What is a worldview?

Written by TR Johns

Having just sat exams at college in Kathmandu, 18-year-old Leki hopes to study and work abroad, to support her mum and dad. She loves their remote Langtang valley, in northern Nepal, where she walks barefoot to neighbouring villages, meet friends and trekkers and enjoys the cascading river, near home. A simple farmer, her dad heard there was money to be gained working in a coal mine in northern India and he went. Mum is stoic, farming the land, and caring for a severely autistic younger son, who cannot attend the local school. Their families fled Tibet, like so many others, during the 1959 uprising. Of Buddhist tradition, now living in a predominantly Hindu country, they nonetheless have a Christian faith. Leki checks her online-profile photos, and glances at some recent posts on You Tube and TikTok.

Across the six habitable continents her story can be replicated by 8 billion inhabitants whose beliefs, values and perspectives are being similarly shaped. Each will have a worldview (if they have the luxury to contemplate one) based around family history, the culture, convictions, and environment in which they now live, coupled with their education and personal life experience. Worldviews are rarely static, they evolve as societies change and as individuals develop, challenged by new parameters. The latest conflicts and trauma in Gaza and Sudan being tragic examples.[i]

Leki’s perspectives on life are rooted deeply in nature, from a diverse cultural background, growing up in a religious patchwork, alongside the interconnectedness of globalisation. She is sponsored from Europe for her secondary education and her personality is intrinsically wrapped up in the DNA of her natural parents, she’s adopted. Her aspirations are also influenced by what she encounters online and by the ‘honour/shame’ expectations of Nepalese society.

A helpful classification of 4 types of worldviews is proposed by Chris Drew: attitudinal; ideological; religious and philosophical.[ii] Inevitably these overlap and multiple elements can make up a single view.

• Attitudinal reflects someone’s disposition and core personality with features such as respect, optimism, compassion, or service.

• Ideological is based on values and ideals about how the world should work, economically and politically (e.g., Marxism, capitalism, environmentalism, or pluralism).

• Religious emanates from beliefs in the existence of God, or a higher unseen controlling power. Convictions regarding the origin and purpose of life and afterlife (eg Sikhism, Christianity, Islam or animism).

• Philosophical covers views derived from the pursuit of wisdom and knowledge, answering life’s big questions. What is truth, what is real, what does it mean to be human?  Examples are Confucianism, existentialism, humanism, or late-modernism. 

Leki’s attitudes, ideology, religious and ‘big question’ experiences create a fascinating matrix of drivers. Transferring these criteria back onto the world stage, gives a poignant thumbnail sketch for today’s world powers. Moving across the continents:

Ø  The USA is an ethnic melting pot, combining patriotism, deep commitment to democratic values, political polarisation, religious fervour and (as the leading world power, although fading) continued engagement and influence over global affairs.

Ø  Brazil offers a world-renowned exuberance in Carnaval! It fuses vibrant cultural and religious influences from Indigenous, European/ Portuguese, and African roots. Resource rich, it is ambitious, politically volatile, and united by soccer.  

Ø  China draws from its ancient roots, continuing to emerge from a ‘century of humiliation’. Wedded to Marxism, aspiring to be the world leader by 2049, it is shaping a new, harmonious global order. Its burgeoning ‘Belt and Road’ initiative has few ethical safeguards.

Ø  India is the world’s most populous nation, drawing from a rich, yet conflicted cultural, religious, and colonial heritage. As a rising power, seeking new infrastructures for security and stable growth, it holds tight to democratic values and emphasises solidarity with the Global South.

Ø  Russia is largely shaped by President Putin’s views, despite citizens’ exposure to Western freedoms. His drivers include restoring deeply held historic entitlements rooted in tsarism and the Bolsheviks. These are combined with western xenophobia, institutionalised State terror, and ambition for a new multipolar balance of power, ending US hegemony.

These résumés can continue for Australasia, the European Union and the UK. However, to understand their complexities, even within a single country, considering South Africa, with deeply rooted racial inequalities and tensions, is more pertinent.

Ø  Black and white South African worldviews differ. Black SAs faced decades of apartheid, enforced racial segregation and discrimination, with violence. Their subsequent desire to reconcile with the past involves both healing and retribution, and their multiple ethnicities foster respect and spark conflict. Philosophically, ‘ubuntu’ flows in their veins, ‘I am because we are’, valuing human interconnectedness. Wider colonial oppression and exploitation have also inculcated resilience and a sense of global solidarity, as evidenced by ‘Black Lives Matter’. White SAs are diverse too, with a spectrum of views. They reflect an intricate interplay of colonial history, national identity, and contemporary post-apartheid realities. Both parties are for democracy, within a fragile web of intrigue.

Are worldviews important? That depends on your worldview! For Tuvalu citizens they are critical, facing the existential threat of sea-level rise. Sustainable solutions to global warming, conflict resolution creating a degree of peace and harmony among the Earth’s diverse population, require a framework for understanding and action. A worldview furnishes this, with a valuable tool for interpreting and responding to situations as they arise. It equips individuals for coherent dialogue and promotes resonance on an evolving basis. 

Leki’s friends are beginning to text with their test results. If she passes, she needs to find her next sponsor.  

References

[i] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/11/a-new-abyss-gaza-and-the-hundred-years-war-on-palestine?CMP=share_btn_url (accessed 11-04-24)

[ii] Drew, C. (February 3, 2023). 65 Worldview Examples. Helpful Professor. https://helpfulprofessor.com/worldview-examples/