Why a Paradigm Shift is Necessary
WHY PARADIGM (MINDSET OR WORLDVIEW) SHIFT IS NECESSARY TO ADDRESS SOME CURRENT MN AND NATIONAL PROBLEMS
Hector E. Garcia 1/26/2017
Knowing and using knowledge of root causes are essential to effectively and sustainably reduce and eliminate problems, especially those of a chronic and intractable nature.
Reactive tactical measures will typically lag behind the manifestations of this type of problems.
Tactical, nuts and bolts solutions work in a system that has proven effective over time because it is based on a paradigm or set of perspectives that is in keeping with reality and its tactical implementations have produced expected results. For instance, MN and the US systems to manage problems were exceptionally successful for most of the 20th Century.
Perspectives of reality observed are the origin of interpretations; interpretations, then, lead to the development of tools to manage and solve problems within that reality.
If perspectives are detached from reality, as they are today, because they have not changed to catch up with the game-changer of globalization, the following will occur:
a) the interpretations derived from those perspectives will increasingly be detached from reality and break down consensus* and
b) the tactical, nuts and bolts methods and tools derived from those perspectives will increasingly fail, reinforcing the chronic and intractable characteristics of the problems we are trying to solve.
*Consensus is made possible when facts are accessible to all or most decision makers in a democratic society so that debate can use the reality point of reference and avoid nonsensical positions. In an authoritarian society, force can dismiss reality but does so at constant peril of making its self-preservation precarious.
Excerpt from my book Clash or Complement of Cultures?
CHAPTER 4. PARADIGMS
“Our life is what our thoughts make it,” Marcus Aurelius
“The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking,” Albert Einstein
“If the task ahead seems impossible to accomplish it’s only because we continue to view what needs to be done with Newtonian eyes. Our existing world view cannot possibly provide us with the confidence and zeal we need to overcome the present historical crises…” Jeremy Rifkin
“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum to place it and I shall move the world,” Archimedes
There are various definitions of paradigms. Adam Smith in Powers of the Mind, says that a paradigm is “... the way we perceive the world...” And Joel Barker in his book Paradigms says that “A paradigm is a set of rules... and... tells you how to behave inside the boundaries in order to be successful.” From this last statement, we can see how once a paradigm--with the rules of what works in order to be successful--is accepted by the consensus of a group, it creates a “real world” for that group. The famous psychologist, William James, said that reality is whatever works…
I also recommend book “Paradigms” by Joel Barker and “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” by Thomas Kuhn.