Paradigm shift

1. A comet has no place in the universe- it is cast away from solar systems, it is hunted down by advanced civilizations.

2. Like a comet, a rebel has no place in society- he stands against the common view, he is despised for his radical ideas.

3. But as the universe, so societies are searching for the escape goat, or the new Messiah- take for example Jesus Christ, Giordano Bruno, or Socrates, among many.

4. Is it because they were too stubborn defending their ideas? Or because most people are against new ideas? 

5. We all know the expression “He can’t see the forest for the trees.” This expression is used for someone who cannot make out from the details the whole picture.

6. Accordingly we might say “He can’t see the duck for the rabbit.” This expression has to do with what is called paradigm shift:

7. Formally a paradigm shift is defined as a fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions. [1]

8. Thomas Kuhn used the duck-rabbit optical illusion to demonstrate the way in which a paradigm shift could cause one to see the same information in an entirely different way. [2]

9. As he says, “A paradigm is what the members of a scientific community share, and, conversely, a scientific community consists of men who share a paradigm.” [3]

10. Even though Kuhn restricted the use of the term to the ‘normal sciences,’ the concept of a paradigm shift can also be seen as a general and profound change in the common view: For example nobody doubts anymore that the Earth is spherical.

11. However the true problem is what one can make out of an example as a whole picture- What makes us so sure that the Earth is round? Why people were so sure that the Earth was flat 500 years ago? Will another shape best describe the Earth after 500 years?

12. The current model of the Earth, as well as any contemporary model which best describes the universe right now, is a product of our abstract thought, in relation to common experience- satellites for example show the Earth to be spherical.

13. But as we now believe that the Earth is round, so did people believe that the Earth was flat 500 years ago. Should we therefore have students expelled from school, or people marginalized from society, if they propose a different model of the Earth, and if they generally have different ideas about the world, in the same way people were burned at the stake 500 years ago?

14. We cannot have a saint without an evil person, as we cannot have a wise person without someone ignorant. The problem however is that the definition of what is good and evil, or wise and stupid, is relative.

15. The point is that throughout the human history or the history of the universe there have always been comets and rebels- different views about a thing and its function. But how much aware are we of the fact that a paradigm shift is a regular and inescapable process, so that we respect all views and anticipate new ideas?

16. -Because if a paradigm can shift, the change stays the same-.

[1]: [https://www.google.com/search?q=paradigm+shift]

[2]: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradigm_shift]

[3]: [https://projektintegracija.pravo.hr/_download/repository/Kuhn_Structure_of_Scientific_Revolutions.pdf]

9/2/2018

Picture: Rabbit- duck optical illusion

[https://www.scribd.com/document/104573026]