We have never observed or experienced anything objectively. We have always had some sort of outside influence or preconception. If nothing else, we had the impulses of our emotions that drove us and kept us from seeing reality as it really is. And we have always added unreality to our worldviews. That unreality came from our imaginations and became the fake inner reality each of us calls “our worldview.” As insane as it may be, some even call it their “own reality.

When one person’s worldview differs from the worldview of another person, everything is fine until the two people realize that they aren’t seeing eye to eye. Each thinker will regard anything that clashes with his or her worldview to be insane and in conflict with reality.

We filter what we observe and tend to explain away or ignore anything that doesn’t conform with what’s already in our worldviews. We interpret what we observe based on the assumptions and presuppositions that come out of our worldviews. If an observation or experience conflicts with our worldviews, we think it’s insane, unreal, or evil.

Certain emotional influences such as peer pressure or extreme fear can cause us to alter our worldviews and change what we accept as normal. That’s what the political technique of the Overton window is all about. Create a crisis and move the window of how much freedom people are willing to do without. That’s how governments, schools, and personal relationships become oppressive.