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Article: How a Social Construct Caused Scientific Stagnation: A Neuro Case History.(Abstract)
- Article from:
- Social Research
- Article date:
- December 22, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 New School for Social Research. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Scientific Revolution
WHAT does it take to revolutionize a science? Before someone has the seminal idea, there are telltale findings, anomalous results that challenge the status quo. Yet the anomalies alone are not sufficient to overthrow the existing view. To the extent possible, the received model is adjusted, revised, and otherwise patched. This continues until a scientist of genius presents a competing paradigm, in the light of which the discrepant facts fall into place and are no longer anomalous (Kuhn, 1962). However, even that powerful insight might not suffice. There is no guarantee that the scientific community will recognize the new paradigm's superior ...