Crisis Resolution. Discuss the three different types of crisis resolution discussed by Kuhn in chapter 8. Make sure to discuss the state of science after each type of resolution.
Crisis Resolution
Answer the question below. Write a concise, coherent, and original answer that addresses all aspects of the question. Make only sparing use of quotations. Discuss the three different types of crisis resolution discussed by Kuhn in chapter 8.
Make sure to discuss the state of science after each type of resolution.
Model Crisis
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From the viewpoint of solving the sustainability problem, here’s the most important step of them all in the Kuhn Cycle. It is imperative that scholars, environmentalists, politicians, funders, etc grasp this abstraction, because civilization is presently stuck in the Model Crisis step.
Model Crisis is the third step of the Kuhn Cycle. In this step a field’s model of understanding has drifted so far the field is thrown into crisis, because they can no longer make rational decisions. Their foundation for solving their central problems has been shattered by discovery of too many anomalies their central theory cannot explain. At this point in the cycle the field’s energies are best spent constructing a new model that works.
The model in crisis is the world’s “social control model”
A social control model is a collection of rules describing how a unit of society works. The most common social control model is the one used by families, which is the most basic social unit. Once a social control model is perfected, it can be used over and over.
Examples of modern social control models are the ones used by school systems, countries, congregations, and corporations. Each social agent type has an unwritten and/or written set of rules that describe how that social unit should work. For example a legislative body follows the rules of a constitution and, during deliberations, follows Robert’s Rules of Order or some other set of debate rules.
The power of the concept of a social control model is that if you know what a model’s rules are, two things become apparent: You can understand why that social unit behaves the way it does, such as how it may be contributing to a problem under analysis. And you can predict how the social unit will respond to changes in those rules, such as if various solutions are tried.
If your analysis of the social control models involved in a particular problem are reasonably correct, then solution of the problem becomes trivial and boils down to selection of those changes to the models that have the highest probability of solving the problem in time at the lowest cost, and any other constraints that may apply.
From the viewpoint of solving the global environmental sustainability problem, the most important social control model is the one that global civilization is using to run itself. This is the model in crisis in the third step of the Kuhn Cycle: the Model Crisis step.
How seeing things this way is critical to solving the sustainability problem
The Kuhn Cycle applies not just to science but to any field or group using a shared model of understanding to solve their problems. It thus applies to nations and all nations as a whole when dealing with global problems.
Civilization is stuck in the Model Crisis step and doesn’t know it. It thus is not even trying to get out. The world’s problem solvers know their sustainability solutions are not working. What is their reaction? To try to create better solutions. These fail too, as we have seen for four decades now. Why are they failing? Because the model that produced the solutions is broken. It’s in crisis because it can’t solve the problem.
Problem solvers should thus do what scientists do once they realize they’re in the Model Crisis step. They stop working on problems and shift their attention to fundamental research, where they try to fathom why the model is broken and then fix it.
A famous example was when physics was faced with a gigantic Model Crisis in the early 20th century. Here’s what happened, along with a discussion of how the Model Crisis step applied:(bolding is in the original)
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