Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Today's Worldview
Based on our exercise yesterday and your group's discussion, tell me what you think today's American worldview in comparison to the Abrahamic, Ancient Greek, and Ancient Roman worldviews. Think about the relationship between humankind and nature, humankind and "god", and the individual vs. society.
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Today, Americans view nature as something that can be controlled and easy to take advantage of for our own purposes. In the ancient Greek and the Abrahamic views, nature was something sacred and it shouldn't be bothered. From what i understand of the Roman worldview, nature might've been an obstacle in the way of gaining more power. The American view of God, would be that it's not generally talked about much in public, since there are many other people who believe in different gods and religions. The Greek view of the gods, is that people are all under the control of the gods, and that the gods should not be angered. The Abrahamic view God as the creator of all life, and they aren't willing to believe anything else. The Romans had gods, but they weren't their first priority. The American view of society, is that it should be diverse, but still "normal". It's a goal to fit in with everybody else, even when it's a known fact that nobody is completely the same. The Roman's see society as people are either with them or against them. You are either killing or being killed. The Greek and Abrahamic view of society is that everyone is equal under the power of their religions.
ReplyDeleteToday's American worldview is drastically different from Abrahamic, Ancient Greek, and Ancient Roman worldviews. Most americans are not as strict about their religions as Abrahamics or Ancient Greeks and Romans were. The Greeks had relations with their gods, and the gods controlled them. Like in the Odyssey, we are told that Poseidon makes storms to harm Odysseus, but now we do not hear that Poseidon was mad so he sank a ship. Our lives also did not revolve around sacrifices to gods. Stuff like this just doesn't happen anymore. Also, most Americans don't act like they did during the time of Adam and Eve. Things have just really changed. Americans now are more advanced and make their own beliefs and values. We are more knowledgable and have more technological advances that Romans and Greeks didn't have back in the days. Americans are extremely diverse, and over the years we have made our own beliefs. For example, people before Jesus were jewish, but then they believed something different from their knowledge and became Christians. Now there are many forms of Christianity such as Presbyterian, Catholic, and Episcopalian. People now do not follow one belief, they follow many beliefs. Americans are more in control of their surroundings, and they can do what they want. They don't have to follow a strict list of things to do and not do to. Not everyone believes in God, and they can make their own rules of what they think is correct and incorrect. We see very few strictly religious people, because the norm has changed. Not many people are nuns or monks, because American society has changed to where most people are not religious. People think it's "weird" if people live their lives like they did in Ancient times. This happened to me today. A friend of mine told me her cousin came in from California. She told me that last night he was in awe of how cool Google Documents was, because she and I were doing our science lab together on it. I was wondering to myself why he thought it was cool, because there really isn't much to it. Then she proceeded to tell me that he is a monk, and hasn't lived outside his monastery for five years. He even refused to sleep on a bed, and he slept on the floor without a blanket. I thought that it was extremely weird, because we never see people wearing brown robes sleeping on the floor. He said that a bed and technology are too luxurious, and that we should learn to live simple and happily praising God every minute of the day. We might think this is abnormal because it is not common in society, but this might have been normal for most people in Ancient times. It actually probably was. American society though is just not like that anymore. Things have definitely changed, and we see the world as though we rule it. In Ancient times, people new the gods were in control, and they lived their lives much differently then Americans do now.
ReplyDeleteThe American worldview is kind of a combination of the Abrahamic, Greek, and Roman worldviews. In some ways many people are effected by their religions which may be Abrahamic like Judaism or Christianity and so they have their different beliefs about god but mostly think we were created by god and that he watches over all. Culturally Americans are similar to the Greeks and Romans in the way we appreciate the arts and have a wide “empire” and fight many wars. But a new development is the Americans who are atheist, they have no beliefs in god whatsoever, which was not so common in ancient times where everyone seemed to believe in some greater force. Even the Romans and Greeks believed in the gods on Mount Olympus and that there were many gods who controlled each different thing. But now in America there are people who have a worldview excluding god. There are people who are very concerned with protecting the environment and then there are Americans who do not really care and think we are above the environment. Socially it is looked down upon to have too much vanity, hubris, or ambition, which is pretty much the same as it was in the Abrahamic, Roman, and Greek beliefs. The fact that there are so many branches of the Abrahamic religions is a sign too in how every Americans worldview differs and every persons worldview is effected by what religion they practice, their thoughts on the environment, and their morals.
ReplyDeleteThe Americans worldview has changed through the years. Yes, it is a combination of the Greeks, the Romans, and the Abrahamics . Specifically with their religion on Gods and how we should treat respect towards everyone. A difference in religion though between the Greeks, the Romans, Americans and Abrahamic are how some people in America decide not to have a religion. In modern day America, there is more room for opinion and freedom of speech, religion, and press. In the Greek and Roman world everyone believed in the Gods in Mount Olympus. There was not room for discussion in those times. Through the years the environment turn into something we could own and build on, not something beautiful. In the Greeks, Romans, and Abrahamic the environment was something beautiful and sacred. All things evolve over time, for the good and the bad.
ReplyDeleteThe worldview of Americans today cannot be summed up into one category. However, everyone believes in justice, freedom, and equality. Those three topics can be argued back and forth for what they encompass, but all Americans believe in them. Having commonalities that are non-religious is unique to Americans when comparing Abrahamic, Ancient Greek, and Ancient Roman, and American views. Abrahamic peoples revered their god, but they modeled themselves off of their little knowledge of God. In Roman and Greek views the gods were modeled after the people. They had gender, emotions, weaknesses, and could be tricked. Basing their gods' everyday lives after their own ideas of a perfect world. In Abrahamic views, trying to model your own life by the values given to you by holy texts was the ultimate goal. For Americans, we have a mix of religions and mix our religious beliefs with our constitutional beliefs. This seems to be the best system, because people have common values, but get to keep their own opinions on how those values affect themselves. For Americans we used to feel in control of nature, but with new knowledge people are trying to have a greater awareness of nature, and to preserve it. In fact, it is part of American culture to preserve beautiful sections of nature as national parks, and Native Americans always had a deep respect for nature.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to put out there that there really isn't an "American worldview." As America is made up of many different cultures and ethnic groups, our worldview is also unique in that aspect. It seems most of us Americans are Protestant Christians, therefore our leaning toward the Abrahamic worldview is pretty natural. Americans seem to revere god, and believe him as someone above the rest of the humans, but at the same time much of America also believes in evolution, and the creation-evolution controversy quite a touchy subject. Compared to the Greco-Roman worldviews, there is a visible difference in our thinking. The Greeks and Romans seem to have close gods, referring to them in second person, while we maintain a respectful, third person relationship with our deity. Americans like to control nature, and we are always finding new ways to triumph over our natural obstacles. We have only realized, that while letting nature to rule us is unreliable and will not make life easy, completely dominating nature will also lead to disaster. Americans and other countries are attempting to find the balance, but it is a difficult task in a world such as this one. As one human in a society, our role seems just to achieve our ambition, to generate success which we can pass down to our children.
ReplyDeleteThe worldview of Americans is not an ideal that is set in stone; America is still evolving to this day, and the view of Americans changes as time goes on. Other ideas have been integrated into the American view, and they have come to be seen as American, despite the fact that they were previously seen in other cultures. The worldview of Americans is a mixture of Abrahamic, Roman, and Greek views, along with many others. However, you can't say that the worldview is exactly the same. The American society is altogether less formal, less respectful, and less fearful than the previous societies. In comparison to the Abrahamic world view, the American view is less about obeying all of the lessons and rules, and more of finding your own path. This is exhibited in the belief that there is an "American Dream". In comparison to the Greeks and Romans, who were both highly respectful and fearful of their gods, the Americans have more knowledge. They know that they can control their own fate, and that it does not rest in the hands of the three old ladies who plan out your entire life with yarn, and end it with a pair of scissors. Overall, the American worldview revolves around the belief that man controls nature, god is an authority to some, but not all, and that anyone can do what they want to do despite what others tell them.
ReplyDeleteAmerican worldviews are similar to the Abrahamic, Ancient Greek, and Ancient Roman worldviews in many ways but different in others. All three worldviews involve gods but in the Abrahamic, they only have one God and he is more important them anything. In Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman times, they look at both human and gods, not equal, but there was not much of a difference in importance. Yes the gods were higher but they didn't treat them like the Abrahamics did. The Abrahamic views of God are ,although humans were built in his image, much higher then human. Humans who believe in him should praise him and pray to him. The Anciente Greek and Romans would sacrifice things to their many gods but they would not prasie or pray to them like the Abrahamic people did. In the mordern day society, many people how are Abrahamic are very religious but others aren't. Some go to religion-based schools, church each sunday, confession periodicly, and pray every night but other have moved on with society and are not commited to their religion. Unlike the Abrahamics, the Ancient Greeks and Ancient Romans were very aware of their gods and thought about them a lot. They would make sacrifices to them when they could and they would also have to be very hospitable to anyone because it could be a god in diguise. So depending what worldview you have, and what society you are in, people vary. Something that all three have are their views on humankind and nature. Now and day, people take advantage of what they have and they do not appreciate the nature around them like the Ancient Greeks and the Ancient Romans did. Some Abrahamic individuals might take advantage of what they have but many take things for granted.
ReplyDeleteToday, Americans are very independent and free. As for the Greeks, everyone used to be based on one religion. They believed in the gods of Olympia. Nowadays, Americans have freedom of religion. As for the Abrahamic, God was the most important to the people and he was clearly put above the individual man. This is not the case for the Romans and the Greeks. They all began their stories with "I" or "The man" implying the they weren't as focused on religion. Although this is true, the Romans, Greeks, and Abrahamics were all very serious about their religion. Today, not everybody has the same religion and some don't even have one. When it comes to society, the Romans were very straightforward. They were also fighting so they categorized people as their allies or their enemies. For them, there was no in between. For the Abrahamic, they associated yourself with people that practiced your same religion. This is mostly true for the Greeks also, except everyone believed in the gods and goddesses of Olympia so they based their enemies and allies off of what the gods told them. For Americans, our society is made up of a bunch of different people. Everybody is different and believes in different things. We tend to associate ourselves with the people that we are most similar to. Environment used to be really important for the Greeks, Romans, and even the Abrahamics, but now that has changed. We build houses and buildings over beautiful land without even thinking about it. This was a lot different for the Greek, Roman, and Abrahamic. They used to cherish the beautiful parts of the world and use them for what they were made for. Overall, Americans today are very different than the Greek, Roman, and Abrahamic people.
ReplyDeletePresent day America’s world view is that humans are the dominant race and we have can do anything given enough time. America’s world view is far different to that of the ancient Greeks who recognized that they had limits. America sees nature as a force to be manipulated for human benefits while the ancient Greeks thought of nature as their gods and respected it. America sees God as an all-knowing figure who can make no mistakes verses the Greeks who molded the gods off of themselves physically and gave their gods the same personality flaws, such as greed, that they carried. Present day America generally views themselves as based off of God verses having the God basses on them. America is selfish and impersonal society where each person generally looks to protect themselves over others. Ancient Greek society did have a similar outlook on life but they had more who would put themselves after their society. Abrahamic view of nature is more along the lines of that God created nature for their use, but at the same time, humans were privileged to be able to use it. Their view on God is far stronger and they see God as an all-knowing figure that cannot make mistake unlike the Greeks who recognized that their gods had flaws. They did put their society over themselves. Ancient Roman world views were along the line that as humans, it was their job to conquer others and that nature still had a divine aspect because many of their gods were based on nature. The Romans like the Greeks based their gods off themselves and gave them personality flaws. Their view on whether to put yourself or your society first was essentially the same as the Greeks’. The Greeks and Romans were polytheistic unlike present day America.
ReplyDeleteToday's American worldview is much more different from the world views of the people in the Abrahamic, Greek, and Roman myths. In terms of "humankind vs. nature", us humans tend to destroy human and we do not usually take in the beauty. We pave over nature with all of our new developments and buildings, and use natural resources, (i.e. trees and fossils, etc.), and killing many organisms in the process. As opposed to people in the myths: they would either take care of the land and treasure it, because they considered it a gift of God, or they might have destroyed some of the land during the wars, which are very popular in Greek and Roman literature. As for the relationship between God and humans, that has changed too. In the Abrahamic, Greek, and Roman myths, each type of Literature had a specific god/ gods that everybody would worship. Compared to the American worldview, where there are many different religions. People worship different gods, and some don't even worship a god/goddess at all. Keeping this in mind, there is not specially one worldview for Americans. There are many different people with different opinions and ideals.
ReplyDeleteI believe that today's American worldview is entirely different from Abrahamic, Ancient Roman, and Ancient Greek worldviews. It seems that modern Americans feel in control of their own lives, and like they do not have to obey anyone. In the Abrahamic, Ancient Roman, and Ancient Greek times, the gods or God were always more important then mankind, and were mentioned first in many of their stories told. Humankind versus nature has changed over time as well. Nowadays, humans feel superior to nature either because of intelligence or power; however, specifically in the Abrahamic text's humans were viewed the same as the rest of nature. In ancient times, humans were less powerful compared to the rest of the creatures on earth. I think that this viewpoint has evolved over time because of the growth in both size and intelligence within our race. I also think that over time the relationship between humans and the gods/God has changed. In ancient times, people's lives basically revolved around the gods. Everywhere they went and every new person they met brought the gods into their lives, and the gods were constantly interfering with the lives of humankind. In modern days, God is less of an important figure;although for many people, God is still present in their everyday lives. Lastly, I think that the relationship between the individual and society has also changed throughout the years. In ancient Greece, it seemed that each individual played a very important role in society, even if they were a slave or beggar. Nowadays, people, while their lives are still important, just seem to not put enough initiative into their everyday lives, leaving them "unimportant" to society. These are just some examples of how modern America's worldview has changed from the Abrahamic, Ancient Greek, and Ancient Roman views and morals.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the main differences between the American world view today, and the Abrahamic worldview when the Bible was written, as well as the ancient Greek/Roman world views, is that God is not considered as relevant or important to our daily lives. We don’t normally write or talk about gods coming down to earth to offer assistance, or maintain such a constant, personal relationship to them, as it appeared the people in the Bible did. However, the American worldview is similar to the Abrahamic worldview in the fact that our relationship with nature is much the same. In Genesis it says that God told men to “fill the earth and subdue it” (The Bible as/in Literature, pg. 5). Today we continue to attempt to control, regulate, and exploit nature. Another major aspect of the American worldview is the belief that, as Americans, we should be given the same basic freedoms and rights in society. In the ancient Greek worldview, however, much emphasis was placed on a person’s status, whether they were a king, noblemen, or servant. Like the Romans, Americans often take pride in their soldiers, and if they consider them just, the wars they fight in.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the "American worldview" is thought of in many ways all around the world. Many people stereotype Americans into many things that are not true such as illiterate people. America is a very diverse country and I think that the worldview of America cannot be put into one definition like the Abrahamic, Greek, and Roman world views can be. America is not all one religion or mostly one religion like the Romans and Greeks were. The Romans and Greeks all had one religion or belief that they all followed. The Abrahamic world view is a mixture of mostly two religions, Jewish and Christian. The beliefs are fused into one definition. Many people have their different views in America today. Most everyone in this country think America is the most fair and free country to live in and gives back the most to what you have given it. In the Abrahamic world views, the world was created by the Judeo-Christian God, only one god. God created men in his image and he created nature and life and all things good. All men are equal according to their beliefs. In Greek and Roman beliefs, there are many gods to worship for many things. The gods were created in the image of men and the gods envied men at many times. There wasn't equality between men, they would compete to see who was better and favored among each other and the gods. This is not the case today in America. Our constitution states all men have equal unalienable rights, but people are not treated as so in our society today. Classes have formed among our society and some men are considered above others and nature is not as greatly appreciated as much as it is in other cultures.
ReplyDeleteThe majority of Americans follow a modernized Abrahamic worldview. The modern version of Abrahamic religions, like Christianity and Judaism, are more reformed and give people more freedom to believe what they want. In past years, people viewed the world in a more traditional point of view. It is traditional to take the stories in the Bible or Torah literally; to think that Moses actually split the Red Sea. But today, more and more people are beginning to interpret it figuratively instead. As new discoveries in science are being made every day, some people are actually starting to take an atheistic view and deviate from the norm. Thousands of years ago, they didn't have the technology to figure out why phenomenons in nature happen. So they needed some sort of explanation as to why and how we are here. The default view was that there was a creator or creators, and they controlled all that happened in the world. There might have been some atheistic views in the Greek and Roman empires, but it is hard to know unless you study documents from that time period. There are many differences between the Abrahamic and Greek/Roman views. In the Abrahamic religions, there is only one God and we were made in his image. He is powerful and we pray to him to thank him for his great deeds. But in the Greek/Roman views, the gods were "made in the image of" (or based on) the people. They were personified by being jealous or sadistic or pleased, among other things. The Greeks/Romans didn't really like the gods. It was as if the people had to tolerate them. And they would mostly only pray to the gods for something in return, like favorable winds for sailing or winning a war.
ReplyDeleteThe American worldview has changed durastlcly from the people in the Greek, Roman, and Abrahamic people. For nature, the we take down and destroy the nature and do not understand the importance of nature in our lives. Nature provides plants which supply oxygen which basically keeps us alive. We do not see this because America is too busy enterprising over it and only worried about the big buildings and things that will hurt us in the long run. The Greeks, Romans, and Abrahamic people would treasure nature saying that it has a symbolic meaning. For example, in the Abrahamic religion, god created nature and basically it is like the Americans are disrespecting the Abrahamic people by doing all of this deforestation. Also, the Americans have not had as much devotion to the gods like the Greeks, Romans, and the Abrahamic people.
ReplyDeleteI think it is hard to generalize about the American “worldview”. Americans are very varied from one part of our country to the other. For example, the worldview of someone who lives in Texas would probably be different from someone who lives in New York. However, current American worldview is still different from that of ancient Rome and Greece as well as Abrahamic because it is not based as much on religion. Science has progressed since the time of these ancient cultures and Americans use science in their interpretation of nature and other things. For example, modern Americans can understand weather using science. Greeks and Romans used mythology to explain events like thunderstorms. In Greece, Zeus controlled lightning. The natural events in the sea were related to the Greek and Roman gods of the sea. One common idea in ancient Abrahamic, Greek and Roman cultures was that if natural disasters happened, like droughts, floods, or earthquakes, it was because gods were angry or displeased. Most modern Americans would believe the science behind these events now although there are still concepts that are not fully understood. Americans have many religions due our freedom of religions. A majority of the people in the USA believe in monotheism, while some believe in more than one god. Some people don’t believe in any god or just don’t practice their religion. I believe that religions were less of a choice in the ancient Greek, Roman, and Abrahamic cultures. In ancient Roman and Greek religions the gods were shaped out of people’s characteristics. Ancient Abrahamic religion is like most American religions in that the people are created to be like the god. I do think some Americans still put God into their daily decisions. Finally, Americans think more about the individual than the group. We value individual achievement more than group achievement. Freedom of speech lets Americans have more individual opinions and they are allowed to express them. This is a really important part of our culture. I don’t think being an individual was as important in these ancient cultures. People then looked at events and tried to connect them to their religions. Now Americans look at events and try to connect them to themselves and their personal lives.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it has been said before, America really is a “melting pot” of cultures because it offers many freedoms. One of which is, of course, freedom of religion. This makes for a variety of different beliefs about humankind and god. However, I believe that the Abrahamic belief of one almighty God is the more popular in our country compared to the Greek and Roman beliefs in many gods. For our worldview of humankind and nature, I think that we take what we have and use it. I don’t really think our culture is one that makes a big deal out of nature, unlike the Japanese who pride themselves on beautiful gardens. The American worldview is thus more like the Abrahamic relationship between humankind and nature. Where humans have been made to simply rule over nature and take care of it. When you compare the American individual to American society, the general consensus is that you are free to do what you want, even if that means going against society. With the Abrahamic, Greek, and Roman worldviews I feel that life was stricter and there were certain things that were expected of everyone from the society.
ReplyDeleteThe American worldview has changed overtime. Back in the 1800's the view was basically to get what you could. This refers to the time period of the gold rush. During this time, people traveled west to get the most gold they could find. They were trying to keep their eyebrow above the sea of opportunity that was growing steadily. However, in the 2000's, I would say the perspective would be to have success and to make the most money possible. We seem to care less about raising other people up because we as Americans are so focused on getting ourselves to the top. We see that in the greek, romanic, and abrahamic cultures/texts. They don't focus so much that it was themselves that got to success without any help. However, they acknowledge where their help comes from rather it be the gods or God. This is where we see how the majority of Americans are selfish. Most people probably don't recognize a "higher power" that helped them to get to where they are today.
ReplyDeleteAmerican worldview today is centered around money and success, while back in biblical times their worldview was centered around God and Jesus and his teachings. Ancient Greek and Roman views were centered around gods and war. Everything was about what the gods wanted and warriors and fighting. In modern day the relationship between humankind and nature is dominance. Humans have almost complete control of their surroundings. Back in Abrahamic times, nature had much more significance. For example, in The Bible as in Literature when Adam talks to his family about the garden he says, "you would have had everything provided for you".They show much respect and value their nature. In Greek and Roman cultures they had gods of nature that they worshipped, so they respected nature. In modern day, people's relationship with God depends on their religion. I guess that applies to earlier cultures in Abrahamic and Greek and Roman times. Except that in Greek and Roman cultures they generally worshipped many gods. In modern day, individuals really have to make a living and strike out on their own in society. In Abrahamic times you would usually go into whatever profession your father was in. In greek and Roman times, your society ranking depended on your family name, Kleos. THere are many similarities and difference between modern day, Abrahamic times, Greek culture, and Roman culture.
ReplyDeleteI think that humankind is much more detached from nature now. We do not use it as much and do not use signs of nature to interpret thing in our lives.People are not as connected to nature because we are more advanced than the greeks or early Aberhamic people. We do not think of nature being controlled by a God as much. The relationship between God and man is also very different. In modern times people are connected to God but not as intensely. God does or gods do not come down from heaven and speak to humans. We believe in God and still pray to him but we respect him more in some ways and some people do not respect God or believe in him. Many people have different views of God now that we can explain most of nature people do not need a God to "blame " for nature or natural disasters. Lastly people vs society is mostly the same. Most people believe in God so they are usually the same as the society and in ancient Greece and Aberhamic culture all humans believed in gods or God.
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