How to open your mind................make a paradigm shift

 

"But where is the film? they asked the man when he was trying to show them a new photographic technique. "And you don't use either a developer or a darkroom? Well, how can this be photography then?" they asked. What the man was trying to show them was electrostatic photography; also known as xerography; but since their paradigm (model) of what photography was did not recognise this mans invention, they rejected it. Chester Carlson, the inventor, was rejected many times before he was successful. (Xerography is used in most photocopying machines as well as in laser and LED printers which today is a multi billion dollar industry.)

So what is a paradigm? One definition is: " A shared
set of assumptions that have to do with how we perceive the world.
Paradigms can be very helpful because they allow us to develop expectations
about what will probably occur based on these assumptions." But what if we discover data/information that falls outside of our paradigms? Often we just don't see and or accept it, and this is called the "paradigm effect". Take it one step further to where we don't even recognise or are aware of that we are guided by our paradigms, and we may end up with "paradigm paralysis".

And this is important why?

Paradigm paralysis prevents us from seeing beyond our current models of thinking.

("If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.")

If we hold the view that all unemployed people are lazy and don't want to work, then we are probably not going to recognise those who are unemployed for a multitude of different reasons and none to do with laziness. Paradigm> unemployed people are lazy.

If we hold the view that rich people are rich because they work hard and so deserve it, and poor people are poor because they don't work hard and so deserve to be poor, then our working paradigm may be > you get what you deserve.

These paradigms may work until......we get sacked from our jobs due to an economic downturn and find ourselves struggling to pay our bills, and, struggling to keep poverty at bay we may come to the conclusion that nobody deserves to be poor; > a paradigm shift.

There are religious paradigms, theoretical paradigms, scientific paradigms, social paradigms, and technical paradigms (just to mention a few), and they vary from culture to culture.

As I am writing this, one news report of war and conflict after the other, flashes on the TV screen.  Paradigm clash after paradigm clash, resulting in serious conflicts, innocent people dying and causing irreparable damage to structure, culture and nature.

Are we in the grips of a global paradigm paralysis? If so, for the sake of all mankind, is it not possible that we could re-examine our paradigms and break our paralysis? Perhaps we are due for a few paradigm shifts?

Throughout history there has been many paradigm shifts (a change of basic assumptions); "The transition in cosmology from a Ptolemaic Cosmology to a Copernican one, The acceptance of the Theory of Biogenesis; that all life comes from life, as opposed to the theory of spontaneous generation, which began in the 17th century and was not complete until the 19th century with Louis Pasteur. The development of quantum mechanics, which replaced classical mechanics at microscopic scales. The movement known as the Cognitive Revolution, away from Behaviourist approaches to psychological study and the acceptance of cognition as central to studying human behaviour. The acceptance of Lavoisier's theory of chemical reactions and combustion in place of phlogiston theory, known as the Chemical Revolution." (Wikipedia)

An earful I know, yet there are so many more.

Dealing with uncertainty and changing paradigms, although unsettling, also bears good fruit; we learn, we discover, and we invent new ways, new things, new thoughts.

Perhaps we want to hang on to our paradigms, belief systems, views, because it feels safer, but may I suggest we ponder this: An open mind allows us to experience new (different) ideas, new (different) thoughts, new (different) ways of seeing things, and an open mind is often conducive to positive change.

Our paradigms may perhaps be hidden to us, yet they are intrinsic to our mental processes. Often we only discover them when we try to communicate with someone with differing paradigms.

But the good thing is, we can make a paradigm shift whenever we like.

 

"We need to develop and disseminate an entirely new paradigm and practice of collaboration that supersedes the traditional silos that have divided governments, philanthropies and private enterprises for decades and replace it with networks of partnerships working together to create a globally prosperous society." (Simon Mainwaring)

 

(About the image: What do you see?

It is a close-up contraption for kids to play in.)