about cultures and worldviews

Historical insights & thoughts about the world we live in - and the social conditioning exerted upon us by past and current propaganda.
Seneca
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about cultures and worldviews

Unread post by Seneca »

The topics discussed here often involve different worldviews and cultures. I have been taught that you can't judge other worldviews and cultures. You can't say one culture is better than the other. Because then you are imposing your morals on another culture. That is what racist and imperialists do. This makes sense in a way bit in another way it is nonsense. Telling you can't judge other worldviews is itself a judgment of all other worldviews. You have a contradiction right there and it can become very confusing.

This is probably what the people running our countries want, when it is obvious that their psychopathic worldview has a negative impact on so many people.

I learned to think differently about cultures and worldviews by reading the work of Ken Wilber, whose work is partially based on the book "Spiral Dynamics" by Don Beck and Christopher Cowan .

I don't have a reason to trust these people but I think their information is useful. It has given me tools to come to a better understanding. I am sure that there are many people on this forum who can understand this info better than me. (and who can do a better job of introducing it to others)

So I would recommend for example hoi to take a look at it. It could provide us a better language to talk about cultures and worldviews.Probably, the information is being used to manipulate us, so as a bonus this would become easier to spot.

Let me know what you think.Here is a quote from a book review. I have read the book but I don't think it is necessary to buy the book to be able to grasp it, there is plenty of information online.
http://www.spiraldynamics.com/book/SDreview_Dinan.htm wrote:This is really a terrific book once the reader gets past the capital letters and color-coding scheme. It presents, in fascinating detail, a spiral developmental model of worldviews. Beck and Cowan call these patterns of thinking vMemes (short for values-attracting meta-memes). vMemes can be thought of as broad orienting paradigms, a schema through which we interpret the world. These vMemes fall into a series of eight levels, with the potential for higher ones emerging as we speak. Each level also has entering, peak, and declining phases. They avoid the most common pitfall of stage models by introducing a great deal of fluidity. First, situational factors encourage different vMemes to "light up." We might rely upon one vMeme in the religious domain and another in intimate relationships. In times of intensive stressor war, previously submerged vMemes often come to the surface. Furthermore, Beck and Cowan argue that the healthy expression of each vMeme is essential to the health of the entire spiral of development. In this way, they allow for the kind of structural analysis that is so useful from stage models without the rigid (and alienating) process of just assigning people to boxes, stages, or roles. We can be encouraged or assisted to use more complex and evolved paradigms, but the goal of what they call "the spiral wizard" is to meet people, situations, and cultures where they are at, creating organizational and political models that are, at most, a ½ step ahead of the individuals involved. The spiral wizard recognizes that the health of the overall spiral is paramount and that change can generally happen only by small increments. Beck and Cowan are more interested in lubricating change effectively than rejecting and overthrowing old structures.

Each vMeme leads to certain beliefs, social groupings, motivation patterns, organizational dynamics, and goals. If we try to impose solutions or structures that are too far ahead of the curve (that reflect or engage inappropriate vMemes) the result is alienation and rebellion rather than transformation. In this way, Beck and Cowan model a way of being in the world that is eminently practical, sensitive and oriented towards transformation. Too often, we intuit a "better" or "higher" mode of being without respecting the stages of change and development that must happen before large numbers of people in an organization or society can enact such a mode. Beck and cowan actually avoid use of the terms "better" or "higher," sticking with, at most, "more complex" vMemes. There is a hierarchy involved, but it is more factual than evaluative. The eight dominant vMemes today are listed below with a range of factors that reflect such a worldview. Each vMeme has emerged historically in response to the needs of new, and more complex, life conditions.…"
aa5
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Re: about cultures and worldviews

Unread post by aa5 »

I used to make fun of it, but change management is a huge field. As an example the decision was made by the rulers in China that they had to get away from the one child policy. They started by releasing a few articles by outside the mainstream thinkers, to gauge the reaction. As expected the people of China reacted furiously to the idea of changing policy. (they had been taught since they were young on why the policy is a good thing).

The authorities in China did a masterful job of this change management, so only 3-4 years later the big majority of Chinese believed the 1 child policy would soon be gone, and were supportive of the change.

Sure there are some people like people on this forum who can change their beliefs in light of new information and change their beliefs very rapidly. Most people aren't like that, we are talking a multi-year process as a minimum.
edgewaters
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Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2013 3:49 am

Re: about cultures and worldviews

Unread post by edgewaters »

Oswald Spengler.
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