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| − | The '''mechanistic paradigm''' assumes that things in [[the environment]] around [[human]]s are more like [[machine]]s than like [[life]]. It was more common in the [[19th century]].
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| − | This is a set of loosely related beliefs that affects all [[sciences]]:
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| − | *In [[physics]] it presents [[atom]]s as made of [[particle physics|particles]] in preference to say the [[wave theory of light]]. In fact, both the particle and wave view are required to explain everything light does, but are rarely presented as equals. Many physics students graduate fully understanding the [[hydrogen bomb]] but having no clear idea of how [[musical instrument]]s work.
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| − | *In [[astrophysics]] it assumes that the [[universe]] is like [[clockwork]] and works on its own without our choice making any difference - this fits [[relativity]] but is not easy to combine with [[quantum mechanics]].
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| − | *In [[cosmology]] it accepts [[models of our universe]] more easily if reject the [[continuous creation]] of [[matter]], [[energy]] or any new "other universes".
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| − | *In [[chemistry]] it assumes that [[molecule]]s are like [[building block]]s, and have no unpredictable or strange and unique effects when combined. This is the basic assumption of [[mechanosynthesis]] which some scientists think will create a [[molecular assembler]].
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| − | *In [[biology]] it assumes that everything about life - all of [[biochemistry]] - is predictable from [[chemistry]] and [[physics]]. *Believers tend to regard [[ecology]] and [[psychology]] as "less scientific" than [[physics]], [[chemistry]] and [[biology]].
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| − | *Believers may reject ideas like [[psychoneuroimmunology]], [[Gaia philosophy]] or [[Fecund universes]] for no scientific reason, simply because these theories assume "higher level phenomena" sometimes drive lower levels.
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| − | *[[Greedy Reductionism]] may be more likely among believers in mechanistic ideas. For instance, they may want to always see things as made of smaller, even invisible, parts that no one can see or prove is real - like in [[string theory]]. *For this reason, when they work in [[psychology]], they may prefer theories like [[behaviorism]] that deny [[free will]] and try to explain [[human behaviour]] as a function of [[biology]].
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| − | *The [[philosophy of mathematics]] of most believers is a form of [[Platonism]]. This assumes there is a perfect or [[ideal form]] that theories only approximate. This lets them explain inaccuracies in mechanistic theories as being due to an imperfection in human ability to reason, instead of imperfections in math itself.
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| − | *In [[medicine]] it reduces the [[human body]] to mere [[human anatomy]] - as if dissection were how to understand our bodies!
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| − | Believers in this paradigm sometimes say that those who do not believe in it are following a '''cognitive paradigm''' - but almost no one uses this term, since it is [[redundant]] - [[cognitive science]] is already accepted as the most basic idea in the [[philosophy of science]]. But mechanists reject some of the ideas of cognitive scientists, like [[cognitive science of mathematics]].
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| − | Mechanistic thinking also assumes that [[philosophy of perception]] is much less important than cognitive scientists say it is - that humans and their beliefs and equipment do not generally add a lot of [[bias]] to a scientific theory.
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| − | [[Thomas Kuhn]] said otherwise, that these things matter, and that the major assumptions of science, can shift drastically. This he called a '''paradigm shift'''. The shift from mechanistic to cognitive paradigm is an example of this. Later he used other words to describe the assumptions and beliefs, like [[mind-set]], but the word "paradigm" is still used. Some say it is much over-used.
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| − | [[Economics]] is often said to "suffer from" assumptions of the mechanistic paradigm or even to itself be an example of [[mechanistic bias]] - certainly true of [[neoclassical economics]] with its many odd assumptions. For instance, sometimes those who believe in [[neoclassical economics]] and also in the mechanistic paradigm say they "seek to unify physics and economics," as if people and particles behaved as two examples of the same kind of thing.
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| − | [[Technology]] is often easier to make if people accept a mechanistic paradigm - but it may be harder to say why it does not work, if one believes in these ideas. For instance, [[creating]] [[diagnostic tree]]s might be easier if one works from [[experience]], not from an idea of how a technology should or must work.
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| − | A controversial idea is that mechanistic ideas are just an older idea called [[scholasticism]], with more [[mathematics]]. Both tried to work from what should or must be, instead of what [[experiment]] seemed to show.
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| − | Another controversial idea is that [[scientism]], belief in science as if it were a [[religion]] or [[ethical tradition]], comes from this paradigm. Most scientists who are mechanistic do not say they see science as a guide to [[ethics]], but try to keep them separate.
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