Do you struggle making sense of the world around you? It is worth examining your worldview.

The term ‘worldview’ gets thrown around a lot more frequently today. People ask me questions about worldview often. While everyone has one, very few can articulate it.

I find analogies helpful. Bear with me as a attempt to employ and analogy in this instance.

Your computer and your smartphone have what is called an “operating system (OS).” Your devices cannot function without one. “An operating system is a powerful, and usually large, program that controls and manages the hardware and other software on a computer. All computers and computer-like devices require operating systems.” (laptops, smartphones, GPS, etc). [lifewire.com]

A worldview is very similar to a computer’s operating system. Everyone has an operating system. It is a philosophical framework of how we live but its more than that. A worldview deals with total final reality. Not all worldviews are the same. My atheist friends have a very different worldview from my Mormon friends. And my Christian worldview is very different from my atheist and Mormon friends.

Essentially, our Worldview is the lens through which we view, interpret and engage reality. It is what we believe about ourselves and the world around us (total reality). Whether we are aware of it or not, our worldview informs us, shapes our thoughts and beliefs, and drives our actions (behaviors).

Worldview’s can be shared causing unity among people. Conversely, they can clash causing conflict.

What makes up a ‘worldview’?

Every worldview provides answers to the seven questions below. The question is, which worldview offers the best answers?

1. Where did I come from? (origin)
2. What is the nature of reality?
3. Does my life have meaning (meaning)?
4. Who am I (identity)?
5. How do I know right from wrong? (morality)
6. What is wrong with the world and how do we fix it?
7. What happens to me when I die? (destiny)

Worldview Tests for Truth – Correspondence and Coherence

Once we have established the answers to the seven questions above, we must apply two tests for truth. The first is correspondence.
Do the answers correspond to reality?
The second test for truth is the coherence test.
When all seven answers are put together, is there coherence? In other words, do they make sense together?

Finally, all truth claims must demonstrate logical consistency, empirical adequacy and experiential relevance. Truth is logical, measurable and applicable to daily life.

Is your worldview livable?

Can you base your life on it?