paradigm shift

plural paradigm shifts

1. sciencesA radical change in thinking from an accepted point of view to a new one, necessitated when new scientific discoveries produce anomalies in the current paradigm.First known use 1962

   Near-synonyms: reconceptualization, rethinking; reframing, remodeling

   4 more examples

   Fuzzy Set Theory was formalised by Professor Lofti Zadeh at the University of California in 1965. What Zadeh proposed is very much a paradigm shift that first gained acceptance in the Far East and its successful application has ensured its adoption around the world.

   1996, Shahariz Abdul Aziz, Jeyakody Parthiban, Fuzzy Sets and Operations, archived from the original on 05 Oct 2011

   Recently, there has been a radical paradigm shift taking hold in forums that attend to the education of DHH students.

   2002 December 28, Cecilia Mary Flood, “HOW DO DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING STUDENTS EXPERIENCE LEARNING TO WRITE USING SIGNWRITING, A WAY TO READ AND WRITE SIGNS?”, in SignWriting, archived from the original on 15 Mar 2023, page 1

   The foundations for a paradigm shift may be in place, but it may be some time before we see whether a truly novel perspective develops or these tensions are accommodated within an expanded modern synthesis.

   2007 June 27, Douglas H. Erwin, “Darwin still rules, but some biologists dream of a paradigm shift”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 07 Feb 2023

   The trouble is that over longer periods unresolved anomalies accumulate and eventually get to the point where some scientists begin to question the paradigm itself. […] In the end, the crisis is resolved by a revolutionary change in world-view in which the now-deficient paradigm is replaced by a newer one. This is the paradigm shift of modern parlance and after it has happened the scientific field returns to normal science, based on the new framework. And so it goes on.

   2012 August 12, John Naughton, “Thomas Kuhn: the man who changed the way the world looked at science”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 29 Apr 2020

   Synonyms: reconceptualization, rethinking, reframing, remodeling

2. broadlyAny radical change, especially in politics or technology.

   Near-synonyms: sea change, step change, quantum leap

   3 more examples

   So the fact that people are calling me, a woman of a certain age and demographic, to sit down on studio films — which have not been my bread and butter — there’s definitely a paradigm shift.

   2019 June 20, Kyle Buchanan, “Octavia Spencer: Studios Are Calling Me. That’s a Paradigm Shift.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 07 Nov 2020

   The Russian invasion of Ukraine is causing a paradigm shift on the scale of 9/11 in how democracy will confront future threats, the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, will predict in Washington on Thursday.

   2022 March 9, Patrick Wintour, “Ukraine war marks paradigm shift on the scale of 9/11, says Liz Truss”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 05 Apr 2022

   Google, meanwhile, has been caught off guard by what some are claiming is a paradigm shift in how users find information on the web.

   2023 February 7, James Vincent, “Microsoft announces new Bing and Edge browser powered by upgraded ChatGPT AI”, in The Verge, archived from the original on 22 Mar 2023

   Synonyms: sea change, step change, quantum leap