A paradigm shift, is a concept which was identified by and developed to a large extent by the American physicist and philosopher Thomas Kuhn (1922–1996). Kuhn presented his notion of a paradigm shift in his book: The Structure of Scientific Revolution in 1962.
The theory can be characterized as a fundamental change in the basic concepts and experimental practices of a scientific discipline. It may be thought of somewhat like a set of rules and/or regulations that govern a disciplined approach to solving problems.
Kuhn contrasted these shifts, which characterize a scientific revolution, to the activity of normal science, which he described as scientific work done within a prevailing framework (or paradigm). In this context, the word “paradigm” is used in its original Greek meaning, as “example“.
The nature of scientific revolutions has been studied by modern philosophy since Immanuel Kant when he used the 
phrase in the preface to his Critique of Pure Reason. In this case, he referred to Greek mathematics and Newtonian physics as the matrices of his approach.
In the 20th century, new developments in the basic concepts of mathematics, physics, and biology revitalized interest in the notion of Paradigms. It was against this active background that Kuhn published his notions of a paradigm shift in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. This work became a highly influential resource, which provided the direction of a significant amount of new thought in this era.
Since the 1960s, the concept of a paradigm shift has also been used in numerous non-scientific ways to describe a profound change in a fundamental model or perception of events, even though Kuhn himself restricted the use of the term to physical sciences only. More recently, it has been argued that a ‘Paradigm Shift’ is a kind of intellectual virus, spreading from hard science to social science and on to the arts and everyday socio-political activity.
In the context of our article (this post), we propose that Kuhn’s theory was itself, “revolutionary.” As such it caused or was itself part of a ‘paradigm shift’ in the history and sociology of science. It was a source of many of the new ways that science and human behavior are talked about today in both academic as-well-as lay circles.
It is in the lay environment that we would actually like to get into some ideas about applying the concept of ‘Paradigm Shift’ to a less mechanistic more holistic view of a post-modern theory of personal growth or personal development which is the focus of our interest. This theory would explore the realms of the intangible or meta-physical (spiritual) nature of “Paradigms“. We plan to present a series of posts on this topic in order to explore it in greater depth. But, to close out for now, I want to leave you with this video as preparation: “Meditations For Transformation and Higher Consciousness“.
– Enjoy
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