david (sw) on paradigm ness
via jon husband fb share []:
<< Only when we emancipate ourselves from the old paradigm and its myths can we see the better ways that can be revealed by the new one.
David Sloan Wilson’s article proposes two criteria. Does the paradigm:
Conform to factual knowledge; and
Inform appropriate action.
Our assessment is that:
Far too much of economics and business is an attempt to make nature conform to the mainstream paradigm’s beliefs of how the world ought to be, rather than how the world actually is.
Despite its unsound grounding, economics has a high impact in informing action, but this is all too often harmful, inappropriate action, precisely because economics is ungrounded in how the universe actually behaves. >>
linking to article – A New Economic Paradigm Needs New Ways of Thinking and New Ways of Doing, by Graham Boyd and Jack Reardon [https://www.prosocial.world/posts/a-new-economic-paradigm-needs-new-ways-of-thinking-and-new-ways-of-doing?]
link within quote above to article – On the Concept of Paradigms and a New Paradigm for Evolving Cooperative Systems, by David Sloan Wilson [https://www.prosocial.world/posts/on-the-concept-of-paradigms-and-a-new-paradigm-for-evolving-complex-systems]
note: both articles appear on pro social world site
on david [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sloan_Wilson]: David Sloan Wilson (born 1949) is an American evolutionary biologist. He is a distinguished professor emeritus of biological sciences and anthropology at Binghamton University. He is a son of author Sloan Wilson, a co-founder of Evolution Institute and a co-founder of Prosocial World. He has studied social evolution in Binghamton..Wilson is a prominent proponent of the concept of group selection (also known as multi-level selection) in evolution. .*This framework argues that natural selection operates on a nested hierarchy of units, such as between genes within individuals, between individuals within groups, between groups within a multi-group population, and even between ecosystems (such as microbiomes) in multi-ecosystem populations. Each level of selection results in adaptations at that level and tends to be undermined by selection at lower levels. Hence the notion of multilevel selection. Wilson has also coined the concept of a trait-group, a group of organisms linked not permanently as a group but having a shared fate due to interactions that they have. Wilson has described himself as an “enthusiastic proponent” of the extended evolutionary synthesis .. Wilson is the father of community organizer Katie Wilson, who is serving as the mayor of Seattle since 2026.
*yeah.. i don’t know
notes/quotes from david’s article:
On the Concept of Paradigms and a New Paradigm for Evolving Cooperative Systems, by David Sloan Wilson – Our 21st-century crises are rooted in outdated, individualistic paradigms. A new complexity and evolution-based paradigm can better guide science, policy, and collective action. (jan 2026)
How we act upon the world depends upon how we conceptualize the world. Life is far too complex to pay attention to everything. Instead, our ideas draw our attention to a tiny slice of reality and process this information in ways that “make sense;” in other words, that help us to survive and thrive in the world to which we are so largely blind.
or perhaps .. the blindness comes from thinking we have to know/make-sense/understand/survive.. et al
to me.. these are cancerous distractions to the dance
The multiple crises facing the world today are therefore symptoms of a crisis taking place inside our heads. Our ideas are failing us. Perhaps they served us better in the past, or served at least some of us, but now they seem poised to bring about the ruin of us all.
heads/hearts.. aka: missing pieces causing us to ongoingly perpetuate khan filling the gaps law et al
black science of people/whales law.. since forever..
The phrase “new paradigm” is often used to convey the need for a way of thinking that is *truly different and not just a nudging of current ways of thought.
*to me.. nothing to date has been truly diff.. nothing to date has gotten to the root of problem
the thing we’ve not yet tried/seen: the unconditional part of left to own devices ness
[‘in an undisturbed ecosystem ..the individual left to its own devices.. serves the whole’ –dana meadows]
there’s a legit use of tech (nonjudgmental exponential labeling) to facil the seeming chaos of a global detox leap/dance.. for (blank)’s sake..
ie: whatever for a year.. a legit sabbatical ish transition
otherwise we’ll keep perpetuating the same song.. the whac-a-mole-ing ness of sea world.. of not-us ness.. of part\ial ness.. perpetuating survival triage.. for (blank)’s sake..
This essay has two goals: The first is to provide an operational definition of the word “paradigm” *that captures the idea of multiple sets of ideas guiding action. My second goal is to identify both an old paradigm that needs to be shed **and a new paradigm that needs to be adopted. I see this in broad historical terms as a transition from the individualism and reductionism of past centuries to the holism and interactionism of the 21st century.
what if thinking we need ‘guiding’ ness is a symptom of sea world
**to me.. not new.. (aka: still in sea world) unless sans any form of m\a\p
legit freedom will only happen if it’s all of us.. and in order to be all of us.. has to be sans any form of measuring, accounting, people telling other people what to do
hari rat park law et al
A short essay cannot do justice to such large issues. Rather than write something longer, I have elected to state my argument as briefly as possible and rely upon some of my colleagues who represent the new paradigm to add their perspectives. I do not expect them to agree with me or each other on all points. As we shall see, complete agreement is not expected for any paradigm. Instead, my hope for this essay and commentaries is to accelerate awareness and adoption of the new paradigm at a moment in world history when time is of the essence.
I will attempt to make progress along the following fronts:
• Provide an operational definition of the word paradigm.
• Understand paradigms as containers for productive disagreement.
to me.. both words hold cancerous distractions to the dance
• Establish two criteria for evaluating a given paradigm.
*to me.. if ie: evaluating ness .. not new
• Use the new paradigm to inform how we act upon the world across all scales and spheres of activities where positive change is needed.
again.. to me.. if ie: informing ness.. not new
An operational definition of the word paradigm: The word paradigm is so fuzzy that, according to Masterman (1970), the philosopher Thomas Kuhn used it in 21 different senses all by himself! For our purposes, I propose the following operational definition:
Paradigm: An interlocking set of ideas that makes sense of the world but also blinds us to other possibilities.
ok.. so to me .. this defn is cancerous distraction.. as i think if we were legit free.. ‘making sense’ ness would be/become irrelevant s
yeah.. we don’t know.. but not because it’s not possible/legit.. rather.. because we’ve never let go enough to try/see something legit diff.. again.. ie: the unconditional part of left to own devices ness
Reaching a consensus on the new paradigm: At a high altitude–the proverbial 30,000 ft view–it should be easy for large numbers of people to identify with and start interacting within the new paradigm.
what we need is to go dee (high) enough so that the ‘paradigm’ (what we org around) are something every soul already craves..
Using the new paradigm to inform how we act upon the world across all scales and topic domains: Despite its recency, the new paradigm is “shovel-ready” for practical applications. Whenever possible, activities should take the form of learning by doing. Every prosocial change effort, no matter what the scale or topic domain, should be treated as an experiment in the cultural evolution of complex systems.
I now invite my colleagues to expand upon my short essay with their commentaries.
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be you. 