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Step 8 of 8~8 min read
Kuhn Revolutions Reflection
Synthesize normal science and progress.
Prompts to consider
- Pick a field you know (psychology, economics, machine learning, climate science, nutrition). Is it in a phase of normal science, crisis, or post-revolutionary consolidation? What anomalies persist? What would it take to trigger a paradigm shift?
- Kuhn argues that paradigm choices cannot be made by any neutral algorithm; there is always an underdetermined moment of judgment. Can you think of a scientific or intellectual controversy where rational argument seemed to run out before a clear decision? What resolved it (evidence, authority, generational change, or something else)?
- After reading Kuhn, which picture feels more compelling: science converges on the truth about reality, or it evolves by solving ever-more-sophisticated problems without any guaranteed endpoint? What hangs on this choice for science policy, public trust in science, or your own relationship to scientific authority?
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