Paradigm Shifts
How To Bring About Radical Change In Your Life
It is election eve in the United States, and there is a lot of talk about potential paradigm shifts in the history of our nation.
The idea of a “paradigm shift” comes from the American philosopher Thomas Kuhn. Kuhn believed that the history of science was not a series of gradual developments, but a series of paradigm shifts. A paradigm shift is a radical transformation from one set of concepts, fundamental assumptions, and practices to another. Kuhn’s favorite example was the revolution in physics brought about by Einstein’s theory of relativity, which challenged the fundamental assumption of the dominant Newtonian paradigm.
Although Kuhn developed the concept of a paradigm shift to explain the nature and history of science, it also can be applied to your own life. In fact, Kuhn’s idea provides an incredibly useful way to think about personal growth and limiting beliefs.
Everyone one of us lives in accordance with a “personal” paradigm. A personal paradigm can be thought of as a set of established beliefs, habits, and perspectives that structure how you understand yourself and the world. The “core” of your personal paradigm consists of your deeply held beliefs and assumptions.
While some personal paradigms can provide our lives with a stable sense of purpose and meaning, thereby leading to happiness and fulfillment, others can be limiting. If you find yourself unhappy, unfulfilled, and feeling as if something is missing, it may be the case that you are living within a personal paradigm that needs to be overthrown.
Social media has become flooded with content aimed at helping people bring about a transformation in their lives. Unfortunately, for many people the consumption of this content has the opposite effect.
They spend more and more time consuming content on the platforms that make them miserable, rather than actually doing the things which will bring about a change.
Kuhn’s idea can help. As long as the personal paradigm you occupy doesn’t serve you, there is no amount of content than can radically transform your life. What you need to do is to question the fundamental assumptions of your paradigm which led you to the place you are at now.
Sometimes what you need to bring about the kind of genuine transformations you seek is not advice or guidance, but a paradigm shift.
I was born and raised as Christian. I later hesitated and said that maybe I was more agnostic. This was a profound change but not a paradigm shift. I was still operating within the same ethical system, just making some different logical conclusions and evaluating other possibilities.
Having traveled a bit and interfaced with people outside the western world I felt and understood the following. The core values of European civilization - beauty, truth and goodness, as defined as Aristotle - may not be universal to all cultures. Sadly. Hence, the to comprehend the other religions and ethical systems we must first comprehend the core values behind them. In particular, I have strong feeling that Truth is not the core value for many cultures out there.
I think that perhaps this may be an example of paradigm shift.