strings in the world.

I know it sounds self-centered, but I am almost positive I am not the only one, but I will find out after I post this. :)

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Postby Mahatma » Tue May 29, 2007 1:34 pm

I said scientific, because that's basically how I understand the world, through observing and making conclusions. As far as what I believe motivates things in general, I suppose scientific still works, because I'm a skeptic -- I can't get enough evidence of anything to make any conclusions, so... I'm satisfied with not knowing for now.
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Postby endercoaster » Thu May 31, 2007 10:43 pm

where's the option for power?
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Postby zeroguy » Fri Jun 01, 2007 10:44 pm

Isn't that political?
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Postby starlooker » Fri Jun 01, 2007 10:47 pm

Funny, I thought it was interpersonal/relational :-D
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Postby zeroguy » Fri Jun 01, 2007 10:52 pm

I think I've just been reading too much Herbert lately. "Power" just automatically means "political power" when I'm doing that.
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Postby VelvetElvis » Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:23 am

I'm the "religous lens" type.
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Postby Hegemon » Mon Jun 04, 2007 11:51 am

i use different lenses depending on what aspect of the world i am considering.... none of those lenses seem to make me like it much

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Postby luminousnerd » Fri Jun 08, 2007 2:22 am

Economic is the closest thing on the list. I learn something new, and I think, "how can I make money off of this?"
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Postby Seiryu » Fri Jun 08, 2007 7:26 pm

My mind often switches perspectives as I go. Sometimes, even, I think of the world as an RPG. "Man, this would be a cool setting for an RPG." or something along those lines.

Then there are times I see things as part of a movie or whatever. And then there are times I think about religion as it relates to the world and so forth.



So I'm going with Chaotic.
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