May 20 Notes

Changing the Paradigm

• Current shortcomings of science as a whole
  • Methodology
  • Meta-issues
    • Language
      • lack of good and shared LEXICON slows understanding and progress:
        • what is a "gene"?
        • "genome" vs "chromosome"
        • is it "noise", "randomness", "heterogeneity", "diversity"?
      • METAPHORS affect what actions are taken and what systems are developed
        • "war on cancer" leads to "military industrial complex" for cancer
      • POLITICAL CORRECTNESS stiffles progress
        • the "e" word
      • PARADIGMS proscribe and limit what futures are possible
        • treatment of disease vs. promotion of health
          • taking evolution seriously means looking at the context that evolved for protection and promotion of cancer
    • Technology effects
      • hammers & nails
      • diff between engineered systems and evolved systems
        • parodies belie truth: "how biologists learn to fix a radio"; "frog legs"
      • scientists are especially susceptible
      • speed of technological change
    • Financial & political factors
      • Fadism (technological, ideological, novelty)
      • Pipeline effects
      • Healthcare-industrial-governmental complex

• Lessons from other paradigm shifts
  • what are closest examples?
  • how the existing paradigm reacts to attack
  • working within the system vs. outside and on the margins
  • providing a better alternative (or hope thereof) is important
• Spreading the word
• Ideas for catalyzing change
• Who's missing from this forum?