Environmental Ethics and Land Management http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120 What is a Paradigm Shift? Timothy C. Weiskel 11 September 2013 Class Discussion Session – Week 2 Harvard Extension School Fall Semester 2013
A paradigm shift is a change in outlook or worldview. It is, effectively, a total change in perspective. In any field of science a paradigm shift represents a radical transformation of the framework within which individual empirical observations and broader theoretical assertions are interpreted and understood. Tim Weiskel - 2
Three Examples of Paradigm Shift 1. Galileo and the shift from a Terracentric to a Heliocentric World. 2. Plate Tectonics and the move from “Acts of God” to Earth System Dynamics. 3. From the Growth Paradigm to the Sustainability Paradigm in World Agriculture – Beyond the “Green” Revolution. Tim Weiskel - 3
The Insight of Thomas Kuhn… This is the 50 th anniversary of the publication of Thomas Kuhn’s important work.… Its insights are crucial for understanding the history of modern science… Celebrations are planned for 2012. Tim Weiskel - 4
Case 1 Celestial Centricity = Paradigm Shift & Galileo’s “Blasphemy” Galileo and the shift from a Terracentric to a Heliocentric World. Tim Weiskel - 5
Europeans and Chinese had long mapped the striking “evidence” of the morphological relatedness of continents. Tim Weiskel - 6
Case 2 From “Solid Earth” to the Plate Tectonic Theory = Paradigm Shift Tim Weiskel - 7
First formulations that tried to suggest that continents were originally linked were based on the concept of “continental drift.” Tim Weiskel - 8
Alfred Wegener with his theory of “continental drift” and the subsequent development of “Plate Tectonics” allowed humans to move from observing “Acts of God” to exam instead “earth system dynamics.” Tim Weiskel - 9
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Even after plate tectonics is firmly established the evidence for each manifestation of an earth anomoly involves a professional struggle. Tim Weiskel - 11
Case 3 From the Growth Paradigm to the Sustainability Paradigm Tim Weiskel - 12
http://www.climate-talks.net/2008- Tim Weiskel - 13 ENVRE130/Audio/20090913-NPR-Borlaug-dies.htm
BBC, Newshour, 13 September 2009 http://www.climate-talks.net/2008- ENVRE130/Audio/20090913-BBC- Borlaug-Newshour-obit.mp3 Tim Weiskel - 14
http://www.climate-talks.net/2008-ENVRE130/Video/20090913-YouTube- Borlaug-Promoter.htm Tim Weiskel - 15
http://ecojustice.net/2006-ENVRE120/Video/20050330-BBC-Millenium- Ecosystem-Study-Index-l.htm No amount of genetic engineering will address the ethical problem of limit posed by the most recent scientific studies. Tim Weiskel - 17
But our basic problem is that… we’ve ‘forgotten’ (and it may be that many of our leaders never knew) the basic ecological insight about our collective “niche” as a species in the global ecosystem. Tim Weiskel - 18
Never before….and never again.
Culturally, we need to move from sectoral thinking to systems thinking. We need to keep clearly in mind more than just one problem and specifically how different problems amplify and interact with each other. Further, we need to understand that growth is inherently destabilizing.
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Part 2 Part 3 Tim Weiskel - 24
Case 1 Galileo’s “Blasphemy” Galileo and the shift from a Terracentric to a Heliocentric World. Tim Weiskel - 25
Case 2 The Plate Tectonic Paradigm Shift Tim Weiskel - 26
Case 3 From the Growth Paradigm to the Sustainability Paradigm Tim Weiskel - 27
Three Examples of Paradigm Shift 1. Galileo and the shift from a Terracentric to a Heliocentric World – Cosmic science. 2. Plate Tectonics and the shift from “Acts of God” to Earth System Science. 3. The shift from the Growth Paradigm to the Sustainability Paradigm: Beyond the “Green” Revolution in Global Agriculture. Tim Weiskel - 28
Three Examples of Paradigm Shift 1. Galileo and the shift from a Terracentric to a Heliocentric World – Cosmic science. [Now universally accepted.] 2. Plate Tectonics and the shift from “Acts of God” to Earth System Science. [Publicly accepted . Still contested in pre-scientific circles …] 3. The shift from the Growth Paradigm to the Sustainability Paradigm : Beyond the “Green” Revolution in Global Agriculture. [ Widely accepted in scientific circles; still contested by engineers, economists and politicians who have a strong stake in perpetuating the “Green Tim Weiskel - 29 Revolution” myths.].
Discussion Blog topic: Why are “Paradigm Shifts” not easy or automatic…? What paradigm shifts would be required to absorb this information? 9/11: Explosive Evidence – Psychologists Speak Out Tim Weiskel - 30
Environmental Ethics and Land Management http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120 What is a Paradigm Shift? Timothy C. Weiskel 11 September 2013 Class Discussion Session – Week 2 Harvard Extension School Fall Semester 2013
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