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How Many Paradigm Shifts Should We Expect with COVID-19?
American Thinker.com ^ | August 2, 2021 | J. Allen Cartright

Posted on 08/02/2021 2:58:49 AM PDT by Kaslin

Thomas Kuhn, a renowned philosopher of science, suggested in his 1962 work The Structure of Scientific Revolutions that scientific progress advances through a series of revolutionary cycles. In each cycle, a dominant scientific model ("Normal Science") is widely accepted by consensus within the scientific community. Anomalies that contradict the model may emerge, causing the model to "drift" away from scientific consensus. When new observations severely contradict the existing model, the model undergoes a "crisis," leading to the emergence of new models ("model revolution"). A "paradigm shift" then occurs in which a competing model becomes dominant, and the cycle repeats over time.

The philosopher Imre Lakatos provided an important critique of the Kuhn Cycle in his 1970 paper "Falsification and the Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes." Lakatos described scientific progress as a series of competing research programs that each had a "hard core" of scientific theories that cannot be undermined. As anomalous observations are made that threaten core theories, a "protective belt" of hypotheses are developed to accommodate new observations while preserving the core theories. Ultimately, a dominant research program may be superseded by a competing research program that produces greater scientific progress.

The dangers of blind trust in scientific consensus and the relevance of scientific philosophy have become increasingly obvious during the public health failures surrounding COVID-19. Indeed, we have witnessed several examples of a Kuhn Cycle in just the past few months! The clearest and most alarming example is the so-called "lab leak theory," which opines that COVID-19 originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 08/02/2021 2:58:49 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

You will have to ask one of the four or five versions of Fauci we’ve seen the past 18 months.


2 posted on 08/02/2021 3:04:54 AM PDT by Caipirabob (Communists...Socialists...Fascists & AntiFa...Democrats...Traitors... Who can tell the difference?)
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To: Kaslin

Will the paradigm shifts be identified by Greek letters?


3 posted on 08/02/2021 3:11:02 AM PDT by Fresh Wind (Fake news, fake election, fake president.)
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To: Kaslin

As many as it takes to keep Trump out.


4 posted on 08/02/2021 3:18:27 AM PDT by Salamander (We Have Forgotten The Faces Of Our Fathers....)
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To: Fresh Wind

I would have preferred the Elder Futhark, myself.


5 posted on 08/02/2021 3:19:22 AM PDT by Salamander (We Have Forgotten The Faces Of Our Fathers....)
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To: Kaslin
The ever-changing science surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic exposes the danger of blind "trust in the science."

It's all politics. It's all about control.

One may argue that COVID is a bigger deal than the flu, but from a political and social viewpoint, it ought to be treated like the flu, bro. You just have to get through it.

COVID is not an existential crisis for civilization -- but the fascist control of society may be just such an existential crisis.

6 posted on 08/02/2021 3:31:47 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy
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To: Salamander

Had to look that one up, LOL!


7 posted on 08/02/2021 3:51:31 AM PDT by Fresh Wind (Fake news, fake election, fake president.)
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To: Kaslin

Moving the COVID goal posts is one of those “shovel ready jobs” Obama talked about years ago.


8 posted on 08/02/2021 4:16:09 AM PDT by Bernard (The very best scientific articles always contain this phrase: “My personal intuition has been…”)
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To: Fresh Wind

Gotta admit it would have been *way* cooler than Greek.

:)


9 posted on 08/02/2021 4:26:07 AM PDT by Salamander (We Have Forgotten The Faces Of Our Fathers....)
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To: Kaslin

Depends on how much bullshit the people are willing to swallow.


10 posted on 08/02/2021 5:30:37 AM PDT by Roccus (Prima di ogni altra cosa, siate armati!)
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To: Bernard

11 posted on 08/02/2021 6:54:55 AM PDT by bgill (Which came first, the vax or the virus?)
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