When paradigms change, the world itself changes with them. Thomas Khun
Last time we use the p-word, promise, but who can resist the temptation to pluck a quote from Philosophy 1?
The political world HAS changed, even if the new paradigm looks a lot like the old one. Yesterday’s election of Peter Slipper as Deputy Speaker gave us another example of how what was once the most basic given of Australian politics — that the Government had the numbers in the Reps — is no longer certain. Slipper was Labor’s choice, but we had to sit and await the outcome of the ballot to know whether the Government had triumphed. There’ll be a lot more sitting and waiting in the coming months.
The world has changed in other ways. It’s been overlooked by the mainstream media, but the 21 August election was a significant realignment of Australian politics, with the Greens eating up a substantial chunk of Labor’s base vote.
And they are now using the power they have obtained at the expense of Labor and courtesy of a hung Parliament to pursue their agenda. Plenty of critics have dismissed the Greens’ policy concerns, but they will have to get used to the political agenda being rather wider than the narrow economic focus we’re used to.
As Julia said to Tony, ‘Brother, can you paradigm’?
C’mon. If you’re going to misuse “paradigm” the way everybody does these days, at least don’t quote the man who first coined the term. He’s rolling in his grave.
What we’re discussing here is so far removed from what Kuhn meant by a paradigm shift brought about by a scientific revolution, that it’s not even worth talking about.
Oh Please: it is Thomas Kuhn, not Khun
Was Kuhn the only other person you could find who used the word paradigm as much or something? I don’t get it, and the philosophy science generally doesn’t confuse me.
It’s amusing how the term ‘paradigm’ has been liberally misused in politics. Show me the ‘revolution’ or the way people has changed their worldview of politics before telling me there is a ‘paradigm’.