Can a Leopard Change Its Spots? Worldview Conservatism and Conversion
In my past few blog posts, I have noted the influence
that worldview exerts on us through confirmation bias, experiential
accommodation, the pool of live options, and life motivation. A logical
conclusion from the noted influences of worldview is simple and
straightforward: once a worldview is in place within the individual’s heart,
the individual tends (all other things being equal) to preserve that worldview.
That is, worldviews are inherently conservative. Individuals spend their
formative years developing their worldviews through a complex interaction of
sociocultural influences—for example, family, education, religion, and economic
situation. A worldview may develop with some intentionality and choice, or it
might arise and grow entirely unconsciously and unintentionally. Either way,
once worldview is established, it is firmly entrenched and exerts tremendous influence
on how a person thinks, wills, and acts.
Core worldview presuppositions tend to be stubbornly
held. A small amount of contrary evidence does not convince someone to abandon one
worldview and adopt a different one. In other words, worldviews are not changed
unless they have to be. In the 2009 movie Race to Witch Mountain, Dwayne
“The Rock” Johnson stars as Jack Bruno, a taxi driver who unwittingly drives
two alien “teenagers” around Las Vegas. Weird things start happening right
after Bruno picks them up—the teenage boy stops a pursuing car by letting it
smash itself on his body—but Bruno does not immediately conclude that the teens
are alien beings. After all, Bruno is convinced that aliens do not exist. Such
beliefs do not change easily.
Nonetheless, worldviews (and components of worldviews)
are not unalterable. If they were, then without exception individuals would adhere
to their parents’ religious worldviews. There are simply too many counterexamples
of individuals who have moved from one worldview to another to believe that
worldviews are cemented in place. [E.g., C. S. Lewis (from atheism to Christian
theism), Antony Flew (from atheism to deism), Bart Ehrman (from Christian
theism to agnosticism), and Michael Shermer (from Christian theism to robust
atheism).] Worldviews change in two ways: adjustment and conversion. Today, I want to look at worldview adjustment.
