Paradigm Shift

Episode #830

December 28, 2024

Unlike a paragon, which is a model of excellence or perfection, a paradigm is our best idea at any given time.

A paradigm is a set of procedures that are current, common and widely accepted best practices. These practices are not limited to ideas and beliefs. “Measure twice, cut once” is a way of saying that thoughtful preparation leads to better outcomes. Paradigm is, more broadly, a way of viewing or interpreting the world. If a paradigm changes it shifts the way the world is viewed.

Examples of paradigm shifts are Ptolemaic Earth centered astronomy replaced by a Copernican Sun centered view; horse and buggy transportation to the automobile; analog to digital technology; and brick and mortar to online commerce. Some paradigms are not as obvious as these examples. Sometimes a paradigm shift is seen in its procedures and sometimes in its manifestations. 

The Hawaiian hot spot is a paradigm of island building. A hot spot is a stationary magma plume between the Earth’s core and its mantle. The plume burns its way through the crust manifesting as seamounts (under sea mountain ranges) and islands. Like all paradigms the hot spot’s manifestation shifts with time. The hot spot’s paradigm shift is literally the movement of the Pacific Plate.

Relative to today’s geography the origin of the Hawaiian hot spot is located near the Aleutian Trench and the Asian Kamchatka Peninsula in the North Pacific. To be clear, the hot spot has always been in the middle of the Pacific ocean. Its manifestations appear to move southeast as the Pacific Plate moves northwest over it, sub-ducting and dissolving into the Aleutian Trench.

Like any paradigm, the Hawaiian hot spot has shifted over time. 100 million years ago the Meiji Seamount was created by this hot spot. As the Pacific Plate moved to the northwest the Emperor Seamount chain and eventually the Hawaiian archipelago emerged. The hot spot is currently manifesting as Lo‘ihi Seamount to the southeast of the Big Island. It is 300,000 years old and will emerge as an island as soon as 100,000 years from now. This is a vast scale since the Pacific Plate only moves 3 inches per year.

The purpose of following a paradigm is to live cooperatively, hunt, forage, procreate and survive. A paradigm’s evolution depends on physical, cultural and technological influences. Paradigms inevitably shift with time. 

My friend’s sense of humor is the paradigm of puny jokes. Ask him the meaning of paradigm. He will say twenty cents… a pair of dimes.

Communication is an obvious example of paradigm shift. In the beginning humans communicated with gestures and grunts. Communication shifted to became complex language, then written words which were regionalized. Words were transmitted over wires, then radio waves, then light. Computers transmitted text, then voice, then video, then text again. The paradigm sometimes folds back upon itself. Humans have striven to extend their knowledge, efficiency and longevity through communication. 

Knowledge has its own paradigm. Teacher-student relationships have been the definition of learning. The availability of information in books and video has shifted learning to include self teaching. When I want to learn how to do something my go-to is YouTube where a knowledgeable person will demonstrate the procedure.

The self teaching paradigm for acquiring knowledge has evolved from looking up a topic in the contents or index of an encyclopedia to formulating a productive search string in Google to positing a well crafted question to an artificial intelligence. All of these techniques are part of the changing paradigm of communicating knowledge. 

All paradigms ineluctably shift.

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