On Paradigms II

"The realm of the particularity of each experienced item differs from the formal realm of concepts. [...] The power of paradigmatic thought is to bring order to experience by seeing individual things as belonging to a category." (Donald E Polkinghorne, “Narrative configuration in qualitative analysis", International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education Vol. 8 (1), 1995)

"Discovery commences with the awareness of anomaly, i.e., with the recognition that nature has somehow violated the paradigm-induced expectations that govern normal science. It then continues with a more or less extended exploration of the area of anomaly. And it closes only when the paradigm theory has been adjusted so that the anomalous has become the expected. […] Until he has learned to see nature in a different way - the new fact is not quite a scientific fact at all." (Thomas S Kuhn, "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions", 1962)

"The transition from a paradigm to a new one from which a new tradition of normal science can emerge is far from a cumulative process, one achieved by an articulation or extension of the old paradigm. Rather it is a reconstruction of the field from new fundamentals, a reconstruction that changes some of the field’s most elementary theoretical generalizations as well as many of its paradigm methods and applications." (Thomas S Kuhn, "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions", 1962)

"[…] paradigms, the core of the culture of science, are transmitted and sustained just as is culture generally: scientists accept them and become committed to them as a result of training and socialization, and the commitment is maintained by a developed system of social control." (Barry Barnes, "Thomas Kuhn", 1985)

"All scientific theories, even those in the physical sciences, are developed in a particular cultural context. Although the context may help to explain the persistence of a theory in the face of apparently falsifying evidence, the fact that a theory arises from a particular context is not sufficient to condemn it. Theories and paradigms must be accepted, modified or rejected on the basis of evidence." (Richard P Bentall,  "Madness Explained: Psychosis and Human Nature", 2003)

"A paradigm is a shared mindset that represents a fundamental way of thinking about, perceiving, and understanding the world." (Richard L Daft, "The Leadership Experience" 4th Ed., 2008)

Systems Thinking III

"Systems thinking is a discipline for seeing the 'structures' that underlie complex situations, and for discerning high from low leverage change. That is, by seeing wholes we learn how to foster health. To do so, systems thinking offers a language that begins by restructuring how we think." (Peter Senge, "The Fifth Discipline", 1990)

"Systems thinking is a discipline for seeing wholes. It is a framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things, for seeing patterns of change rather than static 'snapshots'. It is a set of general principles- distilled over the course of the twentieth century, spanning fields as diverse as the physical and social sciences, engineering, and management. [...] During the last thirty years, these tools have been applied to understand a wide range of corporate, urban, regional, economic, political, ecological, and even psychological systems. And systems thinking is a sensibility for the subtle interconnectedness that gives living systems their unique character." (Peter Senge, "The Fifth Discipline", 1990)

"Systems thinking is a framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things, for seeing patterns rather than static snapshots. It is a set of general principles spanning fields as diverse as physical and social sciences, engineering and management." (Peter Senge, "The Fifth Discipline", 1990) 

"Systems philosophy brings forth a reorganization of ways of thinking. It creates a new worldview, a new paradigm of perception and explanation, which is manifested in integration, holistic thinking, purpose-seeking, mutual causality, and process-focused inquiry.” (Béla H. Bánáthy, "Systems Design of Education”, 1991)

"The new paradigm may be called a holistic world view, seeing the world as an integrated whole rather than a dissociated collection of parts. It may also be called an ecological view, if the term 'ecological' is used in a much broader and deeper sense than usual. Deep ecological awareness recognizes the fundamental interdependence of all phenomena and the fact that, as individuals and societies we are all embedded in (and ultimately dependent on) the cyclical process of nature." (Fritjof Capra & Gunter A Pauli, "Steering business toward sustainability", 1995)

"In the new systems thinking, the metaphor of knowledge as a building is being replaced by that of the network. As we perceive reality as a network of relationships, our descriptions, too, form an interconnected network of concepts and models in which there are no foundations. For most scientists such a view of knowledge as a network with no firm foundations is extremely unsettling, and today it is by no means generally accepted. But as the network approach expands throughout the scientific community, the idea of knowledge as a network will undoubtedly find increasing acceptance." (Fritjof Capra," The Web of Life: a new scientific understanding of living systems", 1996)

"It [system dynamics] focuses on building system dynamics models with teams in order to enhance team learning, to foster consensus and to create commitment with a resulting decision […] System dynamics can be helpful to elicit and integrate mental models into a more holistic view of the problem and to explore the dynamics of this holistic view […] It must be understood that the ultimate goal of the intervention is not to build a system dynamics model. The system dynamics model is a means to achieve other ends […] putting people in a position to learn about a messy problem [...] create a shared social reality […] a shared understanding of the problem and potential solutions [...] to foster consensus within the team [..]" (Jac A M Vennix, "Group Model Building: Facilitating Team Learning Using System Dynamics", 1996)

"Understanding ecological interdependence means understanding relationships. It requires the shifts of perception that are characteristic of systems thinking - from the parts to the whole, from objects to relationships, from contents to patterns. […] Nourishing the community means nourishing those relationships." (Fritjof Capra, "The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems", 1996)

"Systems thinking practices the exact opposite of this analytic approach. Systems thinking studies the organization as a whole in its interaction with its environment. Then, it works backwards to understand how each part of that whole works in relation to, and support of, the entire system’s objectives. Only then can the core strategies be formulated." (Stephen G Haines, "The Systems Thinking Approach to Strategic Planning and Management", 2000)

"Systems, and organizations as systems, can only be understood holistically. Try to understand the system and its environment first. Organizations are open systems and, as such, are viable only in interaction with and adaptation to the changing environment." (Stephen G Haines, "The Systems Thinking Approach to Strategic Planning and Management", 2000)

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On Paradigms I

"All crises begin with the blurring of a paradigm and the consequent loosening of the rules for normal research […] Or finally, the case that will most concern us here, a crisis may end with the emergence of a new candidate for paradigm and with the ensuing battle over its acceptance." (Thomas S Kuhn, "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions", 1962)

"Probably, the single most prevalent claim advanced by the proponents of a new paradigm is that they can solve the problems that led the old one to a crisis." (Thomas S Kuhn, "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions", 1962)

"For our purposes, a simple way to understand paradigms is to see them as maps. We all know that ‘the map is not the territory’. A map is simply an explanation of certain aspects of the territory. That’s exactly what a paradigm is. It is a theory, an explanation, or model of something else." (Stephen R Covey, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", 1989)

"The word paradigm comes from the Greek. It was originally a scientific term, and is more commonly used today to mean a model, theory, perception, assumption, or frame of reference. In the more general sense, it's the way we 'see' the world - not in terms of our visual sense of sight, but in terms of perceiving, understanding, and interpreting." (Stephen Covey, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", 1989)

“Each of us carries within us a worldview, a set of assumptions about how the world works - what some call a paradigm - that forms the very questions we allow ourselves to ask, and determines our view of future possibilities.” (Frances M Lappé, “Rediscovering America's Values”, 1991)

"Paradigms are powerful because they create the lens through which we see the world." (Stephen Covey, "Daily Reflections for Highly Effective People", 1994)

"The shift of paradigms requires an expansion not only of our perceptions and ways of thinking, but also of our values. […] scientific facts emerge out of an entire constellation of human perceptions, values, and actions-in one word, out of a paradigm-from which they cannot be separated. […] Today the paradigm shift in science, at its deepest level, implies a shift from physics to the life sciences." (Fritjof Capra, "The Web of Life", 1996)

"Paradigms are the most general-rather like a philosophical or ideological framework. Theories are more specific, based on the paradigm and designed to describe what happens in one of the many realms of events encompassed by the paradigm. Models are even more specific providing the mechanisms by which events occur in a particular part of the theory's realm. Of all three, models are most affected by empirical data - models come and go, theories only give way when evidence is overwhelmingly against them and paradigms stay put until a radically better idea comes along." (Lee R Beach, "The Psychology of Decision Making: People in Organizations", 2005)

“The crucial concept that brings all of this together is one that is perhaps as rich and suggestive as that of a paradigm: the concept of a model." (Otávio Bueno, [in" Springer Handbook of Model-Based Science", Ed. by Lorenzo Magnani & Tommaso Bertolotti, 2017])

Mental Models XVI

"What a lost person needs is a map of the territory, with his own position marked on it so he can see where he is in relation to everything else. Literature is not only a mirror; it is also a map, a geography of the mind. Our literature is one such map, if we can learn to read it as our literature, as the product of who and where we have been. We need such a map desperately, we need to know about here, because here is where we live. For the members of a country or a culture, shared knowledge of their place, their here, is not a luxury but a necessity. Without that knowledge we will not survive." (Margaret Atwood, "Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature", 1972)

"The reinvention of daily life means marching off the edge of our maps." (Bob Black, "The Abolition of Work and Other Essays", 1986)

"The more aware we are of our basic paradigms, maps, or assumptions, and the extent to which we have been influenced by our experience, the more we can take responsibility for those paradigms, examine them, test them against reality, listen to others and be open to their perceptions, thereby getting a larger picture and a far more objective view." (Stephen Covey, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", 1989)

"Our brain is mapping the world. Often that map is distorted, but it's a map with constant immediate sensory input." (Edward O Wilson, [interview] 1998)

"Our view of reality is like a map with which to negotiate the terrain of life. If the map is true and accurate, we will generally know how to get there. If the map is false and inaccurate, we generally will be lost." (M Scott Peck, "Wisdom from the Road Less Traveled", 2001)

"Mental models and rules are intimately intertwined, since the models often suggest clear rules for societies to follow. Religions are more than theories; they are prescriptive moral codes that seek to enforce rules on their followers. They, like the rules they enjoin, are invested with considerable emotional meaning and therefore are believed for intrinsic reasons and not simply because they are accurate or useful. While religious beliefs cannot be verified, they are also difficult to falsify. All of this reinforces the fundamental conservatism of human societies, because mental models of reality once adopted are hard to change in the light of new evidence that they are not working." (Francis Fukuyama, "The Origins of Political Order", 2011)

"Once a myth becomes established, it forms part of our mental model of the world and alters our perception, the way our brains interpret the fleeting patterns our eyes pick up." (Jeremy Wade, "River Monsters: True Stories of the Ones that Didn't Get Away", 2011) 

"Learning is a process of modifying or completely changing our mental models based on new experiences or evidence." (Edward D Hess, "Learn or Die: Using Science to Build a Leading-Edge Learning Organization", 2014)

"Fuzzy thinking can never be proven wrong. And only when we are proven wrong so clearly that we can no longer deny it to ourselves will we adjust our mental models of the world - producing a clearer picture of reality. Forecast, measure, revise: it is the surest path to seeing better." (Philip E Tetlock, "Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction", 2015)

"Cognitive psychology has shown that the mind best understands facts when they are woven into a conceptual fabric, such as a narrative, mental map, or intuitive theory. Disconnected facts in the mind are like unlinked pages on the Web: They might as well not exist." (Steven Pinker)

Map vs. Territory II

"We say the map is different from the territory. But what is the territory? Operationally, somebody went out with a retina or a measuring stick and made representations which were then put on paper. What is on the paper map is a representation of what was in the retinal representation of the man who made the map; and as you push the question back, what you find is an infinite regress, an infinite series of maps. The territory never gets in at all. […] Always, the process of representation will filter it out so that the mental world is only maps of maps, ad infinitum." (Gregory Bateson, "Steps to an Ecology of Mind", 1972)

"For our purposes, a simple way to understand paradigms is to see them as maps. We all know that ‘the map is not the territory’. A map is simply an explanation of certain aspects of the territory. That’s exactly what a paradigm is. It is a theory, an explanation, or model of something else." (Stephen R Covey, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", 1989)

"Principles are the territory. Values are maps. When we value correct principles, we have truth - a knowledge of things as they are." (Stephen R Covey, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", 1989)

"Today abstraction is no longer that of the map, the double, the mirror, or the concept. Simulation is no longer that of a territory, a referential being or substance. It is the generation by models of a real without origin or reality: A hyperreal. The territory no longer precedes the map, nor does it survive it. It is nevertheless the map that precedes the territory - precession of simulacra - that engenders the territory." (Baudrillard Jean, "Simulacra and Simulation", 1981)

"The ultimate metaphysical secret, if we dare state it so simply, is that there are no boundaries in the universe. Boundaries are illusions, products not of reality but of the way we map and edit reality. And while it is fine to map out the territory, it is fatal to confuse the two." (Ken Wilber, "No Boundary: Eastern and Western Approaches to Personal Growth", 1979)

"Our view of reality is like a map with which to negotiate the terrain of life. If the map is true and accurate, we will generally know how to get there. If the map is false and inaccurate, we generally will be lost." (M Scott Peck, "Wisdom from the Road Less Traveled", 2001)

"A map does not just replicate the shape of a territory; rather, it actively inflects and works over that territory." (Steven Shaviro, "Post Cinematic Affect", 2010)

"An all-inclusive model would be like the map in the famous story by Borges - perfect and inclusive because it was identical to the territory it was mapping." (Reuben Hersh,” Mathematics as an Empirical Phenomenon, Subject to Modeling”, 2017) 

On Worldviews (1990-1999)

“Systems philosophy brings forth a reorganization of ways of thinking. It creates a new worldview, a new paradigm of perception and explanation, which is manifested in integration, holistic thinking, purpose-seeking, mutual causality, and process-focused inquiry.” (Béla H. Bánáthy, “Systems Design of Education”, 1991)

“Each of us carries within us a worldview, a set of assumptions about how the world works - what some call a paradigm - that forms the very questions we allow ourselves to ask, and determines our view of future possibilities.” (Frances Moore Lappé, “Rediscovering America's Values”, 1991)

“Worldviews are social constructions, and they channel the search for facts. But facts are found and knowledge progresses, however fitfully. Fact and theory are intertwined, and all great scientists understand the interaction.” (Stephen Jay Gould, "Shields of Expectation - and Actuality", 1993)

“World view, a concept borrowed from cultural anthropology, refers to the culturally dependent, generally subconscious, fundamental organization of the mind. This conceptual organization manifests itself as a set of presuppositions that predispose one to feel, think, and act in predictable patterns.” (Kenneth G Tobin, "The practice of constructivism in science education”, 1993) 

“As a result, surprisingly enough, scientific advance rarely comes solely through the accumulation of new facts. It comes most often through the construction of new theoretical frameworks. [..]  To understand scientific development, it is not enough merely to chronicle new discoveries and inventions. We must also trace the succession of worldviews” (Nancy R Pearcey & Charles B Thaxton, “The Soul of Science: Christian Faith and Natural Philosophy”, 1994)

“Clearly, science is not simply a matter of observing facts. Every scientific theory also expresses a worldview. Philosophical preconceptions determine where facts are sought, how experiments are designed, and which conclusions are drawn from them.” (Nancy R Pearcey & Charles B. Thaxton, “The Soul of Science: Christian Faith and Natural Philosophy”, 1994)

“A world view is a system of co-ordinates or a frame of reference in which everything presented to us by our diverse experiences can be placed. It is a symbolic system of representation that allows us to integrate everything we know about the world and ourselves into a global picture, one that illuminates reality as it is presented to us within a certain culture. […] A world view is a coherent collection of concepts and theorems that must allow us to construct a global image of the world, and in this way to understand as many elements of our experience as possible.” (Diederick Aerts et al, “World views: From Fragmentation to Integration”, 1994)

“But making science again a part of every intelligent person's educational resource is the minimum requirement - not because science is more important than other field, but because it is an integral part of a sound contemporary worldview.” (Gerald Holton, “Einstein, History, and Other Passions: The Rebellion Against Science at, the End of the Twentieth Century” Part I, 1995)

“Nothing is more dangerous than a dogmatic worldview - nothing more constraining, more blinding to innovation, more destructive of openness to novelty.” (Stephen J Gould, “Dinosaur in a Haystack: reflections in natural history”, 1995)

"[P]art of the job of the philosopher is to keep at a certain critical distance from current doctrines, whether in the sciences or the arts, and to examine instead how the various elements in our world-view clash, or fit together." (John Cottingham, "Western Philosophy: An anthology", 1996)

"Any global tradition needs to begin with a shared worldview - a culture-independent, globally accepted consensus as to how things are." (Ursula Goodenough, "The Sacred Depths of Nature", 1998)

“Every culture has a shared pattern of thinking. It is the cement that holds a culture together, gives it unity. A culture's characteristic way of thinking is imbedded in its concept of the nature of reality, its world view. […] A change of world view not only brings about profound cultural changes, but also is responsible for what historians call a ‘change of age’. An age is a period of time in which the prevailing world view has remained relatively unchanged.” (Russell L Ackoff, “Re-Creating the Corporation”, 1999)

"Imagining the unseeable is hard, because imagining means having an image in your mind. And how can you have a mental image of something you have never seen? Like perception itself, the models of science are embedded inextricably in the current worldview we call culture." (K C Cole, "First You Build a Cloud and Other Reflections on Physics as a Way of Life", 1999)

"There is no 'scientific worldview' just as there is no uniform enterprise 'science' - except in the minds of metaphysicians, school masters, and scientists blinded by the achievements of their own particular niche […]." (Paul Karl Feyerabend, "Conquest of Abundance", 1999)