How I Think About What I Think

{"ops":[{"insert":"As an introduction of myself, I offer this. If it doesn't belong here, please let me know.\n\nI have thought long and hard about how I think about what I think. In doing so, I have been able to distinguish what I think are the paradigms within my worldview; as briefly defined and then enumerated here.\n\n\"The difference between a worldview and a paradigm is essentially that a paradigm is a smaller version of a worldview. The assumptions that guide the way we make decisions about knowledge within our paradigms are derived from our worldview. A worldview is more comprehensive; everything can be analyzed via a worldview.\" Azusa Pacific University \n\nMy further definition is that my paradigms are the filters through which I consciously (and mostly unconsciously?) analyze new information before I consciously (and mostly unconsciously?) compartmentalize and save it for my immediate and future use.\n\nI have not only identified some of mine, I have prioritized them as well. They are:\n1. Cultural Relativism - the chosen belief that all values are cultural in origin.\n2. Secular Humanism - the adjunct belief that humans, not gods, are in charge.\n3. Critical Thinking - the belief that information is only as good as its sources.\n4. Freethinking - the ability to think outside of one's cultural norms about things.\n5. Jungian Psychology - the belief that unconscious thoughts affect one's life.\n6. Deism - a chosen belief that a transcendent uncaused first cause (god) exists.\n\nI am now in the process of identifying and sorting out the paradigms that I held earlier in my life, some of which may or may not be the same. After that, I hope to think about and discern what may have caused each 'paradigm shift' to be made.\n"}]}