I first learned the term a paradigm shift when one of my chemistry teachers talked about this in high school class. He also introduced the term metacognition. More than chemistry he used to teach about things, things about life. This was one such thing. He gave the following example to illustrate the fact.
What is a paradigm shift?
Imagine you are walking home. You take the same bus route day after day from your workplace or school to home. This is common right? You fall into the same routine, and you will just fall into same pattern of thoughts day after day while in the bus. Usually places pass by without even being noticed until you reach your destination. Now imagine one day your bus route changes due to some construction, or wreckage of a bridge the bus had to take a long route. But on this specific day you will see a different neighborhood and you will start to notice things you have not seen before. This is a paradigm shift.
Now imagine this time it is not the same bus, but you have chosen to travel on the top deck of a double decker bus. Still if you haven't done before you would see same junctions, same shops with a novel perspective. And those routine patterns of thinking will be replaced by new data and new ways at least for the duration of the travel.
Does this mean thinking outside the box?
I would not say so. It seems to have a deeper meaning than just thinking outside the box. It is more like the change which occurs when you have a thinking outside the box. In this article I talked about viewing the world from top of a tree. Now even after years of having not done that when I walk in a park or even outside in a bus stop, I can imagine myself being on top of a nearby tree and I can see myself doing what I am doing. So, because of the previous experience, now my internal structure has changed that I have this new way of looking at the world. The paradigm shift is like a major change in a way we look at the world. Paradigm is a pattern of thinking.
We will look at more and more examples to understand this.
Everyone knows the earth is round. Yet few hundred years ago people believed the earth to be flat. But once Galileo Galilei developed the telescope, he gathered more and more data to show as evidence that earth is spherical. As we could see, other celestial bodies, like planets and their moons. Finally, when Ferdinand Magellan travel all around the world without falling off the edge to eternity, people started to see the true nature of a spherical world. But all these data are indirect right. It was not until we start to travel far into the space, with our cameras and telescopes and look back on the earth, when had this amazing view of our round planet earth we are sure of i. Now even a five-year-old boy knows the earth is round.
These kind of paradigm shifts occur in every part of our science. It may be quantum physics, it may be DNA structure, it can be even a people's movement to stop the war. Once a paradigm shift occurs the way we look at the world changes, more often permanently. I can give you some simple examples from the modern-day world. Steve Jobbs did it with his introduction of iPhone. Elon musk did it with introduction of private space Race and green energy.
Definition of paradigm shift.
Paradigm shift is a change in a pattern of thinking in an individual or a community, often with some strong hold.
formal definition in Merrium webster
an important change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way.
The term paradigm shift was coined by the American physicist and philosopher Thomas Kuhn. He described dramatic changes in pattern of thinking in scientific world as paradigm shifts.
Are paradigm shifts always good?
This is not true either. It is good when new knowledge makes us reach one step closer to truth if at all something is there as it is. But paradigm shift can occur in a bad pathway if the facts are not true or misguided into a society. So, it is utmost importance that we do not follow the heard blindly but think for ourselves. It takes courage to think alone.
So, under each paradigm shift there is underlying creativity and 'Thinking outside the box.'
Natural paradigm shifts.
Natual paradigm shifts will occur. They can occur in Geological scales or in individual level. Imagine the world where we had the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing in Japan. once this happened, the world changed. Even heartless political leaders came to their senses for a good couple of decades that we put forward an agenda that something like that should not happen in the future.
Death of a loved one or an illness, a separation can cause someone to shift their perspective on life. Some change their lives for the better. Some change their life for the worse in lines of depression or suicide. So, we have to be careful that when these events should occur. Near death experience is one such occasion which has the capacity to change thinking patterns.
How can we use paradigm shift for our advantage?
To change the way, you think about the world you have to give yourself more opportunities to be creative. Then when it is time, a paradigm shift will occur naturally. Even if it doesn't it won't do no harm as new experience on world is going to help your relief your stress. So, following are my simple advice to make it happen a paradigm shift.
Imagine you are taking the same bus to come home every day. Why don't you change the route, you do not have to wait until the road is broken until you do this.
Imagine you are very friendly with people, why don't you try to spend an afternoon alone with yourself.
Imagine you are a big fat introvert like me. Why don't you start a blog so you can connect with people and start listening.
Imagine you are greedy, why don't you spend a good amount from your next salary to donate for charity?
Have you ever tried eating on the floor? Did you ever try to spend a week without the television or the phone?
Did you try to quit smoking once in a while? Let's say you are not talented to draw, have you tried to draw a cartoon? I am not saying you will be a master cartoonist. But the idea is to see the world differently to get away from the monotonous routines of life.
A paradigm Shift, thinking about Hiroshima bomb incident. (following is a paragraph from the book from what is time to illustrate a fact)
Imagine when we talk about the Hiroshima bomb incident. The picture of the gigantic mushroom cloud comes into our mind. But if time has no instances, we cannot talk about the Hiroshima bomb. It would be meaningless. There is no specific point in time which can be pointed out as the Hiroshima bomb incident.
Hiroshima bomb incident,
It is not the plane that flew with the bomb over Japan,
It is not the release of the bomb.
It is not the travel of the bomb through the air.
It is not the impact of the bomb on ground.
It is not the detonation.
It is not the explosion.
It is not the nuclear blast.
It is not the shock wave.
It is not the collapse of the buildings and the clouds that followed.
It is a collection of every one of these events. But if any of these events cannot be considered the Hiroshima bomb incident, is there anything to be labeled as such?
Thank you for reading What is a paradigm shift.
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