MY BELIEFS: Epistemologies, Reality, Worldview & Religion How do I know what I know?

MY BELIEFS:

Epistemologies,Reality,

Worldview & Religion

How do I know what I

know?

We aim to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. We will explore language, sense perception, emotion, reason, imagination, faith, intuition, and memory. You will be: Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-minded, Caring, Risk-takers, Balanced and Reflective!

What do you see? Is she old or young?How do you know?

What do you see? How do you know?

How do you know what you know? Hmmmmmm?

How come we can all see the same thing, but not truly see the same thing? Where does that come from? How does that happen? Oy vey!

Why is there difference in religion, politics, culture and society?

How come the person sitting next you thinks differently than you do? Ask them!

the study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity

Ways of Knowing…

Knowing by AuthorityA lot of this will be covered in English

Trusting someone in charge/authority

You believe what they say for they are older, wiser, sacred etc

You believe what they say is the TRUTH!

Knowing by intuition, insight or instinct

You trust your inner experience or revelation

“I just know it is true!

AHA! WOW!

Religious or mystical experiences

Knowing by reasoning

I use logical reasoning

Deductive reasoning: general to specific

Inductive reasoning: specific to general

Objective or scientific method

Testing by hypothesis: hunches about how things are like and related

Using observations

Varied possible hypotheses

Theories accepted by the majority after it is tested out based on facts and evidence

Other ways of knowing… Political, Economic, Social (family,

religion), Intellectual (tech/media), Environment, Culture….

Which includes:

Race

Gender

Sexual Orientation

Class

MORE TO COME ALL YEAR! We call it 4 Worlds…To be continued

What is reality?

Our own individual understandings of what makes up the totality of existence

Questioning reality Why do I exist (Existentialism)?

Is there something more than this?

Where do we come from?

Where do we go from here?

Is life random and chaotic?

Is life purposeful and meaningful?

Who made my plan?

What is the meaning of this life?

Where do we go after we die?

Will I be reincarnated?

Will I end up a cockroach?

Why is there pain?

How do I formulate my reality and worldview?

What story are you telling yourself and others? Is your life a story?

Worldview

A commitment & a fundamental way of thinking/believing that can be expressed as A STORY or in a set of presuppositions which we hold as the basic make up of reality which provides the foundation on which we live our lives…

IT’S COMPLICATED!

When we discuss anything it is usually COMPLICATED!

When studying anything, especially Worldviews, the goal is to COMPLICATE!

Why COMPLICATE things Jacobs? Ignorance is bliss.

As you study and use critical thinking, you will see that there are multiple view points and perspectives.

LIFE IS JUST DARN COMPLICATED! So we have to deal with it and see life and its beautiful depth, diversity and complexity

Worldview

Socialized by our social institutions: families, schools, religions, media etc.

It is in our subconscious and unless we think very hard about it, we are unaware

Examples of stories: The big bang, the Buddha meditating under the Bodhi tree, that huge zit you popped, first love…

These presuppositions/assumptions can be “true,” possibly true or just plain false

We have many ideas about the way things are without necessarily having proof

Western/Eastern/Indigenous Worldviews? An unfolding story this year

Like thinking about Reality, Worldviews have essential questions we can try to answer…

What is the nature of external reality: Created or independent? Chaotic or orderly? Matter or spirit? Subjective or objective?

What is a human being? Machine? God? Ape?

What happens when you die? Extinction? Higher state? Reincarnation? The other side?

Why is it possible to know anything? God? Reason/Rationality? Evolution?

Ethics? What is right or wrong (POV)? Human choice? Predestined by a God? Is it just survival?

What is the purpose of history? To find God? To leave the world better? Find my potential?

Worldview: Religion

Key Vocabulary

Animism: the belief that natural objects, natural phenomena, and the universe itself possess spirits

Polytheism: the doctrine of or belief in more than one god or in many gods

Monotheism: the belief in one god

Atheism: no belief in god/gods

Agnostic: a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (as God) is unknown: questioning

Why a shift from Animism to Polytheism?

Folk societies began to believe, after settling down and using agriculture that their Gods held the spirits of nature and not necessarily just the land…TO BE CONTINUED!

What is Religion?

The belief in an opinion, conviction or confidence in the existence of something not immediately provable by knowledge, by subjectively experiencing a particular “truth” by a person

Helps us answer the BIG QUESTIONS

Something greater than us that cannot be explain

A relationship between humans and the sacred

Reasons for Religion

Religions explain: Existence, how the world came to be, natural species/forces, death, our potential as humans

Religions validate: Sustain the moral and social order, meaning to humans, ancestors, spirits, gods reinforce rules and structures

Religions help us cope with reality: illness, death, famine, natural phenomena, failure, gives us security in an unpredictable world (Mexica)

Religious shared experiences: intensity of shared experience and social communion

Ways to Study Religion Theology: Study of God, attributes,

universe, the divine, “truths”

History of Religion: systematic narrative of past events and their meaning

Comparative Religions: compare and contrast religions

Sociology of Religion: how religion relates to societies

Anthropology of Religion: how religions and culture coincide; rites, beliefs, actions, ceremonies and behavioral patterns

Psychology of Religion: body, emotions, mind and consciousness as it relates to religion

What is Faith?

Confidence and trust

To give over one’s heart

To see the unknown as a adventure

Belief clings, faith lets go. -Alan Watts

Verifying Faith

Validating for ourselves only what we have heard from others

Examination

Experience

Trusting our own experience rather than abstract tradition or authority

Bright Faith Versus Blind Faith

Bright Faith

A state of love-filled delight

Infinite possibility

Eager joy

Enthusiasm, energy and courage

To step out and away

The potential to end our suffering and live in a different way

Blind Faith

Heavily inspired by a person

Negative connotations

Unthinking devotion to a teacher

Passive and dependent

Afraid to question

Afraid to feel left out

Subvert reason and intellect

Cannot trust any thing or anyone else

Belief versus Faith

Beliefs try to make a known out of the unknown

Predictions about what is to come

Faith doesn’t carve out this reality; it is the ability to move forward even without knowing

Faith makes us want to explore and is not a defined reality

Faith comes from within and beliefs tend to come from the outside

Faith is a process of participatory discovery

What is Magic? Magic may have come before religion

The Belief humans control the forces of nature and the universe to serve our purposes

Things can be manipulated and controlled to get desired results

Forces can be repelled by an opposite force

Magic includes: incantations, formulas, reading signs, imitating sounds/gestures

Magic has shamans, sorcerers, medicine doctors and possibly witches

Indigenous cultures sometimes believe it is used to heal or change the environment

Can be used for both good and bad

What is Spirit? Spiritual life may be the most

important expression of one’s humanity

Spirit is usually viewed with awe and respect

The spirit is in your heart and all around

It is a force that is unseen, intangible and gives life to everything

Many cultures have their own way to explain origins and spirits to face the unknown and help explain natural phenomena

Most human beings share in the use of symbols and teaching to express spirit

What is the Sacred according to many Indigenous? The indigenous are the original native

people of a particular land and believe all is sacred (Animism)

A belief in unseen powers

All things are dependent on each other

Worshiping is a bond between the individual, the community and the great powers which is a commitment to all sources of life

Teaching morals and ethics which set limits and boundaries and how to act

Priests, medicine folk & shamans are usually in charge of sacred knowledge and help pass on traditions

Humor shows us our human frailty and reminds us we are not gods

Western Worldview Western civilizations usually separate

knowledge from the sacred

We want to KNOW! Westerners tend to know through science, psychology and other forms of education

Mystical experiences are often left out

In the West we tend to believe humans can control nature (dams etc), we exploit natural resources and all mysteries can be conquered (Science?)

History has proved people suffer under this dominance (GOD,GOLD,GLORY)

Indigenous have more of a relationship WITH the land and do not want to dominate the land (Animism)

Compare and Contrast

Some (Western) religions use the fear of the unknown spirit to dominate and control people and nature (Manifest Destiny, GOD,GOLD,GLORY) which have upset the balance in the world which makes it more difficult for people to change, adapt and deal with crisis and the unexpected

Most indigenous cultures do not try to control phenomena or the universe; respect for nature

How are worldviews expressed? Symbolism

Symbols communicate or present those ideas, concepts and emotions that are often intangible or invisible

They convey an abstract idea in a concrete way

What is abstract? What is concrete?

Symbols help the spiritual and physical world be seen and understood

Oral Traditions express Worldview Oral traditions tell origins: things,

places and people

Oral means by mouth and are usually repetitious…why?

Help explain boundaries and the supernatural that people associate with their culture

People understand their genesis, territory and sense of place in the universe

Orality helps explain supernatural origins, time (usually timeless) and migration

Orality is usually symbolic

These traditions ensure survival (What if they are destroyed?)

TIME

Calendars are important to many cultures

They are usually used for remembering when religious observations are and when to perform activities

Calendars usually use dieties (gods)

It can be also used to express natural phenomena and seasons

Western culture usually sees time in a linear fashion with a present and future; whereas indigenous usually see time as always and connected to spiritual life (Animism)

Any Questions?

THE END?!?!?!?!