Paradigm Perspectives

This weekend, I was reading an engrossing post on Adam Alexander’s blog. The title of this post is “Subliminal Subjective Expectations,” and I found it fascinating. Adam talked a lot about paradigms, and it dawned on me that perhaps some of our readers may not completely understand the meaning of this term.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines paradigm as: “A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality.”

In Stephen Covey’s book, *The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,* he adds the following synonyms: model, theory, perception, assumption, and frame of reference. He points out that it has to do with the way that we see the world in terms of perceiving, understanding, and interpreting.

So, a paradigm is the way that we view something from our own personal perspective. Even though most people consider their point of view to be objective, true objectivity is next to impossible. The reason is that humans tend to interpret everything they see, hear, and experience according to their individual frame of reference.

Essentially, it boils down to our personal version of the truth. Try as we will to be objective, our personal understanding of the world around us is, at best, subjective objectivity. We are all individuals with different life experiences, different associations, and different perceptions; these all influence our personal viewpoint. That is why two people can see or hear the exact same thing and be left with entirely different impressions of what they saw or heard.

Our quality of life has a lot to do with how we get along with and interact with other people. Personal growth and development in the area of relationships require that we make an effort to understand why other people see things differently than we do. Understanding their paradigms is a giant step toward understanding who they are and why they view life as they do. Doing so can also help us to expand our perception of the world around us.