Differing Worldviews

My son and his fiancée were here over Christmas and since I had finished The Black Swan (which he had loaned me) and he had not yet read it all the way through himself, but wanted to, I gave it back to him. Thus my posts from that source will be coming to a halt here pretty soon. But not yet.  Today I share some observations prompted by a statement the author made regarding differing viewpoints:

“This confirmation problem pervades our modern life, since most conflicts have at their root the following mental bias: when Arabs and Israelis watch news reports they see different stories in the same succession of events. Likewise, Democrats and Republicans look at different parts of the same data and never converge to the same opinions. Once your mind is inhabited with a certain view of the world, you will tend to only consider instances proving you to be right.

Paradoxically, the more information you have, the more justified you will feel in your views.”

Taleb’s observation that different people can look at the same series of events and come to wholly different conclusions is quite true. [Bush Derangement Syndrome comes to mind] And yet the implication in his words is that there is no one “right” conclusion, just conclusions based on whatever each individual regards as correct in his own eyes, each person’s perception shaped, maintained and bolstered by his innate tendency toward confirmation bias.

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”

Only God has the true perspective and according to His word, there are absolutes. There are right ways of thinking and wrong ways. Life and death. Lies and truth. The flesh and the world versus the spiritual and the heavenly. As believers we are engaged in a battle against the spiritual forces that for the moment have rulership over our planet. It’s difficult to fight against forces one cannot see nor feel. We’re not going to be slugging it out physically. No, the battle is one of ideas; one of opposing systems of thought. And there are only two: man’s/Satan’s systems (which encompass all of those things that “seem right to a man” in their varied sameness), and God’s.

If you orient back to central principles of each world view, you are going to reach consistent conclusions. In Satan’s worldview, the creature is supreme. The creature operates independently from God (even if he is claiming to serve and love God, he does it in his own way, not according to God’s way) and seeks to solve his problems and improve his situation using creature power and solutions. In God’s worldview, all credit goes to Him. He is perfect. He does all the work. We, by grace, receive the benefits of what He has done, initially in salvation and continuing throughout our Christian walk. We must decrease, He must increase.

Satan’s genius lies in the way he has drawn in all manner of variation, complication, detail, urgency and just plain volume to obfuscate the central conclusions of each viewpoint. As the Lord said in x, the worries and cares of the world rise up to choke the truth of the word. Pretty soon we no longer see the forest for the trees.

But ultimately there are only two viewpoints. Man’s thoughts and God’s. And the two are not remotely similar.

0 thoughts on “Differing Worldviews

  1. Sandy Elder

    I’m now into book #3. of Guardian King and as I told my daughter, these books are full of this subject ie The Angelic Conflict, and that I will have to read them several times before I begin to see it all, if ever. “My ways are not your ways” seems to be a central theme along with fighting the OSN. The fact being made here that it will be a lifetime struggle…even for those of us who are old warhorses. We seem to never give up being our own worst enemies. In these books, the invisible war is sometimes VERY visible, and that helps the reader to better visualize the invisible. Does that make sense? These books are a great workout for my old mushy brain. OK. From my vantage point right now: I’m thrilled that Carissa has seen the light but I fear that Old Gillard is for the ash heap!

    Reply
    1. karenhancock

      Love your thoughts on the book, Sandy. Thanks for sharing. Especially…

      …fighting the OSN. The fact being made here that it will be a lifetime struggle…even for those of us who are old warhorses. We seem to never give up being our own worst enemies.

      This is SOO true. I experienced it once again today. Imagine that.

      In these books, the invisible war is sometimes VERY visible, That was my original intent, so it’s gratifying to have you say this. Glad you’re enjoying them!

      Reply

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