In this episode, we discuss how a new paradigm “changes” ones perception of reality. We think about what this change of perception consists in drawing on events like the lunar landing and how that altered our existential paradigm ..read more

In this chapter we discuss the difficulty with which paradigms change.  A crisis might be the impetus for a revolution, but its success is ultimately facilitated by a number of factors. We look at the importance of the death of an old generation and the rise of a new generation that is educated within the new paradigm, and grapple with the startling claim that neither group is necessarily wrong ..read more

Today we discuss Kuhn’s idea that scientific revolutions tend to be invisible because new paradigms are treated as having always been there.  We talk about whether the change in teaching methods and the public appetite for popular science books have effected Kuhn’s notion that education is fundamentally paradigmatic education ..read more

In this episode, we discuss how a new paradigm “changes” ones perception of reality. We think about what this change of perception consists in drawing on events like the lunar landing and how that altered our existential paradigm ..read more

We discuss how revolutions in scientific paradigms are like political revolutions, and like political revolutions, how paradigm changes force science into a polarised situation. We navigate our way through the possible relativity of science and truth connecting our discussion with the present ..read more

In this episode, we discuss the notion of “Extraordinary Science” as the activity of science within the bowels of a crisis.  How do scientists decide between paradigms? Do emotions play a role in scientific activity? Finally, we consider the role of philosophy during times of crisis ..read more

In this episode, we look at how “professional insecurity” within the development of normal science leads to paradigm changes. We discuss the differences of “professional insecurity” as viewed by the public and within academic circles and just how necessary it is in the quest for the truth. We discuss three paradigm changes: Ptolemaic to Copernican astronomy, the chemical revolution, and the rejection of Newton’s notion of absolute space ..read more

In this episode we talk about expectations, anomalies and discoveries. Despite the fact that paradigms create expectations they are also perfect for creating anomalies. We discuss how something new can only appear from something expected, and how difficult it is to state when something was discovered. For example, was America discovered in the same way as Oxygen ..read more

In this episode we look at how paradigms are more important than rules for the activity of normal scientific research. We consider different ways that paradigms and rules interact from the sphere of education and politics; and we look at how research, contrary to what we might normally think, successfully continues without its practitioners being aware of the rules that underpin the paradigm ..read more

In this episode, we discuss how the activity of science is like “solving a puzzle”: what does it mean for the way science develops?. We also consider recent paradigm shifts in evolutionary biology, and we discuss them in light of what Kuhn writes.  ..read more