I find this post incisive overall. I love this paragraph in particular:
What even is a worldview? It is the set of beliefs about fundamental aspects of Reality that ground and influence all oneâs perceiving, thinking, knowing, and doing (source). For example, a social justice worldview primarily sees the world as dynamics between the oppressed and the oppressor. In any worldview, there is a central organizing theme on what the world is âaboutâ â everything else is just commentary.
I really like the way you said this. I think âa central organizing theme on what the world is âaboutââ is a clearer articulation than previous formulations Iâve heard. I find this insightful.
I donât know if this is a good definition of worldviews in general. For example, maybe someoneâs worldview is that the world is full of diverse and heterogeneous problems and conflicts, each of which requires their own special attention and thinking. That seems like it could be a worldview but there wouldnât be one thing the whole world is about. I think maybe there should be a term specifically worldviews that are characterized by reliance on a central organizing theme.
A related concept is the sociologist James Hughesâ treatment of millennialism. He has a great talk about that called âAvoiding Millennialist Cognitive Biasesâ. (If you prefer to read, he has a paper called âMillennial Tendencies in Response to Apocalyptic Threatsâ that was published in the essay anthology Global Catastrophic Risks.) Millennialist beliefs can be totalizing â they can make the world âaboutâ some coming utopia or apocalypse, or utopia that will follow an apocalypse. But millennialist beliefs donât encompass all totalizing worldviews. For example, someone could have a Christian worldview that is totalizing but not believe in the rapture or the end times or anything like that. Or someone could have a social justice worldview that is fairly totalizing but doesnât involve a utopia or an apocalypse.
The superintelligence worldview is definitely millennialist. The advent of superintelligence is presented as bringing either apocalypse or utopia.
Identifying a belief or a worldview as millennialist isnât a refutation of it. It is merely a classification. But that classification should draw concern because of the psychological biases associated with millennialism. It warrants caution and scrutiny. Itâs similar to any situation where you identify bias â detecting bias isnât a refutation, itâs just a reason for skepticism.
I find this post incisive overall. I love this paragraph in particular:
I really like the way you said this. I think âa central organizing theme on what the world is âaboutââ is a clearer articulation than previous formulations Iâve heard. I find this insightful.
I donât know if this is a good definition of worldviews in general. For example, maybe someoneâs worldview is that the world is full of diverse and heterogeneous problems and conflicts, each of which requires their own special attention and thinking. That seems like it could be a worldview but there wouldnât be one thing the whole world is about. I think maybe there should be a term specifically worldviews that are characterized by reliance on a central organizing theme.
A related concept is the sociologist James Hughesâ treatment of millennialism. He has a great talk about that called âAvoiding Millennialist Cognitive Biasesâ. (If you prefer to read, he has a paper called âMillennial Tendencies in Response to Apocalyptic Threatsâ that was published in the essay anthology Global Catastrophic Risks.) Millennialist beliefs can be totalizing â they can make the world âaboutâ some coming utopia or apocalypse, or utopia that will follow an apocalypse. But millennialist beliefs donât encompass all totalizing worldviews. For example, someone could have a Christian worldview that is totalizing but not believe in the rapture or the end times or anything like that. Or someone could have a social justice worldview that is fairly totalizing but doesnât involve a utopia or an apocalypse.
The superintelligence worldview is definitely millennialist. The advent of superintelligence is presented as bringing either apocalypse or utopia.
Identifying a belief or a worldview as millennialist isnât a refutation of it. It is merely a classification. But that classification should draw concern because of the psychological biases associated with millennialism. It warrants caution and scrutiny. Itâs similar to any situation where you identify bias â detecting bias isnât a refutation, itâs just a reason for skepticism.