Rant: stop misusing the word 'paradigm'!

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Dino discovery 'overturns wisdom'New discovery challenges existing ideas on dinosaur evolution, blah, blah, blah and then:

quote:

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"We may see the beginning of a paradigm shift, a challenge to the idea that the oldest dinosaur was bi-pedal and warm-blooded," Dr Sander explained."

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No, Dr Sander, that is not a paradigm shift! Under a paradigm shift, the newer concept doesn't make sense in the terms of the older concept that is simply not the case here or in any of the other cases I've seen people spout drivel like this. Kuhn's idea of paradigm shifts is dubious at best, but at least if you're going to invoke the idea do it bloody properly - Relativity might be a paradigm shift, Quantum theory might be a paradigm, Evolution could be a paradigm shift but changes in our ideas of how a specific group of animals about whom we have frickin' little actual evidence evolved is not a paradigm shift.OK?(Er, Misc topics I guess, or wherever, I don't really care - as I see it, it should be for the mods to decide where to put a topic, not the poster)

Thread moved here from the Proposed New Topics forum.

Hello, Mr. Jack---are you still writing comic books? Glad to hear from you! In regards to this topic, lets define paradigm: So what is your working definition as to what constitutes a true pattern...model...or paradigm shift? And what makes one model valid and one model invalid?What is the focus of this topic, anyway? I placed it in Miscellaneous Topics to cover the bases. Now it is your turn to show us the game.

Come on Jack, don't hold back. Tell us how you really feel Couldn't agree more though...

Writing comic books? I think you have me confused. The terms come from Thomas Kuhn's philosophy (although Kuhn was arguably more of a historian than a philosopher). Kuhn argued that the history of science was marked by "Paradigm Shifts" in which the entire way of looking at things was changed in a way that meant the old ideas no longer made sense from the point of view of the new, and the new ideas made no sense from the point of view of the old. That, and the change in what was accepted in science was acheived not by the current crop of scientists being convinced to change their minds but by a their being replaced by a new generation who accepted the new ideas.The classic example of this being Quantum Mechanics who's probabilistic and highly counter-intuitive results were widely resisted by classic physicists. Einstein's long standing resistance ("God does not play Dice") being a case in point.Frankly, I think Kuhn wildly overstated his claims. But what is clear is that a change in the particulars of an evolutionary tree - any evolutionary tree - does not constitute a Paradigm Shift because the old and new ideas are still using the same structual model. I don't see how that is relevant.

OK...gotchaI mean't board games not comic booksThis message has been edited by Phat, 12-16-2005 09:00 AM

The far greater paradigm shift is that you can no longer get a cup of coffee for a pair-o-dimes.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

yuppie

young urban professionalIsn't that you will be in a handful of years? Watch the mirror closely...

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Wrong again...

hell noi can't stand the thoughts and the lifestyles of these people. Nothing cool there, I want to be more like clint eastwood lol

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