Frameworks (part 4 - Paradigm Shift)

Another framework that can be applied to scientific controversies is that by Thomas Kuhn – a ‘paradigm shift’.

Kuhn describes this in his book ‘The Structure of Scientific Revolutions’ (1962).

According to Kuhn, a paradigm is basically the basic, accepted theories and practices of science at a particular point in time. This science is known as ‘normal science’ – it operates within its paradigm, and allows research to move ahead rapidly.

The paradigm is supposed to be rich enough to cover everything that comes up – it helps to define what is appropriate scientific research/work, and gives theoretical foundations to work from. If a new problem arises, the science within the paradigm should be able to come up with a solution to it.

However, occasionally a problem arises that the ‘normal science’ of the paradigm can’t solve – this is known as an anomaly.

According to Kuhn, when there are too many anomalies for the paradigm to cope with, a crisis occurs. During a crisis, science is more open to new theories that can deal with the anomalies. Eventually, one theory, or set of theories, wins out and becomes the new paradigm.

So, how does GM fit into this?

The previous paradigm could be the ‘normal science’ of creating new plant varieties or improving current plants by traditional breeding methods. Now, though, we are seeing a different way of doing this – genetic engineering. I believe we are seeing a paradigm shift; the shift from traditional breeding to genetic engineering.

But...

I don’t think that genetic engineering came about from a crisis, at least not in the way Kuhn is talking about. There may have been small crises in the sense that old techniques were inefficient, or pests were becoming immune to pesticides etc, but there wasn’t a crisis in terms of rising anomalies.

I argue that paradigm shifts can occur without a crisis happening. New paradigms are borne out of new theories and techniques, but these new theories and techniques are not always borne out of problems or anomalies. Sometimes someone comes up with a new/better theory or technique by accident, or even if there was no real problem with the old one.  I think this could be the case with GM – the technique of genetic engineering was discovered, and then it was discovered that this technique could be applied in such a way as to enhance crops.

Of course I could be wrong – I don’t know why genetic engineering was first applied to crop plants, or whether genetic engineering was created for this purpose in the first place.