Worldview

Question 1

Worldview definition

Answer 1

An encompassing picture of reality created by members of a society (creation stories, myths)

• Learned, shared, patterned, adaptive (can be modified/reconstructed as humans adapt), symbolic
• Creation stories are different in cultures but they all contain similar elements (ex: the sun)

Question 2

Metaphor def.

Answer 2

A form of thought and language that asserts a meaningful link between two expressions from different semantic domains.

Question 3

Metonymy def.

Answer 3

The culturally defined relationship of the parts a semantic domain to the domain as a whole and of the whole to its parts (if someone tells you a joke that is beyond your cultural context, you won’t understand it)

Question 4

Symbol def.

Answer 4

Something that stands for something else, (Health wheel for the indigenous and lab coat/stethoscope for modern doctors)
- People devise symbols to remind themselves of their significant insights and the connections between those insights

Question 5

Summarizing Symbols

Answer 5

Represent a whole semantic domain and invite us to consider the various elements within it

Question 6

Elaborating Symbols

Answer 6

Represent only one element of a domain and invite us to place that element in its wider semantic context.

Question 7

5 Element Theory

Answer 7

Everything could be classified into groups of 5 based off 5 elements: Wood, Metal, Earth, Fire and Water.

• 3rd Century Chinese Scientific Thought
• Logical, could be used to explain the past and think about the future

Question 8

5 Metaphors

Answer 8

Technological, Organic, Computer, Key, Societal. (TOCKS)

Question 9

Key Metaphors

Answer 9

Metaphors that serve as the foundation of a worldview

Question 10

Societal Metaphor

Answer 10

A world-view metaphor whose model for the world is the social order (changeable)

Question 11

Organic Metaphor

Answer 11

A worldview metaphor that applies the image of the body to social structures and institutions

Question 12

Technological Metaphor

Answer 12

A world-view metaphor that employs objects made by human beings as metaphorical predicates (gears, pulleys, human bodies as technology)

Question 13

Computer Metaphor

Answer 13

A technological metaphor that employs computers as metaphorical predicates (processing units, hardware design - brain).

Question 14

Worldviews as instruments of power

Answer 14

• Imposition of metaphors
• Control of knowledge resources (& the distribution of it)
• Religion as a tool for social control (in the court of law, swearing on the bible when taking an oath)
• Link between knowledge and power

Question 15

Secularism

Answer 15

Church does not = State. Religion is separate from politics