Rethinking The Paradigm Paradigm

from the paradigm-schmaradigm dept

I tend to cringe whenever anyone suggests that their company is "creating a new paradigm" or "changing a paradigm" or, really, having anything whatsoever to do with paradigms. Usually it just means they can't explain what they really do very well, so they want to make it sound grand. Claiming that you're working on a paradigm shift also lets you dismiss critics with a simple "you just don't get it". However, an article in MIT's Tech Review is trying to rethink the concept of the paradigm shift and looks at why people are normally skeptical of paradigms, and the importance of skepticism in paradigm-itis.