By Arthur Leggett
Willis Harmon, in An Incomplete Guide to the Future, wrote that a paradigm is "the basic way of perceiving, thinking, valuing, and doing associated with a particular vision of reality."
As you can infer, it is axiomatic that paradigms abound all around us in the world. They are very powerful influencers. I believe that we can not live or survive without paradigms because they set the rules, boundaries, patterns and models for the complex 'game of life' and they minimize confusion and chaos. Put simply, paradigms help us navigate effectively and efficiently through life.
When the rules of the ‘game’ change, the whole world shifts. These seismic movements are called paradigm shifts. Paradigm shifts beg the question,” How do paradigm shifts affect those who go through them?"
Remember, paradigms act as psychological filters - "we see the world literally through our paradigms." Thomas Kuhn, in his book on The Structure of Scientific Revolutions states that "powerful paradigms can trap us into seeing the world in only one way." This concept is called paradigm paralysis.
What is the nature of paradigm paralysis?
Paradigm paralysis is an epidemic disease of certainty, a special kind of strategic blindness. It is very easy to catch, and it is often terminal. Too often it stems from a position of power or status. Kuhn suggests that "when in power, we tend to take our paradigm and make it the only paradigm."
The certainists of the world, like Hitler, demonstrate the most extreme and dangerous form of paradigm paralysis. Don’t be fooled, the condition of despotic certainty is found to some degree in all of us, whether we are a dictator or not. How many times have you told someone that something is impossible or asked someone who do you think you are?
As we continued to enter this hare fast creative age, the age of truth, embracing ideas, tolerance, faith and openness is our best vaccines against fatal paralysis. To some this will all sound like radical spoutings and crazy ideas. But remember, at one time in history the notion of a round planet was crazy and the idea of flying like a bird in the sky was considered radical.
As we search for great new ideas, we must keep our thinking flexible and fluid. I call this concept liquid thinking. Scientists call this concept paradigm pliancy.
What is paradigm pliancy?
Paradigm pliancy is the opposite of paradigm paralysis. I believe that paradigm pliancy is the best strategy during changing times. When you decide to actively challenge your assumptions, you start by asking one simple question: “What do I believe that is impossible to do in my field or life, but, if it could be done, would fundamentally change my business or my life?”
Jacob Bronowski, in the Ascent of Man speaks on paradigm pliancy in the chapter, “Knowledge or Certainty.” In his view on the principle of uncertainty, he states that ”…fixed once and for all the realization that all knowledge is limited. It is the irony of history that at the very time when this was being worked out by physicists there should rise, under Hitler in Germany and other tyrants elsewhere, a counter conception: a principle of monstrous certainty.”
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