Because the majority of authors and speakers discussing the worldview concept have focused primarily on its effects and not its causes, they have been largely unsuccessful at clearly defining the initial origin and functional operation of the human worldview in certain key ways. Lacking this clarity, the term "worldview" is often used intuitively and even inaccurately. Moreover, different senses of the term are used as if all meanings were equivalent. The result, unfortunately, is that an individual may simultaneously reference distinctly different aspects of the worldview paradigm, thus either causing confusion by his or her statements or perhaps even becoming confused as to what he or she is actually discussing. Hence, four distinct potential meanings for "worldview" are identified and clarified: the worldview mechanism, worldview structure, worldview perspective(s), and the social worldview. It is this last sense, which is a second-order construct of the individual’s worldview perspective, where one will find collective views such as the creationist worldview and atheistic worldview.