The Postmodern milieu is one in which we can and must hold multiple mental models of reality at one time. A biologist walks around with two world views: One steeped in the world of evolutionary biology where evolution is a fact and a second world view of theistic creationism in which God is behind everything but not part of the natural world. And, in the shadows of the same biologist’s mind, a third not so well defined meta-worldview holds these other two together in tension.
That’s right. Three is the new two.
We’re not the first generation to do this. Here’s a quote from the 18th century:
We have a Calvinist creed, a Popish liturgy, and an Arminian Clergy.
–William Platt, earl of Chatham (c. 1760)
Here’s an exercise for you. What conflicting maps are you holding in tension?
The more things change, the more they remain the same. But things do change.
See you in the Mystic…
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Ugh. I think that the meta-worldview that you mentioned is merely nominalism. It reeks of duplicity. I think that when we figure out that we can move beyond postmodernism as a cultural ethos, we’ll realize that the answer is to see systems: acknowledge wholeness in context of limited human intellect. I believe the answer is to seek the big picture and stop stressing over detail.
On reading the post a second time, the meta-worldview could be the big picture …just not as a means to hold two parts of an incoherent worldview together.
thanks for your input, Jesse.
see the big picture from which vantage point?