Paradigm shift is the term first used by Thomas Kuhn in his 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions to describe a change in basic assumptions within the ruling theory of science. It is in contrast to his idea of normal science. Cover of a biography of Thomas Kuhn. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The word theory has a number of distinct meanings in different fields of knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion. ... Part of a scientific laboratory at the University of Cologne. ... Normal science is a concept originated by Thomas Samuel Kuhn and elaborated in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. ...

It has since become widely applied to many other realms of human experience as well even though Kuhn himself restricted the use of the term to the hard sciences. According to Kuhn, "A paradigm is what members of a scientific community, and they alone, share.” (The Essential Tension, 1997). Unlike a normal scientist, Kuhn held, “a student in the humanities has constantly before him a number of competing and incommensurable solutions to these problems, solutions that he must ultimately examine for himself.” (The Structure of Scientific Revolutions). A scientist, however, once a paradigm shift is complete, is not allowed the luxury, for example, of positing the possibility that miasma causes the flu or that ether carries light in the same way that a critic in the Humanities can choose to adopt a 19th century theory of poetics, for instance, or select Marxism as an explanation of economic behaviour. Thus, paradigms, in the sense that Kuhn used them, do not exist in Humanities or social sciences. Nonetheless, the term has been adopted since the 1960s and applied in non-scientific contexts. The miasma theory of disease held that diseases like cholera were caused by a miasma (Greek language: pollution), a noxious form of bad air. The miasma theory was consistent with the observations that: disease was associated with poor sanitation (and hence foul odors) and that sanitary improvements reduced disease, but... Chinese Wood (木) | Fire (火) | Earth (土) | Metal (金) | Water (æ°´) Hinduism and Buddhism The Pancha Mahabhuta (The Five Great Elements) Vayu/Pavan (Air/Wind) Agni/Tejas (Fire) Akasha (Aether) Prithvi/Bhumi (Earth) Ap/Jala (Water) Aether (also spelled ether) is a concept used in ancient and medieval science as a substance. ...

Alternative names

The concept is also known as extraordinary science and revolutionary science.

Kuhnian paradigm shifts

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.

An epistemological paradigm shift was called a scientific revolution by epistemologist and historian of science Thomas Kuhn in his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Image File history File links The famous duck-rabbit optical illusion. ... Image File history File links The famous duck-rabbit optical illusion. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with illusion. ... It has been suggested that Meta-epistemology be merged into this article or section. ... The event which most historians of science call the scientific revolution can be dated roughly as having begun in 1543, the year in which Nicolaus Copernicus published his De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) and Andreas Vesalius published his De humani corporis fabrica (On the... Science is a body of empirical and theoretical knowledge, produced by a global community of researchers, making use of specific techniques for the observation and explanation of real phenomena, this techne summed up under the banner of scientific method. ... Thomas Samuel Kuhn (July 18, 1922 – June 17, 1996) was an American intellectual who wrote extensively on the history of science and developed several important notions in the philosophy of science. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

A scientific revolution occurs, according to Kuhn, when scientists encounter anomalies which cannot be explained by the universally accepted paradigm within which scientific progress has thereto been made. The paradigm, in Kuhn's view, is not simply the current theory, but the entire worldview in which it exists, and all of the implications which come with it. There are anomalies for all paradigms, Kuhn maintained, that are brushed away as acceptable levels of error, or simply ignored and not dealt with (a principal argument Kuhn uses to reject Karl Popper's model of falsifiability as the key force involved in scientific change). Rather, according to Kuhn, anomalies have various levels of significance to the practitioners of science at the time. To put it in the context of early 20th century physics, some scientists found the problems with calculating Mercury's perihelion more troubling than the Michelson-Morley experiment results, and some the other way around. Kuhn's model of scientific change differs here, and in many places, from that of the logical positivists in that it puts an enhanced emphasis on the individual humans involved as scientists, rather than abstracting science into a purely logical or philosophical venture. Since the late 1960s, the word paradigm (IPA: ) has referred to a thought pattern in any scientific discipline or other epistemological context. ... Worldview is Chicago Public Radios daily international-affairs radio show, hosted by Jerome McDonnell. ... Sir Karl Raimund Popper, CH, FRS, FBA, (July 28, 1902 – September 17, 1994), was an Austrian born naturalized British[1] philosopher and a professor at the London School of Economics. ... In science and the philosophy of science, falsifiability is the logical property of empirical statements, related to contingency and defeasibility, that they must admit of logical counterexamples. ... This article is about several astronomical terms (apogee & perigee, aphelion & perihelion, generic equivalents based on apsis, and related but rarer terms. ... The Michelson-Morley experiment, one of the most important and famous experiments in the history of physics, was performed in 1887 by Albert Michelson and Edward Morley at what is now Case Western Reserve University, and is considered by some to be the first strong evidence against the theory of... Logical positivism (later referred to as logical empiricism) holds that philosophy should aspire to the same sort of rigor as science. ...

When enough significant anomalies have accrued against a current paradigm, the scientific discipline is thrown into a state of crisis, according to Kuhn. During this crisis, new ideas, perhaps ones previously discarded, are tried. Eventually a new paradigm is formed, which gains its own new followers, and an intellectual "battle" takes place between the followers of the new paradigm and the hold-outs of the old paradigm. Again, for early 20th century physics, the transition between the Maxwellian electromagnetic worldview and the Einsteinian Relativistic worldview was not instantaneous nor calm, and instead involved a protracted set of "attacks," both with empirical data as well as rhetorical or philosophical arguments, by both sides, with the Einsteinian theory winning out in the long-run. Again, the weighing of evidence and importance of new data was fit through the human sieve: some scientists found the simplicity of Einstein's equations to be most compelling, while some found them more complicated than the notion of Maxwell's aether which they banished. Some found Eddington's photographs of light bending around the sun to be compelling, some questioned their accuracy and meaning. Sometimes the convincing force is just time itself and the human toll it takes, Kuhn said, using a quote from Max Planck: "a new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it." James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and theoretical physicist. ... “Einstein” redirects here. ... Two-dimensional analogy of space-time curvature described in General Relativity. ... One of Sir Arthur Stanley Eddingtons papers announced Einsteins theory of general relativity to the English-speaking world. ... Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck (April 23, 1858 – October 4, 1947 in Göttingen, Germany) was a German physicist. ...

After a given discipline has changed from one paradigm to another, this is called, in Kuhn's terminology, a scientific revolution or a paradigm shift. It is often this final conclusion, the result of the long process, that is meant when the term paradigm shift is used colloquially: simply the (often radical) change of worldview, without reference to the specificities of Kuhn's historical argument.

Science and paradigm shift

A common misinterpretation of paradigms is the belief that the discovery of paradigm shifts and the dynamic nature of science (with its many opportunities for subjective judgments by scientists) is a case for relativism: the view that all kinds of belief systems are equal, such that magic, religious concepts or pseudoscience would be of equal working value to true science. Kuhn vehemently denies this interpretation and states that when a scientific paradigm is replaced by a new one, albeit through a complex social process, the new one is always better, not just different. Compare Moral relativism, Aesthetic relativism, Social constructionism and Cultural relativism. ... The Sorceress by John William Waterhouse Magic and sorcery are the influencing of events, objects, people and physical phenomena by mystical, paranormal or supernatural means. ... Various Religious symbols, including (first row) Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Bahai, (second row) Islamic, tribal, Taoist, Shinto (third row) Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu, Jain, (fourth row) Ayyavazhi, Triple Goddess, Maltese cross, pre-Christian Slavonic Religion is the adherence to codified beliefs and rituals that generally involve a faith in a spiritual... Phrenology is regarded today as a classic example of pseudoscience. ... Part of a scientific laboratory at the University of Cologne. ...

These claims of relativism are, however, tied to another claim that Kuhn does at least somewhat endorse: that the language and theories of different paradigms cannot be translated into one another or rationally evaluated against one another — that they are incommensurable. This gave rise to much talk of different peoples and cultures having radically different worldviews or conceptual schemes — so different that whether or not one was better, they could not be understood by one another. However, the philosopher Donald Davidson published a highly-regarded essay in 1974, "On the Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme," arguing that the notion that any languages or theories could be incommensurable with one another was itself incoherent. If this is correct, Kuhn's claims must be taken in a weaker sense than they often are. Furthermore, the hold of the Kuhnian analysis on social science has long been tenuous with the wide application of multi-paradigmatic approaches in order to understand complex human behaviour (see for example John Hassard, Sociology and Organisation Theory. Positivism, Paradigm and Postmodernity. Cambridge University Press. 1993.) A philosopher is a person who thinks deeply regarding people, society, the world, and/or the universe. ... Donald Davidson (March 6, 1917 – August 30, 2003) was an American philosopher and the Willis S. and Marion Slusser Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley. ... The social sciences are groups of academic disciplines that study the human aspects of the world. ...

Paradigm shifts tend to be most dramatic in sciences that appear to be stable and mature, as in physics at the end of the 19th century. At that time, physics seemed to be a discipline filling in the last few details of a largely worked-out system. In 1900, Lord Kelvin famously stated, "There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement." Five years later, Albert Einstein published his paper on special relativity, which challenged the very simple set of rules laid down by Newtonian mechanics, which had been used to describe force and motion for over three hundred years. In this case, the new paradigm reduces the old to a special case (Newtonian mechanics is an excellent approximation for speeds that are slow compared to the speed of light).

In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Kuhn wrote that "Successive transition from one paradigm to another via revolution is the usual developmental pattern of mature science." (p.12) Kuhn's idea was itself revolutionary in its time, as it caused a major change in the way that academics talk about science. Thus, it caused or was itself part of a "paradigm shift" in the history and sociology of science.

Philosophers and historians of science, including Kuhn himself, ultimately accepted a modified version of Kuhn's model, which synthesizes his original view with the gradualist model that preceded it. Kuhn's original model is now generally seen as too limited.

Examples of paradigm shifts in science

Main article: List of paradigm shifts in science

There are a number of "classical cases" given for examples of Kuhnian paradigm shifts in science a few of them including: Paradigm shift is the term first used by Thomas Kuhn in his 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions to describe a change in basic assumptions within the ruling theory of science 17th Century: The transition from a Ptolemaic cosmology to a Copernican one. ...

• The transition between the Maxwellian Electromagnetic worldview and the Einsteinian Relativistic worldview.
• The transition between the worldview of Newtonian physics and the Einsteinian Relativistic worldview.
• The acceptance of Plate tectonics as the explanation for large-scale geologic changes.

James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and theoretical physicist. ... The luminiferous aether: it was hypothesised that the Earth moves through a medium of aether that carries light In the late 19th century the luminiferous aether (light-bearing aether), or ether, was a substance postulated to be the medium for the propagation of light. ... “Einstein” redirects here. ... Two-dimensional analogy of space-time curvature described in General Relativity. ... Classical mechanics is a model of the physics of forces acting upon bodies. ... “Einstein” redirects here. ... Two-dimensional analogy of space-time curvature described in General Relativity. ... The tectonic plates of the world were mapped in the second half of the 20th century. ...

Examples of paradigm shifts in complex systems and organizations

• The English monarchy with the signing of Magna Carta.
• The "explosion of life" marking the end of the Pre-Cambrian Era.
• Society with the invention of any of several innovations (fire, the wheel, gunpowder, the microchip, etc.).
• Warfare with the development of the airplane

“Kingdom” redirects here. ... Magna Carta Magna Carta (Latin for Great Charter, literally Great Paper), also called Magna Carta Libertatum (Great Charter of Freedoms), is an English charter originally issued in 1215. ... The Cambrian explosion is the geologically kukko sudden appearance in the fossil record of the ancestors of familiar animals, starting about 542 million years ago (Mya). ... The Precambrian or Cryptozoic is the period of the geologic timescale from the formation of Earth around 4500 million years before the present (BP) to the evolution of abundant macroscopic hard-shelled fossils, which marked the beginning of the Cambrian, some 542 million years BP. Remarkably little is known about... A forest fire Fire is a rapid oxidation process that creates light, heat, smoke, frost, and releases energy in varying intensities. ... The force bearing on the axle has an eccentricity e with the point of contact to the rolling surface and exerts a moment about the contact point. ... Smokeless powder Gunpowder is an explosive mixture that burns rapidly, producing volumes of hot gas which can be used as a propellant in firearms. ... Integrated circuit of Atmel Diopsis 740 System on Chip showing memory blocks, logic and input/output pads around the periphery Microchips with a transparent window, showing the integrated circuit inside. ... It has been suggested that Aerial warfare be merged into this article or section. ...

Other uses

The term "paradigm shift" has found uses in other contexts, representing the notion of a major change in a certain thought-pattern — a radical change in personal beliefs, complex systems or organizations, replacing the former way of thinking or organizing with a radically different way of thinking or organizing:

• Handa, M. L., a professor of sociology in education at O.S.E. University of Toronto, Canada, developed the concept of a paradigm within the context of social sciences. He defines what he means by "paradigm" and introduces the idea of a "social paradigm". In addition, he identifies the basic component of any social paradigm. Like Kuhn, he addresses the issue of changing paradigms, the process popularly known as "paradigm shift." In this respect, he focuses on the social circumstances which precipitate such a shift. Relatedly, he addresses how that shift affects social institutions, including the institution of education.
• The concept has been developed in economics (Giovanni Dosi) in the identification of new techno-economic paradigms as changes in technological systems that have a major influence on the behaviour of the entire economy. This concept is linked to Schumpeter's idea of "creative gales of destruction". Example include move to mass production, or the introduction of the microelectronics.
• The mainstream availability in the U.S. of the female birth control pills in the 1960's, combined with effective new treatments for venereal diseases, led to the Sexual Revolution that accompanied many other shifts in attitudes and ideas during that period.
• A widely distributed picture of the Earth entitled "Earthrise" taken from the moon by astronauts is thought by some to have deeply affected the consciousness of humanity in helping to usher in the environmentalist movement which gained great prominence in the years immediately following distribution of that image.

• Margaret Mead, noted anthropologist, shows a flashlight to the indigenous New Guinea people.
• Development of new techniques in genetics impact long-standing assumptions in anthropology.

The phrase has been abused in "marketing speak", and is often considered a meaningless buzzword in this context. This is now so widespread that Larry Trask lists it in his book Mind The Gaffe as a phrase never to use, and he advises caution when reading anything that contains this phrase. The University of Toronto (U of T) is a coeducational public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ... It has been suggested that Dosi be merged into this article or section. ... Joseph Alois Schumpeter (February 8, 1883 – January 8, 1950) was one of the greatest 20th century economists and one of the best read. ... Birth control is a regimen of one or more actions, devices, or medications followed in order to deliberately prevent or reduce the likelihood of a woman becoming pregnant or giving birth. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Apollo 8 was a manned mission of the Apollo space program. ... Bold textHello ... Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901, Philadelphia – November 15, 1978, New York City) was an American cultural anthropologist. ... DNA, the molecular basis for inheritance. ... Anthropology (from Greek: ἀνθρωπος, anthropos, human being; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is the comparative study of the physical and social characteristics of humanity through the examination of historical and present geographical distribution, cultural history, acculturation, and cultural relationships. ... This article is in need of attention. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Use in popular culture

• Paradigm Shift is a song title by the experimental progressive metal group Liquid Tension Experiment.
• Paradigm Shift is also the title of a manga-based webcomic by Dirk Tiede.
• Paradigm Shift is the name of a professional gaming clan founded in 1999.
• Paradigm Shift is mentioned in the book "Jurassic Park" on page 383 and 384.
• Paradigm Shift is mentioned by Master Shake in the episode 'Spirit Journey Formation Anniversary" of the television show Aqua Teen Hunger Force; he claims responsibility for "the paradigm shift in birthdays and how they will be viewed in the following century."

Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music which blends the powerful, guitar-driven sound of metal with the complex compositional structures, odd time signatures, and intricate instrumental playing of progressive rock. ... Liquid Tension Experiment is an instrumental rock project consisting of Dream Theater members John Petrucci (guitar), Jordan Rudess (keyboard), and Mike Portnoy (drums), as well as progressive rock icon Tony Levin of King Crimson (bass, Chapman Stick). ... Information Aliases The Drizzle/The Fume, Shake Zula, Shake, Cup, Shakeman, Mr. ... Aqua Teen Hunger Force (also known as ATHF or simply Aqua Teen) is an American animated television series shown on Cartoon Network as part of its Adult Swim late-night programming block, as well as Teletoon in Canada. ...

See also

This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... It has been suggested that Myside bias be merged into this article or section. ... Cultural bias is interpreting and judging phenomena in terms particular to ones own culture. ... A disruptive technology or disruptive innovation is a technological innovation, product, or service that eventually overturns the existing dominant technology or product in the market. ... Gaston Bachelard (June 27, 1884 – October 16, 1962) was a French philosopher and poet who rose to some of the most prestigious positions in the French academy. ... Don Tapscott is a speaker, author and consultant based in Toronto, specializing in business strategy and organizational transformation. ... In economics and social policy, infrastructure bias refers to the fact that the location and availability of pre-existing infrastructure such as roads and telecommunications facilities influences social and economic development. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... In economics, Kondratiev waves, also referred to as the K-waves, are the description of an alleged regular S-shaped cycle in the modern world economy. ... When plotted on a logarithmic graph, 15 separate lists of paradigm shifts for key events in human history show an exponential trend. ... A mindset, in decision theory and general systems theory, refers to a set of assumptions, methods or notations held by one or more people or groups of people which is so established that it creates a powerful incentive within these people or groups to continue to adopt or accept prior... Notational bias is a form of cultural bias in which a notation induces the appearance of a nonexistent natural law. ... A world view, also spelled as worldview is a term calqued from the German word Weltanschauung (look onto the world). The German word is also in wide use in English, as well as the translated form world outlook. ... An Outside Context Problem or an OCP is any problem outside a given organisation or societys experience, with an immediate, ubiquitous and lasting impact upon an entire culture or civilisation. ... The lunar farside as seen from Apollo 11 Natural science is the rational study of the universe via rules or laws of natural order. ...

External links

• MIT 6.933J - The Structure of Engineering Revolutions. From MIT OpenCourseWare, course materials (graduate level) for a course on the history of technology through a Kuhnian lens.
• [1] From Puzzles with a Purpose, A Kuhnian illustration of a worrisome implication for technology.
• [2] Boiling Stumbling Mind Model - a possible paradigm shift in psychiatry. Part of the Paradigm Shift Project by Jan Ott m.sc. (Amsterdam).