Do Your Interests Inform Your Worldview?

[Eldritch]

For a long time I've had a sneaking suspicion that the subjects a person studies can affect their view of the world, political or philosophical. I've found that I tend to use this model a lot to explain political differences. I catch myself thinking that people would easily change their mind if they only understood history or science (my specific areas of autistic interest) better.

I've seen firsthand that when taking an interest in history, people tend to use history to contextualize modern events. They see war, unrest, and societal collapses as inevitable because they know that all societies before them engaged in war, unrest, and eventually collapsed. On the other hand, those who are interested in the sciences tend to envision sustained technological advancement as humanity comes together for the greater good of reason. Then you have me, having been informed of the flaws of human nature through history, but viewing technological advancement as important if only in the short term.

This effect is, of course, more obvious in social sciences, cultural studies, and the like. These courses essentially hand the students a worldview and model of human behavior to be accepted at face value.

Do you think this assessment is correct? Could it be the other way around, and the predisposition of a person dictates their interests? Could it be that my worldview is the poorly informed one and Economics majors have all the answers?

 

[Niggernerd]

My interests want space nazi's with humanoid weapons that have a mono eye camera and drop a space colony on Australia.

 

[nagant 1895]

Inform? Certainly, there can be no doubt. I get to watch the difference play out daily between people who are otherwise very similar but studied and practice different schools of psychology. Just the difference in the way they imagine children is stunning. And that leads me to the real factor that determines your world view: your parents, between the genetics they pass on to you and the way they raise you I'd say that's 75% of it.

 

[saisegeha]

Your world view becomes what you're exposed to.

 

[CivilianOfTheFandomWars]

I’d say so.
I pick locks for a hobby, so I don’t put blind faith in security, for example.

 

[Lemmingwise]

Do you think this assessment is correct?

No, you just think that because of the things you've studied.

 

[Sprig of Parsley]

My interests want space nazi's with humanoid weapons that have a mono eye camera and drop a space colony on Australia.

SIEG ZEON.

 

[Niggernerd]

SIEG ZEON.

SIEG ZEON! To hell with the Je-earth federation!

 

[Horus]

Absolutely they do. I have a strong interest in libertarian topics, as a result of that, I am always paying attention to Null's advice on digital privacy, and decentralized electronic communication.

 

[I should be working]

yes

 

[Queen Elizabeth II]

Yes and no.

I can see very easily that a scientist or an IT student might be inclined to see a linear progression in advancement with technology, but I know here at least the vast majority of IT students where I last attended higher ed were very conservative fundamentalist religious people who were in the field for the larger salaries to support "taking a woman and a large family" as their deity intended. These folks included flat earthers, 9/11 conspiracy theorists, Quiverful Christians and Salafi Muslims who thought the world was going to hell in a handbasket and expected to be sent back to the stone age at some indeterminate time in the near future.

The only reason I disagreed with @saisegeha is because I don't think what you're exposed to becomes your world view always (in most cases it probably does), but I think what your exposed to can also turn your world view violently against it. The most powerful critics of a thing tend to be those who worked for or were raised around the thing in question.