Perspective
Everything
we hear is an opinion, not fact.
Everything we see is a
perspective, not the truth.
Marcus Aurelius
In the original discussion of worldviews, we tried to consider some of the wider issues of human nature and the historical events that have had a major impact on society, as a whole. However, in the context of the present-day world, the accumulated effects of the past may often come to manifest themselves in terms of some overt or subliminal class system into which we are born. Subsequently, we may then be affected by the culture that surrounds us in childhood in terms of both religious and political conformity.
So what factors may have influenced you in reaching a certain perspective on any topic, i.e. education or indoctrination?
Of course, in the absence of first hand experience, the actual scope of education and indoctrination might be as mundane as the newspapers or TV channels that are available to you. We might also collectively describe these issues in terms of some social or cultural ideology; the pervasiveness of which is reflective of either a 'liberal democracy' or 'totalitarian state'. However, few governments around the world, of any form, are totally immune to the increasing pressures being imposed by events in the global economy. So, in this context, we might arrive at a worldview or perspective that may only reflect the sum of our learning rather than actual experience, such that we may need to consider the following question:
To what extent is your perspective, on any topic, influenced by those in control of the media and information in general?
Today, much is made of human rights and, in particular, the right to the freedom of speech. Of course, while not arguing against this freedom, the 'real' value to others of your freedom to articulate any perspective might depend on your answer to the questions above, which was possibly one of the main concerns raised by William Clifford over 100 years ago:
"The danger to society is not merely that it should believe wrong things, though that is great enough; but that it should become credulous, and lose the habit of testing things and inquiring into them, for then it must sink back into savagery. It may matter little to me, in my cloud-castle of sweet illusions and darling lies; but it matters much to Man that I have made my neighbours ready to deceive. The credulous man is father to the liar and the cheat."
However, it has to be highlighted that Clifford's own perspective would have possibly been a reflection of the values of a privileged Englishman, born in 1845, into the Victorian culture of 19th England. Therefore, the scope of the discussions in this section will be orientated to subjects, which may be influencing present-day perceptions.
