A Change of Paradigm
We can’t solve problems with the same thinking that created them
Albert Einstein once stated,
“We can’t solve problems with the same thinking that created them”.
Newtonian thinking created Industry 1.0. Today we are entering into Industry 4.0. However, very often we continue to indulge in the same thinking. We need a new type of thinking. We need a change of Paradigm.
Newtonian Physics operates in the macroscopic world, the world as we know and experience it in our daily lives. However, Quantum Physics is needed for understanding the microscopic sub atomic world. There has been a fundamental shift from seeing the world through Newtonian Physics to seeing the world through Quantum Physics. When there is a change in the understanding of the universe, the paradigm through which we understand the whole of life gets impacted.
The Principle of Complementarity
Till the beginning of the 20th century, Newtonian thinking influenced our understanding of light as being either a particle or a wave. It was only through the advent of Quantum physics, at about the same time, that the dual nature of light was discovered. Finally, it was Paul Dirac who, in a seminal paper published in 1927, synthesized the wave and particle natures of light into a single theory.
Light is both a particle and a wave.
If applied to life, this ‘Both/And’ perspective is very challenging and difficult to live with. We need to hold ‘Black’ and ‘White’ together at the same time, experience the tension of opposites so that we can open up ourselves to greater integration and wholeness. We need to acknowledge the numerous grey spaces which we experience in life. We need to continuously challenge ourselves to come up with unchartered spaces of ‘blue oceans’ where all benefit instead of just competing against one another in a ‘red ocean’ which results in a zero-sum game where one gains while the other loses. But our penchant for polarities prevents us from doing this. This results in exclusion instead of inclusion. An ‘Us vs. Them’ predicament which is created because of the paradigm through which we see life and operate.
Life is complex. To understand reality, we need ‘This’ and ‘That’.
Principle of Uncertainty
Another feature in the Newtonian Paradigm is that as per the laws of motion, if we know the force being exerted on a body as well its velocity and direction then we can predict with absolute certainty where the body will be in the future as well as know where it was in the past. The past is a reliable guide to the future. However, in the Quantum world we cannot measure the position and velocity of a particle with absolute certainty. If we measure its velocity we get a fuzzy idea of its position and vice versa. An accurate measurement of one dimension involves a relatively large uncertainty in the measurement of the other as per Heisenberg’s Principle of Uncertainty.
The Quantum world is an uncertain world.
Today in an increasingly complex world we find it hard to cope with uncertainty. So to grapple better with this uncertainty we try to reduce it to ‘certainty’; something which we are comfortable with. We rely on the past as being a benchmark for predicting the future even as we experience major disruptions in the way we communicate, do business and live. A simple regression analysis will no longer be able to predict the future based on one’s past performance. But we go on indulging in it. New types of thinking like Pattern thinking, Systems Thinking, Scenario Planning and Design Thinking are needed.
We can only come up with future probabilities rather than certainties.
Non — Separability
While Newtonian thinking emphasizes the separateness of objects on which the laws of motion apply, in Quantum physics we find that non- separability is a basic feature in the sub atomic world. When a pair of particles such as photons interact physically, entanglement occurs. In quantum physics, entangled particles remain connected so that actions performed on one affect the other, even when separated by great distances. Albert Einstein called this phenomenon “spooky action at a distance.” This synchronous behaviour is the basis of quantum relationship.
At the sub atomic level, it is as if there is “oneness of the overall system”.
We are our relationships. There is an interconnectedness in the whole of life. I need you to know who I am. In the Ubuntu culture of Africa people greet one another with the phrase ‘I see you’. The response from the other person is ‘I am here’. It is as if one person has brought into existence the other person by saying ‘I see you’. And the other person is acknowledging this fact. We have the power to create or destroy others. To ‘see’ them or ‘ignore’ them. To ‘see’ them positively or negatively. We also need our enemies. If our enemies did not exist, we would not know our deficiencies. They throw up our inadequacies. They show us our shadow selves. In fact, we need to love our enemies and forgive them because they play a significant role in our lives. If our enemies or people, we dislike did not exist we would go around thinking we are the epitome of human existence — absolutely flawless. The reality is quite the contrary.
There is an inherent interconnectedness and interdependence within the whole of life.
As Thich Nhat Hanh stated,
“Everything relies on everything else in the cosmos in order to manifest — whether a star, a cloud, a flower, a tree, or you and me.”
