Paradigm

 

The Paradigm


The mental conditions that are conducive to innovation had become of interest to me when I found through experience that there were times when I would go for long periods without significantly increasing my knowledge and without inspiration, and then there were times when creative ideas would flow forth freely. One way that I gained some insight into the creative process was through a couple of seminars that were taught by guest lecturers at LRC. One of these lecturers was Joel Barker, who gave an informative course on the paradigm problem as it applies to scientists. A definition of paradigm is: “a framework containing the basic assumptions, ways of thinking, and methodology that are commonly accepted by members of a scientific community.

This problem was brought to light by Thomas Kuhn in his insightful study “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”. By attending scientific conferences and administering tests to the attendees Kuhn found that for every problem under consideration there tended to be a consensus among the attendees as to the most appropriate way to view the problem and attacking it. However, if one of the presentations introduced a new approach to one of the problems, its concept somehow managed to escape the other attendees. Either they would just stop paying attention as soon as he got into unfamiliar territory, or else they would listen but their minds would just filter out the concept that was being presented.

Barker said that Kuhn had studied this problem as it affected scientists, but that he (Barker) had observed it in other areas of study as well. I was fascinated by the lecture because I had already encountered the problem several times when trying to explain my research to others. Also, now that the problem was delineated I learned to check my own thinking frequently to make sure that I was not giving in to that temptation to restrict the range of my thought and attach it to a favored line.

This problem, of keeping the mind free and not confined within a fixed paradigm, is so important that nearly all great minds have in some way recognized it and fought to keep their minds open to new knowledge. That’s why Socrates said, “One thing I know, and that is that I know nothing”. And DesCartes said the same thing. What they meant was that they would never consider holding on to any concept with such certainty that their minds would resist new information that might be inconsistent with it.

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