The term “paradigm shift” is used to describe a profound alteration of approach or way of thinking—the transformation of underlying or hidden assumptions. Thomas Kuhn, an American physicist-philosopher, coined the phrase in his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962). While Kuhn’s use of the term relates to science, it applies readily to so many other facets of life. It describes something that is fundamental to functional human life.
The term “paradigm shift” is used to describe a profound alteration of approach or way of thinking—the transformation of underlying or hidden assumptions.
Our relationship with time, as finite beings, forces us to come to terms with a world that is constantly shifting. The things we condense into nouns—people, places, and things—all fall into the category of shifting. As they shift, and we shift, our assumptions must change, our approach to life alters on a daily basis as the world shifts in its place. Most of this shifting takes place at the micro level, in the personal space between two souls—when your favorite mug breaks you begin to use another; when someone dies you find ways to move through life without them, the space they occupied has shifted. Some shifts are much larger than others.
Most of this shifting takes place at the micro level, in the personal space between two souls—when your favorite mug breaks you begin to use another; when someone dies you find ways to move through life without them, the space they occupied has shifted.
The zeitgeist of now carries the weight of many shifting paradigms. Paradigms are the standards for things, the way they hold up, the pattern of being that we replicate through our shifting existence. We repeat these patterns socially at both the micro and macro level. They are a part of our collective experience.
The zeitgeist of now carries the weight of many shifting paradigms.
We are bound by social paradigms and when they shift, it hurts. It hurts because awakening to new ideas hurts—altering the neural pathways created by our social patterns takes time, it takes care, it takes work. Changing paradigms that are held in place by authority hurts even more. But these shifts are what allow the world to progress, to renew, to enter a new season of change. They welcome new ideas and shake off what held them in place.
…these shifts are what allow the world to progress, to renew, to enter a new season of change.
The hurt caused by shifts is a growing pain. The good kind of pain. Pain that signifies change, growth, and newness.
Paradigm shifts are inevitable. We must work together to teach ourselves to welcome them.
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