paradigms revisited...

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For educational purposes only!

Recently I re-read a book by Joel Barker called Future Edge. An excellent book about seeing our blind spots. I recommend it to everyone. Near the end of it he recaps the following points, which I think are appropriate for all of us:

(p. 198-199)

(snip) 1. Our perceptions of the world are strongly influenced by paradigms. 2. Because we become so good at using our present paradigms, we resist changing them. 3. It is the outsider who usually creates the new paradigm. 4. Practitioners of the old paradigm who choose to change to the new paradigm early,must do so as an act of faith rather than as the result of factual proof, because there will never be enough proof to be convincing in the early stages. 5. Those who change to a successful new paradigm gain a new way of seeing the world and new approaches for solving problems as a result of the shift to the new rules. 6. A new paradigm puts everyone back to zero, so practitioners of the old paradigm, who may have had great advantage, lose much or all of their leverage. (end snip)

Don't believe in paradigm shifts... ask the Swiss watchmakers who gave away the patent to digital watches, ask IBM about personal computers... etc. etc.

Don't think the world can change overnight...ask the Kosovars...

If you are not paradigm pliant you will miss the opportunity to benefit when the world changes.

-- weasel (weasel@inthe.net), May 03, 1999

Answers

"Those who change to a successful new paradigm..."

Then there are those that change to a less-than successful paradigm. Plenty of visions about Y2K, they won't all be realized. Being "paradigm pliant" is a good idea. Best to prepared for more than one possible paradigm shift, and to be prepared if there isn't one too.

-- Steve Hartzler (s.hartzler@us.net), May 03, 1999.


weasel: Good post. I think you will enjoy reading an old thread called "People and their Resistance to Change". Here is a link: http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=000J dc

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@com.net), May 03, 1999.

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