Proactive Paradigm Shifts and New Paradigms in Science, Religion and Spirituality

 


Buzzwords and fuzzwords

Krusty: So he's proactive, huh?

Lady: Oh, God, yes. We're talking about a totally outrageous paradigm.

Writer: Excuse me, but 'proactive' and 'paradigm'? Aren't these just buzzwords that dumb people use to sound important? Not that I'm accusing you of anything like that. .....[pause].....   I'm fired, aren't I?

Myers: Oh, yes!  -  The rest of you writers start  thinking up a name for this funky dog; I dunno, something along the line of say... Poochie, only more proactive.

-The Simpsons

Science, religion and spirituality - a new paradigm

Many a true word is spoken in jest.

Anyone who surfs the web for science/mind/spirituality articles can't fail to be impressed by the number of times the word 'paradigm' appears, and that its frequency seems to be inversely related to the information content of the article,.especially when used in conjunction with 'new' or 'shift.

Does the use of 'Paradigm'  debiggen our vocabulary?

The p-word is used so frequently because it serves two purposes:

In both cases 'paradigm' is used where a more cromulent word would immediately reveal the vacuity of the ideas being presented.  

The p-word is used in place of: analogy, example, symbolpattern, metaphor, method, model, and simulation. 'Paradigm' causes especial confusion where it starts with one meaning and then ends up with another. (A favorite trick is to start the article with an analogy and embiggen it to claim that one has found some deep underlying model of reality).

Within science, the terms model and simulation have very definite meanings and require the production of verifiable algorithms and datastructures, which predict the behavior of the phenomena under investigation. Those phenomena which cannot in principle be simulated in this way are, and for ever will be, outside the scope of scientific investigation (see non-algorithmic phenomena).

Paradigm shift

Hopefully the Simpsons' satire may persuade writers to be more proactive about the use of buzzwords and fuzzwords, and perhaps we can look forward to the day when no new paradigms are being produced. 

This does however raise the question of what to do with all the old paradigms that have passed their sell-by date.   How do you shift these paradigms?  Should you store them away in the paradigmatic, or donate them to the needy?  ("Buddy, can you spare a paradigm?")