Monday, February 11, 2013

Quote of the Day: Thomas Kuhn on discovering "paradigms."

Attempting to discover the source of that difference [between social and natural sciences] led me to recognize the role in scientific research of what I have since called “paradigms.” These I take to be universally recognized scientific achievements that for a time provide model problems and solutions to a community of practitioners. Once that piece of my puzzle fell into place, a draft of this essay emerged rapidly.  -- Thomas Kuhn. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.

A paradigm plays the role of the dominant design in scientific systems. It takes a while to come up with it, but after the paradigm is established, everybody focuses on making the process for its "manufacturing and use" as efficient as possible.

Examples of dominant designs: bathtub, smartphone, online shopping, shopping cart.

tags: design, innovation, science, technology

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