<quote from Real Faith & Reason>
The Interpretation Process
We each have a way that we interpret our experiences and observations. Our interpretations are our representations of reality, but they aren’t reality itself. Our interpretations aren’t even the small part of reality that we have observed or experienced. Instead, our interpretations are the thoughts we have about the small part of reality that we’ve observed or experienced. In other words, interpretation is what we have left after we use our minds to think about our observations and experiences. However, it’s not just interpretation of direct observation and experience. Consider how often we infer based on things we heard from some “trusted source” but never saw or experienced for ourselves. So we have these interpretations, and we feed them back into our worldviews as confirmation bias. We reason in a circle. In short, the worldview filters experience and observation, and then the worldview confirms itself with the filtered results, which strengthens the amazing filter that keeps you and me from seeing reality as it is.
This process is a lot to take in and understand, so we’ll try to paint a picture of how it works:
At the top, we see a symbol labeled “Reality,” which represents what exists. Of course, reality includes microscopic organisms, animals, people, stars, planets, and fossils. And it includes heaven, hell, angels, and demons. It also includes God.
To the left of reality, we see a circular reasoning process where the worldview generates assumptions and presuppositions, and those assumptions and presuppositions create a filter that filters reality. Then, the filtered impressions of reality return as confirmation bias into the worldview. It’s circular. We see assumptions and presuppositions coming out of the worldview, and as we live our lives, these assumptions and presuppositions don’t seem like made-up stuff. Instead, they seem like part of reality, and they strengthen the filter of the worldview.
The influencers are there, the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh. The world, of course, is the total of all the ungodly thinkers. To make matters worse, we usually block out people who clash with our worldviews. The fleshly nature uses desires, emotions, and impulses to get its way. The fleshly nature influences us, often to our hurt and regardless of how we try to control these passions. Then we have ungodly influences from the outside, the culture, and life in general. These external influences include ungodly friends, books, publications, videos, shows, social contacts, teachers, news services, and experts. That’s where peer pressure tries to squeeze and coerce us into the world’s mold. And that’s where cleverly designed fables and stories in videos, movies, TV shows, textbooks, and novels seek to mold our minds without our awareness. Not only that, but we don’t fight against flesh and blood; we fight against principalities and powers, the wicked spiritual forces in the heavens influencing our filters.
We react to reality and filter it. Whatever conflicts with our worldviews, we dismiss and ignore. That’s denial. Whatever matches our worldviews, we use as confirmation bias to make our worldviews seem more real. Then, we bring assumptions out of our worldviews. We’re usually aware of our assumptions. We also bring presuppositions out of our worldviews, but we think that our presuppositions are part of reality. We feed these assumptions and presuppositions into our filters along with the influences that come from the culture, our fleshly desires, and demonic forces. That reinforces our filters, so they become strongholds against truth. We’re less able to see reality as it is. As we filter reality, this circular process keeps leading us from one level of darkness to a deeper level of darkness.
It continues. We filter reality and bolster our worldviews. Then presuppositions and assumptions come out of our worldviews to bolster our filters, which filter reality so they can bolster our worldviews. And on it goes moment by moment every day of our lives unless God intervenes.
It’s not easy to see this problem in ourselves, but it sure is obvious in others. The trouble is that it does little good to see the problem in others, and yet we can benefit by seeing it in ourselves. We don’t observe reality directly. Instead, we observe reality through human limits of observation. As the mind’s filter obscures and distorts the limited observation, we can’t understand or accept some of what we observe since our filters deflect our observations, distorting our perceptions. Then we add distorted, filtered perceptions to our worldviews.
Of course, we must keep in mind that every person’s filter is unique since we each filter our perceptions through our respective worldviews. This way, our filtered perceptions match our worldviews. In the resulting blindness, we have trouble perceiving anything not already in our unique worldviews. And even if we do perceive something that isn’t already in our worldviews, we reject it as crazy. We often aren’t even able to see it. The filter also can add whatever the worldview expects to find. It even adds observations and experiences that aren’t there. As a result, we confirm our biases. The relationship between the filter and the worldview is confirmation bias.
We’re looking into the shared insanity of humanity. Of course, people who go too far in insanity can’t take care of themselves. Those of us who have the same problem but less severe can still add value to those around us. When we run into people whose worldviews are radically different from our own, we think they’re insane, and they think we’re insane. Arguments and disunity result.
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http://RealReality.org/Real_Faith_and_Reason_Vol_1_-_Scientia.pdf
