The paradigm flip | Seth’s Weblog

Paradigm shifts are interesting however not often effectively executed.

A paradigm is our psychological mannequin of the world. We’re surrounded by individuals who share an analogous mannequin, and so long as the mannequin is working, we reside our lives with out pondering a lot about it. When you lived in an area station, the absence of gravity could be one thing you’d discover always… till at some point, you didn’t.

Know-how and tradition conspire to alter the principles. When that occurs, there are big alternatives for these daring sufficient to think about a special system, a psychological mannequin that isn’t merely adjusted, however rebuilt.

Community TV was primarily based on the paradigm of mass markets and the battle for the previous few share factors of share.

Cable TV shifted that (a bit) as a result of area of interest networks might discover loads of viewers to make a revenue, and immediately, the smallest viable viewers was a helpful new solution to construct a media asset. MTV and ESPN couldn’t have labored in a three-channel world, however did nice in a single with forty channels.

The actual flip, although, comes from YouTube. Now, it’s not about attempting laborious so as to add a couple of channels. It’s about embracing the concept that there’s an infinite variety of channels. {That a} shortage of spectrum isn’t regular or helpful. And nobody from the world of community or cable TV understood this or did something about it. They had been centered on shifting, not flipping.

Lots of my colleagues and mates within the conventional publishing enterprise are nonetheless wrestling with the print model of this. They’ve belongings, repute and a little bit of momentum, however as a substitute of flipping to a brand new system, they’re inching round a shift.

In medication, thousands and thousands of lives have been saved by flipping paradigms. Germ idea, for instance, and hand washing. Or extra lately, beta-blockers for coronary heart illness, or seeing the position of micro organism in ulcers. On this video, my pal Jonathan Sackner Bernstein talks about his breakthrough work in reconsidering how Parkinson’s really works:

Not all paradigms flip. Typically, humanity is caught with a culturally-entrenched system that’s troublesome to alter. However after we see a possibility to contribute, the laborious work is being prepared to stroll away from our reliance on how issues had been as a substitute of merely attempting to make a small shift occur.

November 9, 2023